Being the son of a famous parent carries certain burdens and responsibilities.  It certainly can’t be easy to be the oldest son of a legend, but Michael Wayne wore it well.  He learned a lot about dignity and discretion from his father, and while he suffered from various

Patrick (left) and Michael (right) flank their famous father on location for The Green Berets in 1968

ailments over the past few years, including lupus, he kept his problems to himself.  That’s why his recent death, at the age of 68, came as such a shock to so many people. 

His funeral service, at St. Charles church in the San Fernando Valley was packed to overflowing, and as various speakers remembered Michael (including his own parish priest) certain words and phrases came up over and over:  decent... straightforward... a stand-up guy.  With his devoted wife Gretchen and his five children, he worshiped there for decades...and seldom missed a Sunday mass. 

Michael never sought the limelight; if anything, he dodged it.  His younger brother Patrick pursued an acting career, although all four of John Wayne’s children from his first marriage made cameo appearances in The Quiet Man.  Michael became his father’s producer in the 1960s and 70s, and was quite content with that role.  After his death, Michael supervised his father’s estate and was responsible for licensing his image.

He had his own ideas about how, where and when John Wayne’s name and face should be used.  Some eyebrows were raised when he permitted Coor’s to use footage of the Duke in a series of beer commercials, but they were done with humor—and made a lot of money for the John Wayne Cancer Clinic, the cause closest to Michael’s heart.

But his decisions were not dictated by money.  Many suitors were disappointed when he refused to make deals for the Wayne movies he controlled, especially The High and the Mighty.  He steadfastly maintained that he was waiting for the right deal at the right time. 

He did allow the UCLA Film and Television Archive to restore Budd Boetticher’s terrific western Seven Men from Now, which was shown to great acclaim at UCLA’s Festival of Preservation, and then at the Telluride, New York, and London film festivals.  He derived no income from those presentations, but was pleased to see this long-dormant movie brought back to life.

The late Jack Haley, Jr. told me that he and several other second-generationers appointed Michael their representative to negotiate whatever deal he thought fair when the Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida wanted permission to use their famous parents’ likenesses at an attraction celebrating the history of Hollywood.  Michael returned from his scouting

Toni, Melinda, Patrick, and Michael Wayne join their father and Gene Autry in the early 1950s.

expedition and told them that he’d made the deal for one dollar...and lifetime VIP passes to Disneyland.  No one objected.

Like his dad, he put great stock in loyalty.  When William Wellman, Jr. was trying to raise funds to produce a documentary about his legendary father, one door after another slammed in his face.  But when he went to the offices of the production company John Wayne founded in the 1950s, where Wellman had made Island in the Sky, Track of the Cat, and The High and the Mighty, Michael gave him an immediate “yes,” saying simply, “Bill, you’re family.” 

Michael was incredibly kind to me when I wrote and co-produced a series of home-video documentaries about the making of Rio Grande, Sands of Iwo Jima and The Quiet Man.  He was happy to share his memories, as he had visited all three locations, and actually worked on The Quiet Man over several months’ time in Ireland.

“We all lived in this big castle over there, without too many amenities.  I haven’t been back to Ashford Castle since, but it was one of those places where you had a bathtub and one w.c.—water closet—for the whole floor.  And unfortunately, we were on the floor with Victor McLaglen; it was usually busy when we’d go down there to try and get in,” he recalled with a laugh.  

“I was either 16 or 17, my sister Toni would have been 15 then, Patrick would have been

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about ten, and Melinda would have been 8 or 9.  As I recall, Patrick and I worked every day, my sister Melinda and Toni got to slip away and go to Paris, which was quite a treat for them. 

“Being the star’s son, everybody’s very nice to you, and I got to learn a lot.”

Michael’s interest in moviemaking was piqued during this time, and he told me that whenever he visited one of his father’s sets, “I'd hang out mostly with the prop men, because they had the guns.  I was interested—and still am—in pistols, Colts, Winchesters, and in the history... and sometimes the special effects men, and of course, the cowboys, the wranglers, the stuntmen.” 

All of this stood him in good stead when he finally earned the title of producer on McClintock! in 1963.  His father was tough on him, but I suspect it’s because the old man knew his son could take it. 

Michael was his own man, and a good man.  I hope his family finds comfort in the many warm memories he leaves behind.