A titan of cinema, John Wayne‘s grandeur in Hollywood’s legacy is difficult to deny. His presence in the early moments of movie proliferation, as cinemas began to swell each and every weekend both before and after the Second World War, was only enhanced by his usually heroic roles. Because of this, Wayne operated as America’s de facto superhero for a long time.
A symbol of the American dream, walking into shots with the swaggering power of the local sheriff and leaving them with his head held high, Wayne often adopted the position of moral judge when off-set, too. Usually, it would see him take on, through covert plans or racist outbursts, what he deemed to be un-American infractions, such as left-leaning directors or “perverted” movies that attempted, in his eyes, to destroy the sanctity of cinema as a family-forward leisure experience. However, more often than not, the image of the western icon as an unimpeachable figure was let down by his devotion to drinking.
Throughout his career, Wayne was often noted as a severe drunk. While never labelled an alcoholic, his dedication to the booze was undeniable among most who knew him, even on set. During Cut to the Chase, researcher Sam O’Steen claimed that studios would arrange shoots so that Wayne’s scenes could be completed in the morning before the “mean drunk” would begin knocking back bourbons. TV Over Mind seemingly confirmed O’Steen’s research, as “by the afternoon [Wayne] was well on his way to being three sheets to the wind and meaner than a rattlesnake after it’s been stepped on”.
One actor who was certainly aware of Wayne’s penchant for a tipple or two was Ward Bond. A lifelong friend, a co-star on 22 productions, and perhaps his ultimate drinking partner, ‘The Duke’ spent many days and nights on set knocking back whiskey and getting up to hijinks with their director, John Ford. Their first meeting, however, didn’t go quite to plan as the young and restless Bond showed up late for his first film with Wayne and Ford, Salute, as Wayne remembered, “The last player to arrive, an hour late, a dollar short, one pocket torn, and a gin bottle hanging out of the other, was Ward Bond”.
The two actors struggled to connect, and Wayne was displeased with having to work with him. Eventually, Ford would chuck the two men in a room together as a “joke”, but “over corn whiskey and a few nocturnal escapades, Ward and I became close personal friends, and that friendship lasted until the day Ward died, over 30 years later”.
During one day of their friendship, Wayne would be aching to leave set and head out to the town to sink a few drinks. Bond, in an unusually controlled manner, refused, preferring to get an early night. Not deterred by such rejection, Wayne saw a bottle of vodka and had the opportunity to not only get his old pal moving but perhaps gain himself a fine story in the process. He poured the vodka onto Bond’s chest and set it alight, turning his friend, for at least a short while, into a flambé.
While most people would feel somewhat aggrieved after being turned into the hot side of a barbecue, if only for a few seconds, Bond simply got up, extinguished the fire and agreed that perhaps a few drinks were necessary after all. It spoke highly of Bond’s sense of humour. Another moment came following the actor’s death at 60 when he would gift his pal, Wayne, a reminder of the western icon’s lack of shooting accuracy. In his will, Bond left Wayne the shotgun with which ‘Duke’ had shot Bond in the rear end.
“We were the closest of friends,” shared Wayne in his eulogy for Bond. “From school days right on through. This is the way Ward would have wanted it—to look out on the faces of good friends. He was a wonderful, generous, big-hearted man.”
Friendships can be doting and filled with sentimental love. Other times, they can be perceived as brutal and barbaric. For Wayne and Bond, it was somewhere in between.