John Wayne as US Marshal JD Cahill on horsebackImage by Everett Collection
By
Shawn S. Lealos
Published 17 minutes ago
Shawn S. Lealos is an entertainment writer who is a voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He has written for Screen Rant, CBR, ComicBook, The Direct, The Sportster, Chud, 411mania, Renegade Cinema, Yahoo Movies, and many more.
Shawn has a bachelor's degree in professional writing and a minor in film studies from the University of Oklahoma. He also has won numerous awards, including several Columbia Gold Circle Awards and an SPJ honor. He also wrote Dollar Deal: The Story of the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers, the first official book about the Dollar Baby film program. Shawn is also currently writing his first fiction novel under a pen name, based in the fantasy genre.
To learn more, visit his website at shawnlealos.net.
Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recapJohn Wayne had a few actors he didn't like, including his successor Clint Eastwood, who he thought was taking the Western genre in the wrong direction. However, there was another actor he hated for a different reason. Wayne's daughter, Aissa Wayne, said that he called this actor "awful" more than once.
It seems interesting to note, because this actor went on to win an Oscar for his performance in a Western movie, although ironically, it was one directed by no other than Clint Eastwood himself. It was also clearly a matter of taste for John Wayne, because this specific actor had earned three Oscar nominations early in his career as well.
John Wayne Called Gene Hackman The 'Worst Actor In Town'
John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit
In the book John Wayne: My Father, Aissa Wayne said that her father called beloved fan-favorite actor Gene Hackman "the worst actor in town" and "awful." In fact, Aissa said that John Wayne would say this every time that he saw Gene Hackman performing in a movie or on television.
According to her, Hackman "could never appear on-screen without my father skewering his performance." She also said that Wayne never gave any reasoning or basis for his opinion, and he just clearly didn't like Hackman as an actor.
In fact, Hackman was the only person her father said this about "with any real venom... when it came to his contemporaries in film." She also said that she wished she knew why Wayne had such a distaste for Hackman, but he never said anything other than blasting his acting skills.
While it is only conjecture, there is a chance his distaste was rooted in Gene Hackman's career choices when he started out. John Wayne hated excessive violence in movies, as well as films in which the heroes were painted in a negative light. With movies like Bonnie and Clyde and The French Connection, Hackman's early roles were very violent.
That said, Aissa Wayne went on to write that she believed her father would have changed his tune over the years. "Although it’s pure speculation, had my father lived to see more of his work, I think his view of Mr Hackman would have changed," she finished.
Gene Hackman also isn't alone. Of Kim Darby, who he starred alongside in True Grit, Wayne said, "Jesus, I got along better with Kirk Douglas." He even had some things to say about Clark Gable, who he claimed became an actor because "it’s the only thing he’s smart enough to do."
Gene Hackman Earned Three Oscar Nominations To Start His Career
Gene Hackman as Popeye Doyle in The French Connection
It's interesting that John Wayne had such a hatred of Gene Hackman, who was rising in the industry as Wayne's career was ending. Wayne didn't have many Oscar nominations, despite several major movies, but Hackman earned his first Oscar nomination for just his fifth movie, Bonnie and Clyde.
Three years later, he earned his second Oscar nomination for I Never Sang for My Father. Just two years after that, in 1972, Hackman won his first Oscar for his performance as Popeye Doyle in The French Connection. That made three nominations and one win in only a four-year time frame.
While the movies might not have been what John Wayne enjoyed watching, it was clear that Gene Hackman was solidifying his place in Hollywood. It is also interesting to note that The French Connection remains considered one of the best neo-noir movies of all time and was named to the National Film Registry in 2005 for preservation.
Gene Hackman Won An Oscar In A Movie With John Wayne's Replacement
Gene Hackman as Little Bill in Unforgiven
The biggest irony came in 1993. By this time, Hackman had earned a fourth Oscar nomination (for Mississippi Burning) and he signed on to star in a Western directed by Clint Eastwood. It was a movie by a director/actor that John Wayne didn't respect and starred an actor that Wayne thought was "awful."
The result was a Western that is considered one of the best in genre history, even compared to Wayne and Eastwood's classics. In Unforgiven, Eastwood played a former outlaw named William Munny, a man who had retired and was quietly living his last days after his wife's death.
However, the ways of the West wouldn't leave him behind, and new outlaws and old friends kept drawing him out. Eventually, the local sheriff, Little Bill Daggett, murders William's old friend Ned (Morgan Freeman). Hackman plays Little Bill, and knowing John Wayne's feelings about the portrayal of lawmen in the West, he would have hated it.
Clint Eastwood won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director for Unforgiven, and was nominated for Best Actor. Hackman won Best Supporting Actor for his performance, which would be the last Oscar nomination of his career. Two men that John Wayne showed no respect for rewrote what a Western movie looked like.
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