When Soviet Assassins Came After John Wayne, He Apparently Knew Exactly What To Do

A team of KGB hitmen attempting to assassinate a Hollywood star may seem like the premise for an outlandish movie — but it apparently really happened. Truth is often stranger than fiction, after all. And film historian Michael Munn believes he uncovered a killer plot in which movie legend John Wayne found himself a target of Joseph Stalin. But it seems that when the notorious Soviet dictator decided to take out Wayne, he didn’t count on The Duke’s resourcefulness.

A Western icon — but an Eastern threat

Wayne, of course, was a Western icon and a war film hero famous for his swaggering presence in pictures such as True Grit and Sands of Iwo Jima. He became so well-known, in fact, that in 1975 even Emperor Hirohito from Japan wanted to meet him. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had that pleasure, too — and he apparently confirmed the plot on Wayne's life.

Politically oblivious — at first

It all seemingly stems from Wayne’s activities in the 1940s. The star's trenchant conservative views are arguably part of his legacy, after all. And this was despite the fact that the star paid little mind to political matters during his early years. Henry Fonda even claimed, “When we first made movies together, the Duke couldn’t even spell politics.” In the 1940s, though, Wayne earned a place on the board of the Screen Actors Guild, after which he became aware of the more left-leaning aspects of Hollywood.

A display of patriotism gets attention

It seems that Wayne became interested in politics after being denied entry into the military during World War II. He was said to have been downcast at his rejection and reportedly never felt wholly comfortable about playing military heroes when he hadn’t actually served. Consequently, he looked for other ways in which he could display his fierce patriotism.

Taking on the left

So, toward the end of the war, Wayne became a founder of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals (MPA). This group aimed to take on Hollywood’s leftist fraternity. And while there’s talk that the actor only joined the organization to keep some of his rightwing buddies happy, he nevertheless served as MPA’s president from 1949 through 1952 — when Red Scare hysteria had America firmly in its grip.

An unsuspected advance into the public sphere

Studio bosses pleaded with Wayne to step back from politics, telling him that it would end his career to court controversy. When the opposite happened, though, the star seemed to have the last laugh. Reportedly, he once said, “When I became president of the Alliance, I was 32nd on the box office polls, but last year [1950] I’d skidded up near the top.”

Blacklisting Hollywood

During his time with the MPA, Wayne also worked on a “blacklist” intended to destroy the careers of purported communists. And legend has it that this endeavor ultimately came to the attention of the Soviets — in particular, noted Russian movie director Sergei Gerasimov.

Red-baiting scare

Wayne had tasted the anger of communists before, having previously been sent anonymous threats. But when a friend suggested that the actor could back off a bit on his red-baiting, he was adamant, allegedly responding, “No goddamn commie’s gonna frighten me.” Yet Gerasimov had the ear of someone who was not just any “goddamn commie.”

People questioned his loyalty

Yet debate still rages about how anti-red Wayne was in reality. Unlike a number of his contemporaries, he showed a willingness to forgive former communists if they were repentant. Most notably, he welcomed Edward Dmytryk back into Hollywood after the director had recanted his leftwing political stance.

Showing his true colors — and angering Moscow

Nonetheless, Wayne’s work for the MPA showed which side of the fence he was on. And this was what Gerasimov is said to have reported to Stalin when he returned to Moscow. Supposedly, the Soviet leader was all ears when Gerasimov gave him the lowdown on both the blacklist and Wayne’s fierce attacks on communists.

Stalin gets the news

The Soviet dictator was perhaps not as commanding a figure in the last five years of his life, though. Stalin was in his 70s at the time, and his health was deteriorating. Some thought that he’d even had either a stroke or a heart attack shortly after WWII had ended. In any case, he took extended holidays — sometimes five months long — and cut back on public speeches and writing.

He was a fan of Westerns

Yet Stalin was said to regularly gather his comrades to watch movies — and not just Soviet-made productions, either. By some accounts, the leader had a penchant for European and U.S. films, including detective and boxing flicks. Stalin was also believed to have been keen on the work of Charlie Chaplin as well as some of Jimmy Cagney’s big-screen outings. But Stalin supposedly appreciated cowboy films above all others.

A soft spot for the cowboys

His successor, Nikita Khrushchev, wrote in his memoirs, “[Stalin] used to curse [cowboy movies], give them a proper ideological evaluation, and then immediately order new ones.” And as John Ford Westerns apparently had a special place in the dictator’s heart, it’s likely he knew Wayne’s screen work pretty well. In fact, Stalin may well have seen himself in some of Duke’s characters.

Seeing himself in Wayne

In his 2003 book, Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, Simon Sebag Montefiore hinted as much, writing, “Stalin regarded himself as history’s lone knight, riding out with weary resignation on another noble mission. [He was] the Bolshevik version of the mysterious cowboy arriving in a corrupt frontier town.” And the aging strongman reportedly didn’t draw the line between fantasy and reality.

Taking it literally

In a piece for Sight and Sound magazine, filmmaker Grigori Kozintsev wrote of the dictator, “Stalin didn’t watch movies as works of art. He watched them as though they were real events taking place before his eyes — the real actions of people.” So, somewhat curiously, Stalin sent Gerasimov to attend a peace conference in New York.

The ultimate betrayal

And when the director returned, he had plenty to say about Wayne’s behavior. These details apparently left Stalin so furious about what he heard that he decided to take action. The plan was simple, too: a KGB hit team was to go to Hollywood and take John Wayne out.

Wayne refuses to hide

Then, when news of the plot reached America, the authorities took heed and offered Wayne some protection. Yet the actor was having none of it. In his 2003 book, John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth, Michael Munn claims that Wayne had responded, “I’m not gonna hide away for the rest of my life. This is the land of the free, and that’s the way I’m gonna stay.”

KGB in Hollywood

Apparently, the KGB hit squad really did turn up in Hollywood. And after having found out that Wayne kept an office on the Warner Brothers lot, the Soviets are said to have gotten through security by pretending to be FBI agents. Obligingly, they even apparently received directions to find Duke.

Playing it cool

But as we mentioned, the FBI was fully aware that the foreigners had come for Wayne. So members of the bureau lurked nearby — out of sight — as the star and a writer called James Grant took their places in the front of the office, trying to maintain a pretense of normality.

The feds swoop in

Then the would-be murderers apparently came into Wayne’s office. But before they could complete the mission that Stalin had seemingly set for them, the feds reportedly jumped out and grabbed the bad guys. Yes, before the two hitmen could even touch a hair on Wayne’s head, they allegedly found themselves weaponless and cuffed.

A false alarm

After that, the FBI agents supposedly bundled the Soviets into cars and traveled to a beach out of town. There, Munn reported, the captives were taken to the surf and forced to their knees, awaiting what they may have feared would be their executions. But, apparently, when weapons were fired, there was a twist: they were loaded with nothing more dangerous than blanks.

A twist in the tale

This terrifying experience would have been a mere taste of what awaited the KGB men back in Russia — where failure would surely not have been tolerated. So, the duo apparently chose to defect on the spot. And the watching Wayne was reportedly cool, telling the Soviets, “Welcome to the land of the free” — before driving off and leaving them to the American authorities.

Wayne denied help

You may think that after that attempt, Wayne would have changed his mind about receiving protection from the FBI. Yet that apparently wasn’t the case. "Afterwards, though, John shunned FBI protection and did not want his family to know," Munn told The Guardian in 2003. "He moved into a house with a big wall around it."

Loyal lookouts got to work

Still, even if Wayne was secure at home, there were other ways and means by which Stalin could track him down. That's perhaps why the actor’s stuntman buddy Yakima Canutt decided to take action. Reportedly, Canutt and his friends infiltrated communist groups in southern California in order to find out what was going on and whether Wayne was still in danger.

A second attempt

In the process, the group seemingly discovered that the thwarting of the previous murder attempt hadn’t put off the KGB altogether. Allegedly, there was also a scheme to attack Wayne on the set of the film Hondo in Mexico in 1953 — although this plot was ultimately foiled, too.

Sending them off for good

Then, in 1955, the stuntmen apparently found out that KGB agents were hiding at a printing company in Burbank, California. In response, Canutt and his crew allegedly gave the Soviets a beatdown and sent them packing. After that, the agents were put on a plane to Moscow — and, reportedly, that was the last anyone ever heard of them.

As told by Orson Welles

How did the story of Wayne’s brush with the KGB come to light? Well, Munn claimed that the tale had been recounted to him by none other than Orson Welles in 1983. In 2003 the biographer told The Guardian, “Mr. Welles was a great storyteller, but he had no particular admiration for John Wayne.” And Welles may have had impeccable sources, too.

Confirming the story

Supposedly, the director had heard about the Wayne plot from filmmaker Sergei Bondarchuk, who in turn had been told by another Russian movie man named Alexei Kapler. Bondarchuk hadn’t believed the news, though, until he’d spoken to Gerasimov, who gave assurances that the tale was legitimate.

Wayne found out

Wayne himself would apparently receive first-hand confirmation of the attempt on his life from an even better authority: Khrushchev. The Russian leader met with the star during a visit to the U.S. in 1959, and on that occasion, he supposedly told Wayne that the plot had indeed been real.

The threat died with Stalin

While at a 20th Century Fox event, Wayne had apparently taken Khrushchev to one side and questioned him as to why the Soviets had wanted him dead. To this, Khrushchev reportedly told him, “That was the decision of Stalin during his last five mad years.” And the politician seemingly confirmed that he was certain the danger was past, continuing, “When Stalin died, I rescinded the order.”

More enemies for Wayne

Still, Wayne was supposedly not completely safe from communist foes. Khrushchev is said to have explained that Chinese leader Mao Zedong had also known all about the plot — and that it may have given him the idea to try to succeed where Stalin had completely failed.

Mao out for Wayne

One rumored incident suggests that Mao did indeed have it out for Wayne. While Duke was visiting a Vietnamese village in 1966, he allegedly came under fire from a sniper who was subsequently caught by the U.S. military. Peculiarly, though, the would-be killer was not Vietnamese but Chinese — and he had apparently carried out the attempted hit at Mao’s behest.

A legacy secured

Perhaps this only added to the star’s legend. And his mythical status grew over more than 170 films — many of which were successful. At one point, Wayne shifted more tickets at the box office than anyone bar Clark Gable. Interestingly, both men began their respective rises to fame at about the same time, too. Although Wayne’s career endured for years longer than Gable’s.

Call me Duke

Famously, the ever-macho Wayne also preferred to be known by his nickname of Duke — a moniker that had come courtesy of a childhood neighbor. The man dubbed the young Marion Morrison “Little Duke,” as he had gone everywhere with a family pet called — you guessed it — Duke.

Finding his name

Wayne even began his career as Duke Morrison, although that soon changed. After the actor was cast in 1930’s The Big Trail, it was decided that he needed a new name. And while director Raoul Walsh suggested Anthony Wayne — after the Revolutionary War general — the studio curiously thought that this suggestion was “too Italian.”

A symbol of America

After the fledgling star received his brand-new screen name, though, he became instantly recognizable across the world. Wayne came to symbolize America in many respects — something that the man himself would go on to recognize. And as his career went from strength to strength, he started to pick roles that matched that image and rejected those that didn’t.

Forever rugged

Most famously, Wayne portrayed rugged characters — often cowboys or outlaws. After appearing in The Big Trail, he honed his craft in a string of small Western movies, building up to the film that would bring him his big break. This came in 1939 with the release of John Ford's hit Stagecoach — an acclaimed epic that won Wayne considerable plaudits from critics.

Finally scoring his Oscar

And thanks to his performances in movies such as Red River and The Searchers, Wayne arguably came to embody America’s frontier past. Perhaps his defining role, though, was as True Grit’s grizzled lawman Rooster Cogburn — a part that saw Wayne finally scoop the Best Actor Oscar.

A man of many honors

The Academy Award was far from the only honor that Wayne would receive, either, as in 1979 he was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal. This is one of the two most prestigious decorations given out to American civilians, with the actor achieving the other accolade the following year when President Jimmy Carter posthumously granted him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

An airport is named after him

Two decades on, the American Film Institute even saw fit to place Wayne on its list of the “Greatest American Screen Legends.” And his legacy endures through the several places that have been named in his honor — the most notable of these being, perhaps, John Wayne Airport in California’s Orange County.