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John Wayne's illicit affair with actress was investigated by FBI and ended his marriage
News of the affair reached to his wife Josephine, who was furious, and asked a priest to talk to her husband. Eyman wrote in the book: “Dietrich was very near the last straw.” John “knew the marriage was over”, said the author, after realising his wife was unable to drop the subject. However, it wasn’t the last time the actor would become entangled in extra-marital affair scandals. His second wife, Esperanza Baur, had believed her husband was seeing actress Gail Russell.Despite the accusation, both actors denied they were having an affair. It came after John and Gail filmed the 1946 film Angel and the Badman, where they were involved in love scenes. According to the Outsider, John arrived back late at his estate one night, and Esperanza was waiting for him with a loaded gun. As he walked through the front door, the actor’s wife tried to shoot him. Somehow, the happy couple stayed together for another seven years before eventually divorcing. They were ultimately married for 8 years, from 1946 to 1954. That same year, he married actress Pilar Pallete, with whom he stayed married until his death in 1979. He died from stomach cancer at the age of 72 after suffering from serious health problems in the latter stages. In 1973, the year Cahill US Marshall was released, Wayne told journalists: "I'm pretty much living on borrowed time."John, also known as The Duke, had a long career in Hollywood, starring in 74 films from 1926 until 1976.
