Fact Check: The Claim a Child's Letter Helped John Wayne Convert to Christianity Requires Some Context
Claim:
John Wayne accepted Jesus Christ as his savior after a child in critical condition wrote him a letter.
Rating:
What's True:
It's true that Carol Schuller, daughter of the Rev. Robert Schuller, wrote a letter to "The Duke" after having her leg amputated from a motorcycle injury.
What's Undetermined:
However, there is no significant evidence that the letter had an impact on Wayne's decision to convert to Christianity.
A longstanding myth about legendary actor John Wayne, also known as "The Duke," resurfaced in a Facebook post on June 11, 2024. The user wrote:
I like to hear stories of people getting saved John Wayne got saved 3 weeks before he died God used a young girl that had to have her leg amputated a Christian girl to witness to John Wayne threw a letter it touched John Wayne's heart and he gave his heart to Jesus Christ. This shows the love of God that God gave John Wayne another chance before he died ain't God good. So we should never give up on anybody for God can and will save them
The claim has been spread on other social media platforms, such as X. The myth surrounding this claim posits that the Rev. Robert Schuller's daughter wrote to John Wayne after being hospitalized from a motorcycle accident. Being so emotionally overcome, Wayne decided he was going to give his life to Christ and three weeks later he died.
We first reported on this claim in 2001, where we found some inconsistencies in the surrounding facts, resulting in a "Mixture" rating. In the report we stated:
Pastor Robert Schuller does have a daughter who lost her left leg in a 1978 motorcycle accident, but the girl's name is Carol, not Cindy. Thirteen-year-old Carol Schuller spent seven months in the hospital recovering from the accident and subsequent amputation. Robert Schuller recounts in one of his sermons her receiving a note from John Wayne during this time, yet there is no mention of Carol's writing back to him, let alone of her note having changed the Duke's life.
Wayne did convert to Catholicism on his deathbed. According to Catholicism.org:
In fact, according to his eldest son, Michael, Wayne had asked Father John Curtis, C.P., the chaplain of the hospital where he spent his last days, to convert him "the day before he died." He must have had some powerful prayers being said for him because that is exactly what happened.
Although he converted, there is no evidence that a letter from Schuller's daughter prompted Wayne to convert or "accept Jesus in his heart." A YouTube video posited that Wayne converted either because of his children, who were devout Catholics, or because of his relationship with director John Ford, also a devout Catholic.
Carol Schuller responded to our original reporting in a 2020 Facebook post with specific details regarding the story. However, even with that clarification, the timeline is muddled.
Wayne died in June 1979 and Schuller was hospitalized in July 1978, according to her post. Seeing as Wayne converted just before he died, the letter would have been delivered months prior. While Schuller may have written such a letter, there isn't any significant evidence it had a significant impact on Wayne's decision to convert to Christianity.
For these reasons, we're sticking with our previous rating of "Mixture."
Sources:
Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/CSMilner.Inspires/posts/back-to-the-john-wayne-story-in-response-to-private-messages-ive-received-some-a/3452634981462286/. Accessed 16 July 2024.
Facts Verse. Why John Wayne Converted His Religion on His Deathbed. 2022. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyRXu99Ag6s.
Kelly, Brian. "John Wayne 'I'm a Cardiac-Catholic.'" Catholicism.Org, 24 Aug. 2009, https://catholicism.org/john-wayne-im-a-cardiac-catholic.html.
Mikkelson, Barbara. "Did a Child's Letter Prompt John Wayne to Accept Jesus Before He Died?" Snopes, 27 Mar. 2001, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/waynes-whirled/.
