John Wayne nearly played the lead in Dirty Harry. Over the years, conflicting accounts have appeared, with some claiming that the Western star was never approached because of his advanced age and others claiming that he declined the offer due to the film’s dubious morals. Naturally, Clint Eastwood ended up playing the lead in the 1971 film, and he returned to play Harry Callahan in four of its sequels.
The character Dirty Harry was inspired by Dave Toschi, who worked for the San Francisco Police Department from 1952 to 1987. During that stretch, he investigated the Zodiac Killer, and also became the archetypal model for Steve McQueen’s titular detective in Bullitt. The original Dirty Harry movie follows Inspector Harry Callahan as he investigates a sniper known as Scorpio in San Francisco. As noted in the 2013 book Gods Like Us: On Movie Stardom and Modern Fame (via Yahoo!), Frank Sinatra was initially cast for the main role but left the project because he couldn’t hold a Magnum pistol comfortably, the result of breaking his wrist while filming The Manchurian Candidate earlier in the decade. Warner Bros. then targeted other A-list stars who could convincingly portray the 50-something lead character, but actors like McQueen, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, and Burt Lancaster passed on the role. When 41-year-old Eastwood ultimately committed to the movie, he was already an established Hollywood star after collaborating with Sergio Leone for the Dollars Trilogy, a series of Spaghetti Western films about a nameless character who shares personality traits with Dirty Harry.
According to a 2011 article (via Art of Manliness), Wayne reportedly passed on Dirty Harry because he didn’t like to be offered “Sinatra’s rejections.” However, the film’s IMDB page tells a much different story, evidenced by this trivia note: “Contrary to some sources, John Wayne was never offered this movie due to his age. He later starred in his own cop movies, McQ (1974) and Brannigan (1975).” In general, most online articles suggest that Wayne turned down the role because he didn’t agree with Dirty Harry’s methods, but, frustratingly, sources are not provided. However, Michael Munn’s 2001 book John Wayne: The Man Behind The Myth does provide clarity from none other than John Wayne himself, indicating it was a combination of the aforementioned reasons:
“I turned it down for what seemed to me to be three very good reasons. The first is that they offered it to Frank Sinatra first, but he’d hurt his hand and couldn’t do it. I don’t like being offered Sinatra’s rejections. Put that one down to pride. The second reason is that I thought Harry was a rogue cop. Put that down to narrow-mindedness because when I saw the picture I realized that Harry was the kind of part I’d played often enough; a guy who lives within the law but breaks the rules when he really has to in order to save others.”
Although it is important to take Wayne’s comments on Dirty Harry as fact, there may also be some truth to web rumors that he was never considered for the role due to his age. By the late 1960s, the actor had surpassed 60 years of age and lacked the agility of the Dirty Harry who would finally emerge on screen. Therefore, it’s completely plausible that the studio chose to go with someone younger even if Wayne declined the offer, and both theories might be true.
In the early ’70s, Dirty Harry with Wayne in the lead role would’ve been a widely anticipated film, but because of the actor’s status as a conventional Western figure, it would have also felt unintentionally comical. The most famous lines of dialogue, for instance, could have been strange coming from Wayne, who might have been more appropriate as a higher-ranking figure. Wayne may have formally declined Dirty Harry, but given what he said about the fundamental archetype, the choice makes perfect sense.