John Wayne, my father

272 Pages·1998·24.665 MB·English

by  Wayne, John;Delsohn, Steve;Wayne, Aissa

JOHN
WAYNE,
MY FATHER

JOHN
WAYNE,
MY FATHER
Aissa Wayne
J
with
Steve Delsohn
TAYLORTR ADEPU BLISHING
Lanham New York Oxford
Copyright 0 1998 by Aissa Wayne and Steve Delsohn
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means-
including photocopying and electronic reproduction-without written
permission from the publisher.
Published by Taylor Trade Publishing
An imprint of The Roman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200
Lanham, Maryland 20706
Distributed by National Book Network
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wayne, Aissa.
John Wayne, my father 1 Aissa Wayne with Steve Delsohn.
p. cm.
Originally published: London: Robert Hale Limited, c1991.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-87833-959-0
ISBN 978-0-87833-959-1
1. Wayne, John, 1907-1979. 2. Motion picture actors and
actresses-United States-Biography. I. Delsohn, Steve.
11. Title.
PN2287.W454W38 1998
791.43'028'092-dc21
[Bl 97-47322
CIP
Printed in the United States of America
TO MY MOTHER, PILARW AYNE,
THE MOST GRACIOUS HUMAN BEING
1 HAVEEVERENCOUNTERED.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My thanks to my three beautiful children-Jennifer, Nicky and
Anastasia-for their special love and also for once in a while tuck-
ing me in at night! Thanks to Mary St. John and Debbie Schweic-
kert for reliving part of the past with me. Thanks to Lou Nelson,
Frank Weimann, and David Rosenthal for their enthusiasm and
support. And a special thanks to Steve Delsohn for being so extraor-
dinarily sensitive and understanding.
-Aissa Wayne
My thanks to Mary St. John, Pilar Wayne, and Debbie Doner for
sharing their lives and insights; to Lou Nelson and Cheryl Booth for
their energetic and expert contributions; to Frank Weimann for his
unstinting belief in the book and in me; to Joni Evans for her sup-
port and generous spirit.
A special thanks goes to David Rosenthal, my kind and extraor-
dinary editor.
Thanks to my wife, Mary Kay, the best friend I've ever had and
forever the love of my life.
-Steve Delsohn

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Between pages 54 and 55
1 Aissa in her father's embrace (1961)
2 The show-biz baby (1956)
3 Aissa at six months (1956)
4 Aissa at one year (1957)
5 Aissa at age two (1958)
6 On her second birthday with her father (1958)
7 Aissa and her mother, Pilar, at home in Encino (1958)
8 With Pilar and a new bike, Christmas 1958
9 Wayne rose every morning before 5.30, wired by
energy and caffeine
10 Wayne with Aissa in Encino (1961)
11 Wayne, Aissa and Pilar in 1959
12-14 Aissa's seventh birthday (1963)
15 A chess match (1963)
16 As a child, Aissa felt a constant need to be near her
father (1963)
17 'John Wayne's daughter, Aissa, and $850,000 in Cartier
Diamonds'
18 John Wayne's maternal grandfather
19 His maternal grandmother
20 Wayne attended USC on a football scholarship (1925)
21 He went on to become box office gold (1949)
22 The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
23 Rio Grande (1950)
24 The Green Berets (1967)
25 Wayne with first wife, Josephine Saenz
26 Their four children (1951)
27 Wayne with wife number two, Esperanza Bauer (1951)
28 He married Pilar Palette in 1954
29 Wayne and Pilar (1955)
30 Aissa and brother Ethan (1963)