This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more Rooster Cogburn: Trailer starring John Wayne in 1975 Back in 1969, John Wayne starred in True Grit as one-eyed US Marshal Rooster Cogburn, winning him the Best Actor Oscar the following year. A few years later, Duke would star in the sequel opposite Katharine Hepburn – but it was far from an easy shoot.
Wayne had been seriously ill at the beginning of 1974 having suffered from pneumonia in London while shooting Brannigan. At one point, the 67-year-old coughed so hard he damaged a valve in his heart that wouldn’t be diagnosed until 1978. All the while Duke had been living with one lung for the last decade, having had a cancerous one removed.
This meant he had to rely on an oxygen mask, especially at high altitudes, as he had great trouble breathing. Read more..
. John Wayne almost died with seconds to spare in movie set catastrophe Katharine Hepburn lambasted John Wayne at their Rooster Cogburn wrap party (Image: GETTY) On top of all this, Wayne injured himself during the Rooster Cogburn shoot in Oregon when teaching his eight-year-old daughter golf, but luckily his character's eye patch covered the mark. Struggling through all this meant the star had little patience, becoming frustrated by director Stuart Millar’s instance on lots of takes.
At one point Duke snapped at the Rooster Cogburn director: “God damn it Stuart, there's only so many times we can say t.
