John Wayne Was ‘Furious’ When He Was Photographed Using Oxygen Mask

Posthumously, John Wayne would have been 115 years old this week. He died in 1979 at 72 years of age after starring in 179 movies and TV productions. In his final years, he was battling with his health after an operation that had one of his lungs and two ribs removed in the mid-1960s. As a result, he had to use an oxygen mask to compensate for his removed lung.

The operation put his new movie at the time, The Sons of Katie Elder, on hold until he recuperated. Filming was supposed to start in September 1964, but had to be delayed until January 1965. Even though he was in severe pain, he continued with his work, bottling up his pain without complaint. On top of that, for him to act in roles younger than his actual age he would show up on the movie set in new wigs to disguise his older look.

John Wayne’s Condition and Determination

Left with only one lung, he was dependent on an oxygen tank to help maintain his breath and this was very hard for him, particularly when considering the location chosen for the movie, which was Durango, Mexico.

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At that point, working with trying to breathe with just one lung and compensating with his oxygen mask, this proved difficult to maintain at a place 6,000 ft higher than sea level. These acute conditions were not enough to deter him from smoking his cigars though he had quit cigarettes.

Kirk Douglas, a colleague who also acted with him in the movie The Star Wagon, remembered seeing a frail Wayne who kept using the oxygen mask all through the flight to their set in Mexico. He did not know that his health had gone worse since the last time he saw him.

The Duke did not want anyone to see him as weak

Wayne became agitated during the production of The Sons of Katie Elder because he was afraid he would not be able to maintain the tough cowboy act he has portrayed for the media to see.

It happened that on the set of the movie ejrm Gene Sysco, a photographer with the Globe, took a picture of him while he was using his oxygen mask. This made Duke highly furious that he screamed and threw a can at him, saying “You goddamned son of a b****! Give me that f***ing film!” Robert Randy wrote in his book about John Wayne. The photographer handed him the film.

After the incident, Wayne reflected and decided his reaction was exaggerated. Later in the day he walked up to Gene’s table and apologized to him, “I’m a grown man. I ought to be able to control myself better than I did today. I’m sorry.”

His fighting spirit

Despite his ill health, he still tried to maintain his tough Cowboy demeanor, which made him insist on performing all of his stunts himself. Jennifer O’Neill, a cast member, recalled how he tried carrying her up the stairs, “He became just completely exhausted, he really struggled through it,” she disclosed this in an interview after many years.

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