More Memorable Quotations:

• "If you can't give the enemy a break, send him to hell. " --as Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort in THE LONGEST DAY (1962).
• "Sometimes I wonder which side God's on." --as Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort in THE LONGEST DAY (1962).
• "I'm lookin' at a tin star with a drunk pinned on it." --as Cole Thornton in EL DORADO (1967).
• "Out here, due process is a bullet." --as Col. Mike Kirby in THE GREEN BERETS (1968).
• "You are a lotta trouble." --as Rooster Cogburn in TRUE GRIT (1969) (a .WAV file).
• "I never shot nobody I didn't have to!" --as Rooster Cogburn in TRUE GRIT (1969) (a .WAV file).
• "Well, I don't favor talkin' to vermin, but I'll talk you just this once." --as John Simpson Chisum in CHISUM (1970).
• "Well son, since you haven't learned to respect your elders, it's time you learned to respect your betters." --as Jake McCandles in BIG JAKE (1971) (a .WAV file).
• "Well, it looks like it's going to be another fine day." --as Wil Andersen in THE COWBOYS (1972) (a .WAV file).
• "Hurry it up. We're burnin' daylight." --as Wil Andersen in THE COWBOYS (1972) (a .WAV file).
• "If a buzzard bites you, he'd never eat meat again." --as J.D. Cahill in CAHILL -- UNITED STATES MARSHALL (1973).
• "You don't like the treatment? Don't rob the banks." --as J.D. Cahill in CAHILL -- UNITED STATES MARSHALL (1973).
• "I never killed a man who didn't deserve it. " --as J.B. Books in THE SHOOTIST (1976).
• "I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them." --as J.B. Books in THE SHOOTIST (1976) (a .WAV file).

Co-starring with Jimmy Stewart in John Ford's THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962), in which Wayne, as gunman Tom Doniphon, debates with lawyer Ransom Stoddard (Stewart) about how best to deal with bandit Liberty Valance.

Though not completed in time to be included in the film, Gene Pitney's ballad about THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE became a hit single, reaching #4 on the Billboard chart in 1962.

"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (clip) sung by Gene Pitney (a .MP3 file).

(For help opening any of the above files, visit the plug-ins page.)

In 1965, Wayne joined more than two-dozen Hollywood stars playing bit parts in George Stevens' biblical epic THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (1965), a star-studded portrayal of the life of Jesus Christ.  Wayne's role as the Roman centurion at Christ's crucifixion was the smallest starring role of his career and consisted of delivering a single line: "Truly, this man was the Son of God."

"Theme" (clip) by Alfred Newman (a .MP3 file).

In 1969, Wayne received a career-crowning Best Actor Academy Award for his performance as hard-drinking, tough-talking federal marshal Rooster Cogburn who is assigned to help bring law and order to the Indian Territory in TRUE GRIT (1969).  Six years later he reprised this popular performance in a thoroughly entertaining sequel co-starring Katharine Hepburn, ROOSTER COGBURN (1975).

Trivia:

One of the most frequently asked trivia questions about John Wayne is, "In how many films did his character die?"  The answer is a little more complicated than it may appear, because no one really knows how many films The Duke made.  Estimates vary anywhere between 200 and 300, and many of his earliest films have been lost, so it is impossible to know an exact answer to the question.  Nevertheless, the answer is at least eight:

• REAP THE WILD WIND (1942)
• THE FIGHTING SEABEES (1944)
• WAKE OF THE RED WITCH (1948)
• THE SANDS OF IWO JIMA (1949)
• THE SEA CHASE (1955)
  • Wayne's death is not shown explicitly in this film, but is implied when his ship blows up.
• THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962)
  • There are those who would dispute the inclusion of this film because Wayne's character doesn't actually die in the course of the film -- he is already dead before the film begins.  The movie begins with Wayne's funeral and is told in an extended flashback.
• THE ALAMO (1960)
• THE COWBOYS (1972)
• THE SHOOTIST (1976)

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