(Image credit: Far Out / Alamy)
While there was a clear difference between the person born Marion Morrison and the person who became John Wayne, as the legendary star’s career progressed, the man and the myth became increasingly intertwined.
When he first adopted his stage name, the actor had not yet perfected the art of being John Wayne. Of course, he eventually did, and his precisely constructed quirks, weaknesses and character traits propelled him to the top of Hollywood, a position he did not leave until after his death.
The Duke regularly turned down roles because they didn’t fit the personality he had so carefully built up. And while he has been accused of being too comfortable in his role and accepting of being locked into a particular role, it can never be said that this has benefited him immensely over any length of time.
There was Wayne the actor, Wayne the myth and Wayne the legend, all of which were one and the same in the 1960s. Today he is one of the elder statesmen of cinema and wherever he went he was immediately given respect. But he did not return that respect easily, for the Duke was a hard man to win over.
Younger actors in particular were regularly overwhelmed when faced with such an impressive force, both on and off camera, but the easiest way to endear yourself to him was to beat him to the punch. On the set of Howard Hawks’ 1966 Western El DoradoJames Caan knew he had a lot of work ahead of him.
It was only his fourth credited role in a film, and the prospect of being only third to Wayne and Robert Mitchum in a genre the former had made his own was a daunting challenge, not to mention the fact that the production was being helmed by one of the greatest American directors of all time.
Wayne didn’t make it easy for the newcomer and tried his best to intimidate Caan to test whether he was strong enough to be on screen with someone of his stature. He basically passed the test with flying colors, although he did reveal that his partner wasn’t too lazy to do a bit of mischief during breaks.
“I was 27, and that was the Duke,” Caan recalled Rolling Stone“You had to prove yourself to the Duke, and then everything was OK.” After proving himself, Wayne began to take a liking to the rising star, but not so much that he followed the rules.
“He taught me how to play chess,” Caan added. “And that son of a bitch always cheated.”
Of course, getting on good terms with Wayne was a very different thing than being allowed to beat him at chess, but Caan didn’t want to argue or call him out for his underhanded tactics on the board, even though he knew full well that if it had been a fair game, he would have the icon’s number.
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