My Grandma and the Duke

My mother and father when I was young had told me often about my grandmother's exploits with the Hollywood set. While she was young, she had met a great many celebrities just in simple places and also when she worked as a desk clerk for a small hotel in Salem. She had known Michael Douglas, Jack Nicholson, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Englebert Humperdinck, and even Trigger!

The funniest story that I remember my parents telling me about had happened many, many years ago before I was born and they had been living in California. She had lived in Balboa Beach, which at that time seemed to be a nice hiding place for celebrities when they wanted to get away from the reporters, work and the bright lights of Tinsel Town. On this particular evening, John had invited my grandmother to meet him at a bar for a drink so they could sit and chat about every day things. It had turned out that she was already going to be meeting my father that same night and figured that the three of them could pass the time and it would give my father a chance to finally meet John.

When my grandmother had arrived, the two had ordered their drinks and began chatting for a while. John had excused himself as he needed to step out for a moment (not sure of the reason) and two men had begun hassling my gradmother. She had politely asked them to leave her alone but they had refused and kept on with their major annoyance. It was at that moment when the most remarkable thing had happened.

While there were a great many things that my family had told me about John that I choose not to repeat (due to the simple fact that I believe in letting 'sleeping dogs lie' and he is one of my favorite actors). In any event, he had walked back in the room and noticed the commotion that was happening with my grandmother. He had then grabbed both men by their heads and then slammed them down hard on the bar and knocked them out unconscious (and not to mention several of their teeth). After that had occurred, John apologized and said that he couldn't stay and that he was sorry he could not meet my dad at that time.

When my father had finally arrived nearly fifteen minutes later, he had seen the two men and merely shook his head and looked to my grandmother and simply said 'I don't want to know'.

It has been since I heard that story that my love for the Duke has grown exponentially. I had never understood how my family had loved him so much ans being a kid, how would I have known how far that enjoyment had gone. It is only now that I really understand what it was that my grandmother had seen in the man. While most had known him from reading magazines and seeing him in the movies, my family had been given the opportunity to meet the man up close and had also been friends with him as well. While many would have been starstruck with that, I only wish that I would have been able to meet him before he died. The funny thing is, whenever I see my dad I see him as they are so similiar.

John Wayne was not only the biggest actor of his time, he was also a very good friend to my grandmother. Wherever he is, I only want to say 'thank you and I wish you well'.