John Wayne (21 page)

Aissa on the set of
The Alamo
with movie “mom”, Joan O'Brien (1959)

With real mom, Pilar (1959)

And with Chill Wills, dancing on her father's feet (1959)

John, Aissa, and Stuart Whitman on the set of
Comancheros
(1961)

Aissa on the set of
Hatari
, in her father's chair (1964)

With one of the wild animals she discovered in Africa (1964)

Atop a baby elephant. John later had one of these elephants delivered to the estate for Aissa's ninth birthday party (1965)

The Alamo
, John's first try at directing. He also starred in the movie (1959)

Opposite: John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, with their respective mothers, on the set of
El Dorado
(1965)

In October 1964, John was released from Good Samaritan Hospital after undergoing two operations to remove a cancerous lung

By March of 1965, John was back in action, here crawling out of the frigid water after a river fight in
The Sons of Katie Elder;
the scene almost killed him

John as Rooster Cogburn in
True Grit
, the film role that won him an Oscar for Best Actor in 1970

With Barbra Streisand at the 1970 Academy Awards