Starting in the silent era of the 1920s and stretching to the late ‘70s, John Wayne seemed synonymous with film stardom and success. However, there was one point in his career that Wayne actually went broke, right in the midst of all that fame.
He had been working in the entertainment business for little over 25 years at that point, so this was not the premature flash and sizzle of a newcomer making rookie blunders. Instead, it was due to Wayne’s and his manager’s poor financial choices.
John Wayne goes almost completely broke after decades in the industry
Wayne reflected on the path to going broke, outlining, “I suddenly found out after 25 years that I was starting out all over again.” He further admitted. “I just didn’t have it made at all. Until last year I had a business manager who didn’t do anything illegal, but we were involved in many unfortunate money-losing deals. I would just about break even if I sold everything right now.”
Part of those poor choices included taking a big risk on himself as a director. 1960 saw the premiere of The Alamo, the passion project Wayne wanted to do because it would be based around the Battle of the Alamo. So, Wayne invested $1.2 million into making this film, pooling it with contributions from friends. Things would then go wrong in unanticipated ways.
Profits and losses
The movie made money at the box office, but it also gave Wayne a public relations nightmare. One of the crew members was killed in an automobile accident. Then a particularly contagious case of the flu, which nobody wants to think about for a long, struck numerous members.
As if that wasn’t enough, a woman who worked as an extra, LaJean Ethridge, was murdered by her boyfriend. The Alamo became a cursed film that would help turn some of Wayne’s broke fortune, but at a very steep, dire cost.