Kirk Douglas’ wonderful kindness to John Wayne regardless of ‘never seeing eye-to-eye’

Back in 1966, John Wayne shot The War Wagon with Kirk Douglas, whose liberal political opinions and hiring of the blacklisted communist Dalton Trumbo as Spartacus’ screenwriter had been in stark distinction to Duke’s conservative outlook.

The pair prevented speaking politics when working, however sooner or later through the Western’s manufacturing, Douglas was late to set as he had been capturing a business to endorse Edmund G Brown, a Democrat, as Governor of California.

This enraged the right-wing Wayne, who was late himself the subsequent day as he’d been filming an advert to endorse the Republican candidate, fellow actor and future President Ronald Reagan.

Although the 2 Hollywood stars had their political variations, they did finally turn into pals and had a mutual respect for one another.

In a 1971 interview with Dick Cavett, Douglas shut down being requested about Duke’s controversial views on the US taking Native American land.

Cavett introduced up that Wayne had stated it was “because a lot of people needed land and the Indians were being selfish and thought that they ought to have it.”

Yet Douglas replied: “I don’t want to get involved in a conversation about John Wayne. I’ve made quite a few pictures with John Wayne and, by the way, I’ve always called him John. Everybody calls him Duke. We have never seen eye-to-eye on a lot of things.” However, he did praise the Western star, saying he was “one of the most professional actors I’ve ever worked with.”

Douglas shared how when engaged on a film collectively, he would solely have dinner with Wayne on only one night time. He stated: “We get along well, we never discuss politics. But he’s the first guy on the set, the hardest worker I’ve ever worked with, and I think he’s quite a character.”

Given Duke’s towering 6 ft 4 top, Cavett joked that it was no surprise the 2 by no means noticed eye-to-eye. In truth, throughout his first scene with Wayne, Douglas wore big lifts so he would look in keeping with Duke.