STALIN THE ICONOCLAST

Stalin 'tried to kill John Wayne' (BBC, 7/31/03)

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was so angered by John Wayne's anti-communism that he plotted to have him murdered, according to a new biography of the Hollywood legend.

John Wayne: The Man behind the Myth, by British writer Michael Munn, says there were several attempts on the actor's life in the 1950s.

In one instance, the book says, two Russian hit men posing as FBI agents visited Wayne at his office in Hollywood - but were foiled by real agents who knew about the plot.

Mr Munn told BBC News Online that he pieced together the truth about the various attempts through interviews with Hollywood figures - including Orson Welles and Wayne himself - over the past 30 years.

Mr Munn said Stalin was enraged when he heard about Wayne's anti-communist activities in the late 1940s - when Hollywood blacklisted those perceived as Soviet sympathisers.

"Stalin decided Wayne had to die," Mr Munn says.

Can the Christopher Hitchens essay about the Duke being a "paralyzingly, painfully, hopelessly" bad actor be far behind? Posted by Orrin Judd at August 3, 2003 6:43 PM