Quote:
Originally Posted by BigRedChief
Fact according to the Duke. In multiple interviews over the years, he credited his believability as a cowboy to what Wyatt Earp taught him.
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"Tefertiller claims that while Earp was hanging around Hollywood backlots at the end of his life, he ran into the young Marion Morrison, a.k.a. John Wayne, who later "modeled his persona" on those encounters. Tefertiller's source? A single remark by TV's Wyatt Earp, Hugh O'Brian, claiming that the Duke once, 30 years ago or so, told him that he was doing a helluva job, and he, the Duke, should know because he knew Wyatt Earp. That's it. No other reference, no other source, no mention of this rather earth-shaking news by anybody who ever knew John Wayne, including John Ford, who did know Earp and who undoubtedly would've told everyone if Earp had met Wayne."
http://weeklywire.com/ww/08-31-98/tw_feat.html