Movies - TV
A Fox Exec Called Out John Wayne's Xenophobia On The Longest Day
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
Although John Wayne is a Hollywood legend, the actor had notoriously bigoted views and made numerous problematic comments, such as when he worked on "The Longest Day."
In Scott Eyman's "20th Century-Fox: Darryl F. Zanuck and the Creation of the Modern Film Studio," Eyman shares an incident on the film's set where Wayne said something xenophobic.
Wayne supposedly entered publicist Fred Hift's office and asked his secretary about her nationality. She said that she was half-French and half-American.
The actor just responded, "There is no such thing. You're either 100 percent American or nothing." Hift's secretary told Fox executive Darryl F. Zanuck about the incident.
"The Longest Day" was a French/British/American/German co-production, so an enraged Zanuck confronted Wayne on the film's set in front of the entire French crew.
Wayne wouldn't repeat his remark, so Zanuck told everyone what he said. The French crew was disgusted and refused to talk to Wayne for the rest of the shoot.