John Wayne — The Big Trail & Stagecoach
George Carpozi’s excellent biography, The John Wayne Story, written just two years before Wayne’s death in 1979, kicks off with the author’s description of how he first met the movie star.
“It was during the 1966 Photoplay Magazine Awards at the Hotel Manhattan.
‘ I want you to meet John Wayne, said Mary Fiore, the editor of Photoplay.
At five-foot-eight, I was level with his tie-clip. I looked up and squinted for a glimpse of his face, which was towering above me like the observation roof of the Empire State Building.
‘Glad to meet you, George’, Wayne drawled, gripping my hand, which pretty much stopped the circulation. He was clutching a Scotch on the rocks in his left hand, and even as he held onto my hand he sipped from the glass, wiped his lips with his tongue, and asked me what else I did beside serve as contributing editor to Photoplay.
‘ I’m a reporter for the New York Post,’ I said.
On hearing that particular newspaper’s name (which was one of the highest circulation evening papers of the time) Wayne went into a public rage accusing Carpozi of working for a ‘Commie rag’, and of being a ‘stinking punk’ for doing so. He then walked away saying he never wanted to see Carpozi again. Carpozi was relieved to say the least.
