Posted on 08/10/2005 6:45:51 AM PDT by Mike Bates
From the JW Cancer Institute web page:
"In April 2003, my brother Michael Wayne, the founder of the Institute, passed away. Michael’s commitment to cancer research began in 1979, when our father, John Wayne, succumbed to stomach cancer."
My Dad, fifteen years ago today.
If I may, my condolences on a sad anniversary.
Found a website about celebs and smoking. Per the site, Gary Cooper and Walt Disney also died of Lung Cancer, and Humphrey Bogart died of throat and esophageal cancer. Didn't give their ages at death.
Could have been. Just thought it was lung cancer.
The celebs and smoking website says that John Wayne HAD lung cancer but did not die of it.
They did a bypass on the man, apparently knowing he already had lung cancer, and found that he had stomach cancer as well. He survived the bypass surgery but died of the gastric cancer, not the lung cancer. Perhaps, and I only guess because I don't know, the gastric cancer had spread to his lungs, and they just caught the lung cancer earlier than the gastric.
I know this, that my father was diagnosed with liver cancer, then they did more tests and said, oops, he has colon cancer which has now spread to his liver.
Or maybe the great Duke Wayne had two seperate cancers at once. Wow, how sick he was!
And what a strong fighter he was, too...
As a Navy man and an Power & Light employee he was exposed to asbestos.
He was exposed to radiation in Nagasaki 15 day after we nuked it, when he picked up the POW's to bring them home.
He also smoked for years in his younger days. Although he did quit 30 or so years before his death.
All could be contributing factors to his cancer.
I don't know about Johnny Carson, but John Wayne survived lung cancer (he had a lung or part of a lung removed ...the next movie he made after the surgery was "The Sons of Katie Elder") but died in 1979 of stomach cancer.
Bogie was 57. Died in January 1957. Birthday was Christmas day, 1899.
Okay, okay, I got it now. (LOL!) Well, at least I was right that the Duke HAD lung cancer. So few do survive that.
I also read in a biography of John Wayne, the he filmed a movie in 1956, titled "The Conqueror" that was filmed near one of the atomic bomb testing sites in the Nevada/California desert. The biography states that a large number of people that were on that location later died of some form of cancer.
The biography is "John Wayne: American" by Randy Roberts and James S. Olson.
I thank you for your condolences. It's a horrible thing to watch someone die of this disease, and far too many of us have that personal experience.
Somehow, that sounds vaguely familiar. Wayne did smoke, as did likely lots of the people who were on site of that movie location. Radiological fallout and smoking would both be risk factors of getting cancer. As is hereditary disposition...
Didn't Yul Brenner also do some PSA's about not smoking? That was long ago and I don't remember so well either:)
He tried to quit smoking.
Quote to remember him by..."I have a deep and abiding love for cigarettes."
RIP, Dad.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.