# The one actor John Wayne and John Ford agreed was “the best we ever had”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-one-actor-john-wayne-and-john-ford-agreed-was-the-best-we-ever-had/
- Published: 2026-10-29T19:15:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-30T03:25:07+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/actor-john-wayne-john-ford-agreed-best-we-ever-had/
- Topics: Celebrity, Entertainment

## Key points

- Ford named Spencer Tracy his best actor.
- He valued natural, understated performances.
- Wayne ranked Tracy first among actors too.

## Summary

John Ford and John Wayne were celebrated collaborators, but Ford did not consider Wayne the finest actor he had worked with. He named Spencer Tracy instead, explaining that he valued natural performances and actors who could simply be themselves.

Ford and Wayne made several influential films together, and Wayne regarded Ford as his greatest director despite Ford’s habit of belittling his acting. Ford worked with Tracy twice, in *Up the River* (1930) and *The Last Hurrah* (1958); Wayne also ranked Tracy first on his own list of the five finest actors.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.