John Wayne’s tragic feud with co-star who desperately tried to reconcile with Duke – My Blog
Wayne was well known as a staunch and uncompromising conservative and during the TV interview, they disagreed on a political issue of the day. Their conversion ended by talking about environmentalism, which the Western legend wasn’t in favour of. It was his belief that if you were an environmentalist, then you were against business. And if you were against business, then you were a liberal.Over the years, Christopher desperately tried to get back in contact with Wayne to reconcile. However, Duke didn’t let go and never responded to the attempts, even when he was dying from cancer in 1979. The 72-year-old Western legend made his final public appearance at the Oscars that year, noticeably very thin. Arriving to a standing ovation, he secretly wore a wet suit under his tuxedo to help bulk himself up a bit.Wayne was there to present the Best Picture Oscar to The Deer Hunter and thanked the audience for their supportive applause.He said: “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. That’s just about the only medicine a fella would really ever need. Believe me when I tell ya, I’m mighty pleased that I can amble down here tonight.“Well, Oscar and I have something in common: Oscar first came to the Hollywood scene in 1928, so did I. We’re both a little weather-beaten, but we’re still here and plan to be around for a whole lot longer.” Sadly, the Hollywood legend died just two months later on June 11.
