Who was John Wayne?
If you like Westerns, you definitely know John Wayne. But if not, he was a very famous movie star. His real name was Marion Robert Morrison. He became famous in the old days of Hollywood movies. John Wayne had a deep voice and looked tough and handsome. He starred in many Western movies where he played tough guy characters. Some of his most popular movies were Stagecoach, Red River, and True Grit. John Wayne’s unique style made him one of the biggest movie stars of his time.
What Was John Wayne’s Private Life?
Most people know about John Wayne’s acting career, but not much about his marriages. It’s kind of a mystery to his fans. Did you know John Wayne was married three times? His married life had some surprising stories! In this article, we’ll talk about John Wayne’s three wives and some interesting and shocking tales from his marriages.
To keep it short, John Wayne’s first wife was Josephine Alicia Saenz. They had four children together. After divorcing her, he married Esperanza Baur, but they were only married for a little over a year. Finally, John Wayne’s third and last wife was Pilar Pallete. They stayed married until he died in 1979.
John Wayne’s First Wife: Josephine Alicia Saenz
Josephine Alicia Saenz was John Wayne’s first love. She was born on May 13, 1908, in Los Angeles, California. Josephine came from a rich family. John Wayne met her through friends in the late 1920s. They were both Catholic. Josephine was very pretty and smart, and John Wayne liked her a lot, it won’t be long before their admiration turns into tying the knot.
John Wayne and Josephine got married on June 24, 1933, in a Catholic church in Los Angeles. At that time, John Wayne was still becoming a famous actor, while Josephine’s family was already wealthy. John Wayne and Josephine had four children together: Michael, Mary Antonia “Toni”, Patrick, and Melinda.
Why Did John and Josephine Divorce?
The family lived a quiet life in Los Angeles, away from Hollywood. But after 12 years of marriage, they had some problems. As John’s popularity grows, so do his problems, his acting job took up a lot of his time, and Josephine didn’t like that. They also have different views on how to raise children, which made matters worse. Of course these appear to be “minor issues”, but they are critical to Josephine, who wishes to raise her kid in the Catholic way. and these disagreements caused a lot of arguments between them. So, they decided to separate in 1944 and get divorced in 1945.
John Wayne’s Second Wife: Esperanza Baur
After his first marriage ended, John Wayne decided to try something new. He didn’t just look for another woman; he looked for one in a different country. That country was MEXICO. Little did he know, this would turn out to be one of the biggest mistakes of his life.
Esperanza Baur, John Wayne’s second wife, was a beautiful and bubbly Mexican actress. She seemed very different from John Wayne, who was quiet and serious in public. This made their relationship very interesting.
How Did John Wayne Meet Esperanza?
John Wayne met Esperanza in 1946, not long after he divorced his first wife, Josephine. They met at a fun party in Hollywood. Even though John was 39 years old and Esperanza was only 22, they quickly fell deeply in love.
What Challenges Did John and Esperanza Face?
As is the case with the first marriage, his second one had also many problems. Speaking different languages caused problems for John Wayne and Esperanza. He spoke English, while she spoke Spanish. It was hard for them to communicate sometimes, which led to misunderstandings and frustration.
There were also rumors that Esperanza drank too much alcohol and got jealous easily. Some say Esperanza didn’t like how much time John gave to his work and kids. They had no children of their own, which added to the strain. Wayne once said, “Our marriage was like shaking two volatile chemicals in a jar.” Esperanza often accused Wayne of having an affair with Gail Russell, his leading lady in “Angel and the Badman,” which he denied. Their rocky relationship was filled with charges and counter-charges of unfaithfulness, drunken violence, emotional cruelty, and “clobbering.” Wayne described Esperanza as a “drunken partygoer who would fall down and then accuse him of pushing her.”
One story shows how rocky their marriage was. At a party at their house, Esperanza got so jealous of John paying attention to other women that she fired a gun in the air to get his attention! Crazy moments like this show how intense and unstable their marriage was.
Why Did John and Esperanza Divorce?
In the end, their differences were too big and very hard to fix. John and Esperanza were only married for a little over one year before getting a messy divorce in 1954. They accused each other of bad behavior.
Unfortunately, just four months after divorcing John Wayne, Esperanza died at the young age of 31 from a heart attack.
John Wayne’s Third Wife: Pilar Pallete
Pilar Pallete was a famous actress from Peru. She starred in many movies in Latin American countries in the 1950s.
Pilar Pallete was born in 1928 in Paita, Peru. She started acting when she was very young, appearing on TV shows and in movies in Peru. Pilar was very beautiful and talented. Hollywood movie producers really liked her looks and skills, so they offered her a job at a big movie studio in the United States. Pilar then moved to America.
How Did Pilar Pallete Meet John Wayne?
In 1952 or 1953, John Wayne, who was already a very famous actor in Hollywood, was in Peru looking for places to film his new movie called The Alamo. At a local party there, he met the beautiful 24-year-old actress Pilar Pallete. Even though John was 21 years older than Pilar, they felt an immediate connection.
What Made John and Pilar’s Marriage Last?
Pilar Pallete had a huge impact on John Wayne’s life. In 1954, they got married, making Pilar his third wife. Together they had three children: Aissa, Antonia, and John Ethan. Unlike his past marriages, Pilar brought love and stability to John’s life. She even went with him to movie sets to support him during long filming times.
John Wayne and Pilar Pallete stayed married until John died in 1979. Their marriage lasted 25 years, which was John’s longest marriage. Even though they had a big age gap and John was a huge celebrity, their love was very strong. Pilar was by John’s side until the end when he had stomach cancer. Even after he died, she kept his memory alive.
