How often did John Wayne die in his movies?

John Wayne’s characters died on screen nine times across his film career, a striking tally for an actor best known as the western hero who gets everyone through. The deaths matter particularly in his final films, where the loss of his characters turns familiar stories of authority and gunfighter legend into reflections on what younger characters learn from them.

Among the examples are Sgt John M Stryker in *Sands of Iwo Jima*, Davy Crockett in *The Alamo*, and Wil Andersen in *The Cowboys*. Several earlier deaths involved drowning, while Wayne’s last screen role, JB Books in *The Shootist*, ends with the young admirer Gillom rejecting the gunfighter’s path. Tom Doniphon’s off-screen death in *The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance* brings the total to ten if included.