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In 1969, John Wayne delivered what would prove to be his only Oscar-winning performance as U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn in Henry Hathaway's "True Grit." Though Wayne was far from confident going into "True Grit" (he'd just come off one of his worst films with "The Green Berets"), the movie not only proved a critical hit but also a commercial one, earning big box office returns and revitalizing the Duke's career at a time when he was in serious jeopardy of becoming irrelevant.

Had Wayne missed out on "True Grit," he would have only starred in one other film in 1969: "The Undefeated." The former debuted in June of that year, followed by "The Undefeated" in November, but while one would earn the Duke his first Academy A

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