He was seen as one of the greatest cinematic heroes of all time, but how many movies did John Wayne die in? With a filmography that spanned five decades, Wayne is primarily known for his work in Westerns and epics such as The Searchers, Stagecoach, and The Alamo. He even won an Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn in the original True Grit. But while he cultivated a precise portrayal of an American hero, there were occasions in which Wayne was willing to be killed on screen.
Throughout John Wayne’s iconic film career, he often played the white-hat hero who saved the day and rode off into the sunset. However, there were a handful of films in his extensive acting career in which his character did not survive to the end credits. From his early days on screen when Wayne wasn’t the leading man to the instances where he played the sacrificing hero who gave everything to fight for what’s right, the movies in which the audience saw Wayne die stand out as particularly memorable.
Off-Screen/Disputed Deaths
Some Of Wayne’s Movie Deaths Are Unclear
While there are nine films in which John Wayne’s character is confirmed to have died on screen, there are five films in which his character dies in the background, off-screen, or his fate is left ambiguous. Wayne’s early work in movies was when many of his questionable character deaths occurred. In Noah’s Ark (1928), he is an uncredited stuntman who dies during the flood sequence.
In the movie Hangman’s House (1928), he plays two characters, one of whom is possibly seen being executed by hanging. In The Deceiver (1931), John Wayne plays the dead body of a character that was played by a different actor while he was alive.
In the war movie Sea Chase (1955), his character’s fate is left ambiguous as he is last seen embracing his love as their ship is bombarded by the enemy. Finally, The Man Who Shot Liberty Vance (1962) begins at his character’s funeral and then launches into a flashback, but his death is never shown. These are all hard to count as official deaths since they are off-screan or unconfirmed.
Central Airport (1933)
Drowns Saving A Man
Central Airport centers around pilot Jim Blaine (Richard Barthelmess), who, after crashing a commercial plane during a flight, becomes a stuntman and falls in love. After his love interest marries his brother, he leaves and becomes a mercenary pilot for Communist rebels in China and Chile before eventually returning to save his brother from a plane wreck in the Gulf of Mexico.
The film is often credited as Wayne’s first movie death.
Though the movie was seen largely as a forgettable love story, its crash sequences were praised. In an uncredited role, John Wayne plays a pilot who drowns while trying to save a drunk passenger during one of those plane crash scenes. The film is often credited as Wayne’s first movie death, and while he has a very small role he was already establishing himself as a movie hero with his noble death scene.
West Of The Divide (1934)
Death By Poison
John Wayne found his breakout Western role with Stagecoach, but the actor had already been starring in the genre for years before that. In West of the Divide, Ted Hayden is in search of his missing brother and trying to learn the truth about who murdered his father. When he discovers that he bears a striking resemblance to deceased wanted murderer Gat Ganns, Ted seizes the opportunity to assume his identity in an attempt to get the answers he seeks.
West of the Divide presents an interesting loophole when it comes to Wayne’s movie deaths as he plays two characters with one surviving and one dying. Wayne plays the roles of both Ted Hayden and Gat Ganns to make their resemblance uncanny. As Gat Ganns, Wayne dies by drinking from a poisoned waterhole. Technically, it marks a rare villain role for Wayne, though he also plays the hero.
Reap The Wild Wind (1942)
Killed By A Giant Squid
Directed by the legendary Cecil B. DeMille, Reap the Wild Wind is set in 1840 and follows ship salvagers who take in the captain of a wrecked ship, played by John Wayne, which leads to a complex series of shifting allegiances, love triangles, betrayals, and ultimately tragedy. The movie was a box office success, even though it was released just after America entered World War II, and it received three Oscar nominations.
While it is certainly an unusual death in Wayne’s career, he was able to be the hero again, saving Steve in the process.
Towards the end of the film, Wayne’s character, Jack, and another lead character, Steve (Ray Milland), go diving in the wreckage of a ship to see if there was a stowaway on board when it sank. However, they are attacked by a giant squid, and Jack dies in the struggle against the beast. While it is certainly an unusual death in Wayne’s career, he was able to be the hero again, saving Steve in the process.
The Fighting Seabees (1944)
Killed In An Explosion
Released during World War II, The Fighting Seabees tells the fictionalized account of the Navy’s decision to form Construction Battalions or CBs, which were then nicknamed Seabees.
While Western movies were what he became best known for, there are also many John Wayne war movies that stand out. Released during World War II, The Fighting Seabees tells the fictionalized account of the Navy’s decision to form Construction Battalions or CBs, which were then nicknamed Seabees, so that US forces could advance the war effort in the Pacific even during the threat of attack from Japan.
In the movie, John Wayne plays Lt. Cmdr. “Wedge” Donovan, the construction boss of the Seabees who, along with his men, joins the fight aga inst the Japanese army. In the end, Donovan sacrifices his life to ward off an attack from Japanese forces. He initiates a fuel tank explosion that forces the enemy to retreat, but he is shot during the process and is killed in the explosion.
Wake Of The Red Witch (1949)
Drowns In A Shipwreck
Set in the 1860s, Wake of the Red Witch tells the story of rival mariners Mayrant Sidneye (Luther Adler) and Captain Ralls (John Wayne). What starts as a love triangle involving the two men escalates into Captain Ralls intentionally shipwrecking Mayrant Sidneye’s company’s flagship, the Red Witch, with five million dollars worth of gold bullion on board.
After a battle for revenge against each other, the two men strike a deal with Captain Ralls agreeing to return to the wreckage and retrieve the gold. However, when the ship slips off an underwater ledge, Wayne’s character is trapped in the wreckage and dies. It is perhaps the least heroic of Wayne’s most prominent onscreen deaths as the story is more about the greed of these two men and how it leads to the inevitable tragic ending.
Sands Of Iwo Jima (1949)
Shot By A Japanese Soldier
Shortly after World War II concluded, John Wayne starred as the tough-but-caring Sergeant John Stryker in Sands of Iwo Jima, perhaps his most famous role in the war movie genre. Sands of Iwo Jima follows a unit from training to their deployment in the battle for Iwo Jima. Over the course of the film, his character goes from being despised by the subordinate soldiers to ultimately respected and revered.
The movie features one of the most shocking death scenes for Wayne. Following the battle, Stryker is enjoying the moment of victory with his men when he is suddenly shot by a Japanese soldier. On his body, his troops find a letter to his son, filled with the words he never got to say. As they mourn his passing, soldiers raise the American flag in the iconic image from the battle. Wayne earned his first Oscar nomination for his role as Stryker.
The Alamo (1960)
Shot By A Mexican Soldier
John Wayne starred in and directed the historical epic The Alamo, and given the famous true story behind the movie, it shouldn’t be surprising that he doesn’t make it out alive. The film tells the story of the famous last stand made by the Texan forces in the Battle of the Alamo. The Texas army, led by Sam Houston, William Travis, Jim Bowie, and folk legend Davy Crockett, fought valiantly to the end against Mexican forces under the command of General Santa Anna.
As Davy Crockett, Wayne meets his demise at the end of this ill-fated battle. Fighting until the bitter end, Davy Crockett is stabbed with a lance by a Mexican soldier. With his dying breath, he tosses his torch into the supply of gunpowder, blowing it up and taking out everyone around him.
The Cowboys (1972)
Shot By An Outlaw
Based on a novel of the same name by William Dale Jennings, The Cowboys features John Wayne as rancher William Andersen, who is forced to hire a group of schoolboys to serve as his assistants on a cattle drive. Along the way, William Andersen must teach the boys about being not just cowboys but men. As they drive the cattle, the group is stalked and attacked by the villainous Asa Watts, played by Bruce Dern.
During the attack, Andersen protects the boys but is shot to death by Watts while unarmed, cementing the villain as truly detestable. Using the lessons that Andersen taught them, the boys then rally together and exact revenge on Asa Watts before completing the cattle drive. Interestingly, Bruce Dern claims that he still gets a negative reaction from fans who are angry about him shooting an unarmed Wayne in this movie (via Express).
The Shootist (1976)
Shot By A Bartender
Fittingly, John Wayne’s last movie was a Western and a pitch-perfect way to end his career. In The Shootist, Wayne starred as renowned gunslinger J.B. Books. J.B. Books is dying of cancer, making him the target of every gunfighter who wants to make a name for themselves by being the one to kill the legend. As he awaits his inevitable death, J.B. Books becomes a father figure to a young boy, played by Ron Howard.
At the end of the movie, J.B. Books guns down the last of the challengers in a saloon shootout, only to be killed by the bartender. The young boy kills the bartender but rejects the life of a gunslinger, much to J.B. Books’ approval. It is only fitting that John Wayne’s final onscreen appearance brought such closure to his storied career.
While dying in nine movies seems like a lot for one actor, especially one of John Wayne’s status, it is nowhere near the most times that an actor played characters who regularly died in their films. One particular actor has actually become famous for his frequent movie deaths. This is Sean Bean, who seems to die spectacularly in almost every film he appears in, as well as TV shows like Game of Thrones. However, Bean’s 25 on-screen deaths aren’t even close to the record.
Christopher Lee has died an astonishing 70 times on screen over his illustrious career. Not only were his 70 deaths on the big screen a whopping 22 more than the second-place actor, Dennis Hopper, but they came in some of cinema’s biggest movies. Lee died as Dracula more than once. He died as Saruman in Lord of the Rings and as Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. There is almost no chance that anyone will ever catch Lee’s astonishing number of on-screen deaths.
Honestly, there are only two actors still living today who have 41 total deaths each in films: Danny Trejo and Lance Henriksen. Trejo has his 41 deaths in over 400 credits, while Henriksen has his 41 in some big releases like Terminator and Aliens. Other notable actors with more deaths than John Wayne include Mark Hamill (30), Bela Lugosi (36), Eric Roberts (38), Boris Karloff (42), John Hurt (43), and Vincent Price (48).