John Wayne’s softer side is coming back into the spotlight nearly five decades after his death.
The legendary Hollywood tough guy, best known for his cowboy swagger, gravelly voice and larger-than-life Western roles, was not all grit and gunfire behind the scenes.
Old personal letters written by “The Duke” reveal a more tender side of the screen icon, including warm notes he sent to two of Hollywood’s biggest stars: Lucille Ball and Elizabeth Taylor.
Wayne, who died on June 11, 1979, at age 72, built his career playing rugged, no-nonsense men. But away from the cameras, he was capable of charm, affection and even a little old-school sweetness.
In 1955, Wayne sent a heartfelt note to Lucille Ball after working with the beloved redheaded comedy queen.
“It is always such a great pleasure working with you, Lucy,” Wayne wrote at the time. “You’re so dedicated and so talented.”
Wayne famously appeared on I Love Lucy in the 1950s during a hilarious two-part episode that saw Lucy and Ethel accidentally destroy his cement footprints from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
The episode became one of the sitcom’s classic Hollywood moments, with Ball’s wild physical comedy clashing perfectly against Wayne’s famously serious movie-star image.
Years later, Wayne reunited with Ball on The Lucy Show in 1966.
In the episode “Lucy and John Wayne,” Ball’s character once again found herself in a string of awkward disasters involving the movie legend, including one scene where she spilled ketchup on him.
But Ball was not the only Hollywood icon who received kind words from The Duke.
In 1961, Wayne reached out to Elizabeth Taylor after she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Butterfield 8.
Wayne’s own passion project, The Alamo, had been nominated that same year, but he made it clear he was more thrilled for Taylor than disappointed for himself.
“Dear Liz … I am more happy that you received your award than if The Alamo had received all that it was nominated for,” he wrote. “Affectionately, Duke.”
The note was especially striking because Taylor herself famously despised Butterfield 8, despite it earning her one of the biggest honors of her career.
Author Kate Andersen Brower previously claimed Taylor hated the movie so much that after seeing it, she wrote an angry message on the screening room wall with lipstick.
Taylor reportedly felt insulted by the role and saw the movie as a personal affront.
Still, Wayne’s note showed that even one of Hollywood’s toughest leading men could set competition aside and celebrate another star’s victory.
While audiences knew Wayne as a symbol of strength and masculinity, the actor himself once admitted the screen version of John Wayne was not who he really was.
“The guy you see on screen really isn’t me,” he said in a 1950s interview. “I’m Duke Morrison, and I never was and never will be a film personality like John Wayne. I know him well. I’m one of his closest students. I have to be. I made a living out of him.”
Wayne, born Marion Morrison, spent decades building the John Wayne image that made him one of the most recognizable stars in the world.
But his private words to Ball and Taylor suggest there was more to the man than the cowboy myth.
The actor died from complications related to stomach cancer and respiratory issues. He left behind seven children and a towering Hollywood legacy.
After his cancer diagnosis, Wayne opened up about facing his own mortality.
“I thought about the possibility of death, but that wasn’t what bothered me the most,” he said at the time. “It was the feeling of helplessness. I just couldn’t see myself lying in bed, not being able to help myself. That, to me, was worse than the fear of death.”
Nearly 47 years after his passing, those old letters offer fans a rare glimpse at the man behind the movie legend — a Hollywood giant who could be tough on screen, but surprisingly tender in real life.
