How One Film May Have Sealed John Wayne’s Fate Forever
John Wayne’s legendary career and tough-guy image faced a tragic twist after filming The Conqueror near nuclear test sites—a decision that may have had deadly consequences for him and many others on set.
For decades, moviegoers saw John Wayne as the ultimate symbol of strength and endurance—a Hollywood legend who seemed untouchable both on and off the screen. Rarely did his characters meet their end in films, and in real life, he famously beat cancer in the early 1960s. After surgery to remove his left lung, he bounced back, saying he had “licked the ‘Big C’.” Wayne’s reputation as a heavy smoker and drinker only added to his larger-than-life persona, but even he couldn’t outrun fate forever.
Hollywood Icon Faces a Deadly Twist
Wayne’s last leading role in The Shootist was a powerful one, portraying an aging gunfighter coming to terms with a changing world. The character’s battle with terminal cancer mirrored Wayne’s own struggle, making the performance all the more poignant. The Oscar- winning actor passed away from stomach cancer in 1979 at 72, but some believe the roots of his illness trace back to a single, ill-fated production.
At first, the idea sounds far-fetched. But when you look at the numbers, it ’s hard to ignore. The 1956 epic The Conqueror, widely considered Wayne’s worst film, was shot near nuclear test sites. By 1980, more than 40% of the cast and crew had developed cancer, and nearly 50 had died from it. No one could have predicted the consequences at the time, but the statistics are chilling.
The Fallout from The Conqueror
It’s impossible to say for certain that The Conqueror was solely responsible for Wayne’s illness decades later. Still, it’s not a stretch to think things might have turned out differently if Howard Hughes had acted sooner. Hughes, the eccentric mogul, fancied himself a Hollywood powerhouse. He only directed two films—Hell’s Angels in 1930 and The Outlaw in 1943—but produced many more, sometimes just lending his name for credit.
Hughes financed The Flying Leathernecks in 1951 with Wayne in the lead, and the two had a loose agreement to work together again. Years passed without a new project, putting Wayne in a tough spot.
“His delay was really getting me into deep fucking water,”
Wayne told Michael Munn. Warner Bros was pressuring him, threatening legal action since he owed them a film.
“I was fucking mad, and I wrote to Howard and told him that it was his studio’s responsibility to have scripts ready for me on the dates he had promised,”
Wayne explained.
A Fateful Decision
Everything changed after a visit to RKO’s headquarters.
“I saw a treatment lying around for something called The Conqueror,”
Wayne recalled.
“I took a cursory look at it and thought, ‘This might be interesting’. I kind of liked it.”
When he learned Dick Powell would direct, he was on board.
“I kind of took him by surprise, and he said, ‘Are you serious?’”
Wayne said.
“I said, ‘Sure, why not?’ So he said, ‘OK’, and we shook hands on it.”
That handshake sealed his involvement in what would become a notorious chapter in Hollywood history. The Conqueror was the only film Wayne starred in with Hughes as producer, and it may have cost him more than anyone could have imagined.