John Wayne struggled with ill-health, confessed ‘I’m on borrowed time’ when John Ford died
George Simpson
JOHN WAYNE, health was in serious decline in his later years as he struggled on tenaciously with just one lung after the removal of the cancerous other in 1964. Tragically, Duke knew his days were numbered when his long-time collaborator director John Ford died in 1973.
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Wayne knew this only too well at the age of 65 when shooting 1973’s Cahill: US Marshall.

Duke suffered from emphysema on his single remaining lung and being significantly weakened, was forced to use a stepladder to climb onto his horse in the movie.

As for riding shots from a distance, Wayne’s Cahill was doubled by Chuck Roberson. Sadly the star ended up dying of stomach cancer himself in 1979, but continued to speak highly of Ford in his final years.