During their last time together, Wayne reportedly reflected on the “lousy luck” each of them had from O’Hara’s own cancer battle, the death of her husband in a plane crash, and Wayne’s cancer battle.
After three days of reminiscing about their friendship and remembering special moments they had shared, it was time for O’Hara to say goodbye to the man known as Duke. As she put on her coat and said goodbye to her “very best friend,” John Wayne is reported to have said, “That’s a gorgeous coat. It looks beautiful on you.” Those would be John Wayne’s final words to O’Hara, a woman he once called “the greatest guy I ever knew.”
John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara were introduced through famed director John Ford shortly after the Irish actress came to America in 1939 to star in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Wayne and O’Hara remained friends, but their friendship blossomed after they starred together in Rio Grande, the first of five movies they would star in together. Other movies would include The Quiet Man, The Wings of Eagles, McLintock!, and Big Jake.
