John Wayne Revealed Why He Allowed Rooster Cogburn to Cuss in ‘True Grit’ – Old western – My Blog


Movie star John Wayne created an iconic character in True Grit‘s Rooster Cogburn. The eyepatch-wearing U.S. marshal became a legendary figure of cinema, continuing to influence contemporary feature films and their characters. However, Wayne doesn’t typically cuss a whole lot in his movies, yet he had a specific reason for why he allowed it while starring as Cogburn in True Grit.John Wayne was passionate about playing Rooster Cogburn in ‘True Grit’

“In my other pictures, we’ve had an explosion or something go off when a bad word was said,” Wayne said. “This time, we didn’t. It’s profanity, all right, but I doubt if there’s anybody in the United States who hasn’t heard the expression ‘son of a b****’ or ‘bastard.’ We felt it was acceptable in this instance. At the emotional high point in that particular picture, I felt it was OK to use it. It would have been pretty hard to say, “You illegitimate sons of so-and-so!”John Wayne won an Oscar for ‘True Grit’Cogburn in True Grit was a rare instance of when Wayne used profanity on the silver screen as often as he did. It’s also coincidentally the only performance that awarded him with an Academy Award win. He earned a nomination for playing Sgt. John M. Stryker in Sands of Iwo Jima. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also earned a nod for stepping behind the camera for 1960’s The Alamo.True Grit wasn’t Wayne’s best work, but it certainly went on to become one of his most culturally iconic. The look and attitude that he served in this Western defined an entire period of Westerns. For that alone, he earned the golden statuette that he worked so hard for over the course of an expansive career.