When John Wayne died on June 11, 1979 at the age of 72, he was survived by his third wife, Pilar Pallete, and seven children. He sired four of his offspring with his first wife Josephine Sáenz and the rest with Pallete, and, according to everything I've read, he loved his kids equally. Wayne wasn't the warmest of men, but after his death his children remained active in tending to his legacy, which included founding the John Wayne Cancer foundation at the longtime smoker's behest.
The closest Wayne ever came to doing one of his children harm was naming his sixth child John. Could you imagine growing up with the name John Wayne Jr.? Every kid on the playground would be looking to whup you so they could go home and tell their fathers that they kicked the crap out of John Wayne. This would a