Laid-back coast town the Duke called home
Newport Beach in John Wayne’s boot prints
Hollywood legend John Wayne spent a lot of his career swaggering through the sands of the Old West. Turns out he did the same thing in his off time — only farther west and, well, on the beach.
Newport Beach, to be precise, where the Duke lived for nearly two decades and raised his family.
Despite being in Orange County, Newport Beach still evokes some of the feeling of an oldtime Hollywood escape, and one way to capture it is through the history of one of its most famous residents. Visitors can follow a not-so-dusty trail around town to the Duke’s favorite spots, see his home and even sail on his yacht. And maybe even swagger a little in the sand.
Riding the waves
“The last thing Dad wanted to do when he got off the set was to get on a horse,” said his daughter Marisa, who still lives in Newport Beach, managing a spin studio called Grit Cycle, named for her dad’s Oscar-winning performance in “True Grit.” “We practically lived on the water.”
Indeed, John Wayne’s old home (since refurbished and rebuilt) sits on a large waterfront plot on Newport Bay. Visitors can take a guided boat tour and cruise around the harbor to see it and many other old Hollywood homes (as well as the newer mansions of those boasting Webbased fortunes). Or you can buy a “map of the stars” and rent one of the omnipresent electric Duffy Boats to do a selfguided tour.
John Wayne’s pride and joy was the Wild Goose, a 136-foot converted World War II minesweeper that was made into his private yacht, entertainment center and home away from home. He and his family sailed it around Newport as well as in Mexico and Alaska.
It remains docked in Newport Harbor, now owned by the Hornblower Cruise company. You can come aboard for tours, where former employees recall Wayne’s glory days of old Hollywood.
“Dean Martin would get drunk and unruly, and they’d lock him down in the quarters below deck here,” my guide said, pointing to a narrow staircase. “The Duke and Sammy Davis Jr. would stay at the poker table here with a few friends drinking, laughing, telling stories until sunrise.”
Even the surfers by Newport Pier have a Wayne connection. The story goes that John Wayne (then Marion Morrison) was bodysurfing near the pier when he was on break from his studies at USC in the 1920s. He injured his shoulder badly enough to end his football-playing career and instead launch one in acting.
On shore
Befitting his cowboy image, John Wayne was a steak-and-potatoes-and-whiskey sort of guy, with many of the older bars and restaurants around Newport Beach featuring framed pictures of the Duke on their walls. One of Wayne’s favorites was a 1920s gas station converted to a steak house now known as the A Restaurant. With its darkened interior, woodpaneled walls, and red leather booths, it’s a place where you can easily imagine Wayne sitting down with fellow Newport Beach-goer Humphrey Bogart for a few smokes and scotches with some red meat.
But Wayne and Newport Beach also had another, lighter side to them.
“Dad always had a sweet tooth,” recalled his daughter Marisa. “He and I would get in the station wagon and stop at Orange Julius on the way to play skee-ball at the Bay Arcade.”
Although he probably didn’t arrive in character, it’s still fun imagining the imposing cowboy wearing a 10-gallon hat and spurs sucking on a fruity shake while sitting on a small wood bench watching his pig-tailed little girl play skee-ball. The Balboa Fun Zone remains a popular Newport Beach attraction where families can grab some saltwater taffy, play classic amusement park games and ride an old Ferris wheel with views
over the harbor.
Resting place
Wayne’s wish was to be buried at Newport Beach, forever resting in his favorite getaway. For years, his grave in Newport’s Pacific View Memorial Park remained unmarked — because of family fears that antiwar protesters would desecrate it over Wayne’s right-wing views and public support of the Vietnam War.
Now the grave is marked only with a humble plaque on the ground depicting a cowboy on horseback in a typical scene from one of John Wayne’s Western movies. But as in life, the cowboy enjoys his final views over the surf, sun and sand.