Hello Again, I was wondering if AnyOne know what Religion the duke was?? or if he believed in god or not i think he did but am curious though. I believe he did just wondering thanks steven

JW said in his last interview, shortly before his death, he believed in a supreme being ("there just has to be") - and even pointed out it might not be a "He" but a "She". He never was much of a church-goer, but in his final hours he converted to catholicism, this was confirmed by different sources.
If you look at the sincerity he delivered prayers in his films - his speeches from They Were Expandable, Operation Pacific, his reformation in Three Godfathers, his look in The Quiet Man in church, and especially that great CUT scene (see the current post Last Battle of Alamo) from The Alamo, praying over the dead Parson, come to mind - there must have been deep believing - that's not acting.

Family was very religious, and that was due to Duke's first and third wives. The children were also of the faith of catholicism. I am sure that Duke in a way participated in the service of catholicism, but didn't accept that faith until his dying moments. That is according to John Wayne: American bio book.

Cheers, Hondo B)

Duke was a protestant and did not convert. The day of his alleged conversion Duke was reportedly in coma the entire time. Read the life and times of John Wayne.

I am pretty sure also that Duke had a genuine belief in God.

B)

toyota884runner :rolleyes:

Their is also a large posting on this subject in General Discussions around the last few pages :unsure: I also place a posting in General Discussions on this subject under Media Articles :huh:

Monique ;)

Robbie, I wonder now how you KNOW JW did not convert. The book The Life and Times is just ONE book - not written by anybody who was there, the final days, and a book of which I heard elsewhere it got it's share of critic for not telling all the facts right. Writing a book is sometimes giving an opinion.
I would go with FAMILY members in this question. Michael Wayne said it several times: JW converted.

JW met Archbishop Clavelle and came to like him when he used to take his boat to Panama. When he got ill, Clavelle wanted to baptize him, but couldn't. His successor, Archbishop McGrath, ended up baptizing him. The current Archbishop Torres told this story to JW's grandson (who is a priest himself - see another bit of information in the JW and Clint post) on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec 12 2000. "My grandfather was very stubbrn, but prior to his death, Archbishop McGrath said: Come on, Duke, let me wash you up - and he converted."

But then, for a man who had such deep believing in a supreme being, it really was just a formal act, wasn't it? Nothing that really changes our image of him.

Roland what makes you think John converted according to Johns own daughter Aissa she says Michael Wayne did have the Archbishop of Panama come in to his room at UCLA. By this time John was heavily drugged on intravenous morphine. He mostly drifted in and out of sleep, and even when awake did not appear coherent, but in some sort of dream state. When his eyes did open that day the priest began reciting prayers in Latin. She says under the bedcovers she saw her father slightly nodding his head. She does not believe he was converting to Catholicism. She believes he was only acknowledging that a priest was in his presence and that they were praying together. She says John never said a word about wanting to convert or wanting to be buried instead of cremated. Some people may think he died a Catholic but she doesn't believe so. Aissa doesn't think he was coherent enough to know what was going on.

John also refused to convert for his first wife Josephine. I respect what you say on most things Roland and think you are right about most things, I also respect what you have to say on this but I think this time your wrong.

Respectfully
Robbie

See? You can't even go with family members' statements, because even they are contradictory.

Only the good Lord Himself knows if the Duke was on the "right trail" to the big round-up in the sky.

:rolleyes:

Chester

Truly, Chester, this man was the son of god.
Quite right, one of the things nobody can tell for sure. I only made this point because Robbie claimed he knew the truth by saying "He was a protestant. He did not convert." Anyway, that he actually DID convert is the version generally assumed now. For me, it's not a point interesting enough in things I would like to know about the man. But one thing more: Could an Archbishop lie?
(only the priests in John Ford's film do from time to time)

for you all


who cares <_< what faith he was as long as he believed that is what mattered nothing else ;) because most of the christian faiths use the same bible the king james even though it may have been changed into modern language.

he is the one who had to see his maker and meet st paul at the pearly gates.

cheers smokey

I only made this point because Robbie claimed he knew the truth

He never was much of a church-goer, but in his final hours he converted to catholicism, this was confirmed by different sources.

Roland

For your first post on this topic you claimed he did convert I simply said the opposite. But as you said at the end of the dat it doesnt matter.

Nice also to see a lot of people on this board believe in God thats much more important and as much as we like John Wayne we should never put him on the same status as God he was simply a man with many faults like any other human being and I'm sure the Duke would agree with that.

B)

Originally posted by Robbie@Aug 17 2003, 04:48 PM


Nice also to see a lot of people on this board believe in God thats much more important and as much as we like John Wayne we should never put him on the same status as God he was simply a man with many faults like any other human being and I'm sure the Duke would agree with that.

B)
Amen to that, Robbie!

The wisest thing you've said yet! ;)

Chester

I DON'T know what religion the Duke was, but I received the following story in an e-mail, and thought it interesting enough to share with you. I don't know if it's true, but it was good reading.

So . . . for your enjoyment . . .

The rest of the story....

Back in the 50's there was a well known radio host/comedian/song writer in Hollywood named Russ Hamblin, who was noted for his drinking, womanizing, partying, etc. One of his bigger hits at the time was "I won't go hunting with you Jake, but I'll go chasing women."

And along came a young preacher holding a tent revival. Hamblin had him on his radio show, presumably to poke fun at him. And to gather more material, Hamblin showed up at one of the revival meetings. Early in the service the preacher announced, "There is one man in this audience who is a big fake." There were probably others who thought the same thing, but Hamblin was convinced that he was the one the preacher was talking about (some would call that conviction), but he was having none of that.

Still, the words continued to haunt him until a couple of nights later he showed up drunk at the preacher's hotel door around 2 am, demanding that the preacher pray for him. But the preacher refused, saying, "This is between you and God and I'm not going to get in the middle of it." But he did invite Russ in and they talked until about 5 am, at which point Russ dropped to his knees and with tears, cried out to God.

But that is not the end of the story. Russ quit drinking, quit chasing, quit everything that was "fun". And began to lose favor with the Hollywood crowd. He was ultimately fired by the radio station when he refused to accept a beer company as a sponsor.

Hard times were upon him. He tried writing a couple of "Christian" songs but the only one that had much success was "This Old House", written for his friend Rosemary Clooney.

As he continued to struggle, an old friend named John took him aside and told him, "All your troubles started when you "got religion," and asked if it was worth it all. Russ answered simply, "Yes". Then his friend said, "You liked your booze so much. Don't you ever miss it?" And the answer was, "No".

John then said, "I don't understand how you could give it up so easily." And Russ' response was, "It's no big secret. All things are possible with God." To this John said, "That's a catchy phrase. You should write a song about it."

And as they say, the rest is history. The song Russ wrote was "It Is No Secret" -

"It is no secret, what God can do.
What He's done for others, He'll do for you.
With arms wide open, He'll welcome you.
It is no secret, what God can do." etc...

By the way, the friend was John Wayne, and the young preacher who refused to pray for Russ Hamblin was Billy Graham. And now you know "the rest of the story."

As Robbie says from Aissa's book. She says she was raised a Catholic, and her father took no interest at all, never once attending church with her or her mom. Their entire lives, he showed no inclination toward organized religion of any type.
" I don't belong to any church, " my father said. "I believe in God and Jesus Christ, and I pray. If anything, I guess I'm a Presby-goddamn-terian."
Little Duke