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John Wayne Died in These Films


Assistance from Mostly Westerns.com is greatly appreciated


To the best of my knowledge there are the films that John Wayne died on screen, they are presented here in reverse chronological order:

THE SHOOTIST (1976) - Killed in gunfight in saloon at end of film.
THE COWBOYS (1972) - Killed by Bruce Dern and avenged by the boys.
THE ALAMO (1960) - As Davy Crockett killed by Mexican soldier lance.
SANDS OF IWO JIMA (1949) - Killed by sniper bullet at end of film.
WAKE OF THE RED WITCH (1949) - Killed as ship plunged off ledge and sank with Octopus.
THE FIGHTING SEABEES (1944) - Killed by sniper as he was about to leap from bulldozer.
REAP THE WILD WIND (1942) - Killed by squid undersea.
WEST OF THE DIVIDE (1934) - Duke had a dual role and his evil look-alike died after drinking poisoned water. This is a clip from the film showing the brief scene of Gat Gans and his death.
CENTRAL AIRPORT (1933) - John Wayne doesn't even speak and is barely recognizable as one of the men aboard a downed airplane seen floundering in the ocean at night. This John Wayne clip from Central Airport is courtesy of Neil Roughley, please visit his site, John Wayne on DVD, A Filmography.

There were a few films where his death is not seen.

In THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962) he has died and the film's story is told in flashback by James Stewart who has come to his funeral.

In THE SEA CHASE (1955) - He and Lana Turner are on the ship when it sank but the film leads you to believe that perhaps they survived.

In THE DECEIVER (1931) - Ian Keith played Thorp in this film and John Wayne took over when this character became a corpse.

HANGMAN'S HOUSE (1928) - Blindfolded condemned man in flashback, to be hanged.



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