AffectionateDan
1st Level Black Feather
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LONDON (July 31) - Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was so outraged at the anti-communism of film star John Wayne that he plotted to have him murdered, according to a new biography of the American icon.
"John Wayne - The man behind the myth" by British writer and actor Michael Munn says there were several attempts in the late 1940s and early 1950s to kill the man known to audiences around the world as "Duke."
In the first attempt, two Russian assassins posing as FBI agents tried to kill Wayne in his office at Warner Brothers studios in Hollywood. But the plot was uncovered and the would-be killers captured, the book says, citing several sources including director Orson Welles.
The book says the Soviet plots were canceled after Stalin's death in 1953, by his successor Nikita Krushchev, who was a fan of the larger-than-life star of more than 100 films.
"That was a decision of Stalin during his last five mad years. When Stalin died I rescinded that order," the book quotes Krushchev as telling Wayne during a private meeting in 1958.
But it says American communist groups took up the cudgels against Wayne who was a supporter of the anti-Communist witch-hunt led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, citing an attempt in Mexico on the set of the film "Hondo."
Born Marion Morrison on May 26, 1907, Wayne survived these attempts and another by a sniper during a trip to visit American troops in Vietnam in 1966. He died of cancer in 1979.
07/31/03 06:00 ET
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
~~~ Dan ~~~
"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime," -- Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.
"John Wayne - The man behind the myth" by British writer and actor Michael Munn says there were several attempts in the late 1940s and early 1950s to kill the man known to audiences around the world as "Duke."
In the first attempt, two Russian assassins posing as FBI agents tried to kill Wayne in his office at Warner Brothers studios in Hollywood. But the plot was uncovered and the would-be killers captured, the book says, citing several sources including director Orson Welles.
The book says the Soviet plots were canceled after Stalin's death in 1953, by his successor Nikita Krushchev, who was a fan of the larger-than-life star of more than 100 films.
"That was a decision of Stalin during his last five mad years. When Stalin died I rescinded that order," the book quotes Krushchev as telling Wayne during a private meeting in 1958.
But it says American communist groups took up the cudgels against Wayne who was a supporter of the anti-Communist witch-hunt led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, citing an attempt in Mexico on the set of the film "Hondo."
Born Marion Morrison on May 26, 1907, Wayne survived these attempts and another by a sniper during a trip to visit American troops in Vietnam in 1966. He died of cancer in 1979.
07/31/03 06:00 ET
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
~~~ Dan ~~~
"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime," -- Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.
