Movies - TV
John Wayne Almost Quit The Acting Business Over Girls Demand Excitement
By SHAE SENNETT
John Wayne was a Hollywood legend for decades, and his rugged individuality was a big part of his image, as he became known for playing a lonesome cowboy. However, Wayne found his brief stint as a romantic comedy actor in the movie “Girls Demand Excitement” so embarrassing that he almost hung up his cowboy hat for good, before ever becoming a household name.
In a 1976 interview, Wayne said, “[It was] a story about a college in which the boys don't want the girls there. So it was probably as ridiculous a thing as I've ever been in. [...] I remember that [film] decided me to get out of the business all together.” Wayne also wasn’t a fan of the film's vulgarity, and described couples hanging out of windows “in each other's clutches leaving lipstick all over” with extreme vitriol.
Thankfully, Wayne's embarrassment was very short-lived, as he added, “Luckily they put me in those quicky Westerns, and I developed a beautiful life then for about 10 years of hunting from September to March and doing the four-and-a-half and five-day pictures.” Wayne then became the best-known movie cowboy in cinematic history, all thanks to his persistence as an actor.