The 1979 Oscars turned into a night to remember for so many reasons. Acceptance speeches were short and sweet, and Johnny Carson, as always, kept the show rolling with his signature humor. The big awards went to two Vietnam War films, but the heart of Hollywood that night belonged to a true legend, John Wayne.
Doctors discovered stomach cancer and removed his entire stomach. At seventy-two, he was no stranger to defying odds — he had survived lung cancer fifteen years prior, losing a lung and several ribs to the disease in 1964. And the year before, he had missed the Academy Awards recovering from open-heart surgery to replace a valve.
Would Duke show up this time? Bob Hope, his longtime friend, called personally to ask. Wayne said yes.
Thin but tanned and jaunty
Inside the auditorium, the audience included colleagues who had shared screens with him over fifty years, from silent films in 1926 to 179 productions that had shaped Hollywood’s vision of heroism. They knew his politics, his controversies —but tonight was about more than that.
Wayne’s entrance was classic “Duke” – he slowly ambled down the staircase, smiling warmly at the audience. Many noticed he looked thin, yet still tanned and full of his signature charm.
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