John Wayne's Widow Is Almost A Centenarian: What Her Life Has Been Like Since His Death

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The name John Wayne is instantly recognizable as one of the most famous Western stars to ever appear on screen. It wouldn't be shocking if an image of John comes to mind whenever you see the word "cowboy," though maybe if you're younger, you think of Taylor Sheridan and his many Western TV shows. John died in 1979, but his widow, Pilar Pallete Wayne, is still alive. As of this writing, she's 97 years old and she's even on Instagram!

According to her official website, Pilar is now "a fulltime passionate painter." One of her favorite subjects to paint is John. "I started with faces and I realized that I was no good at painting men. I wanted to, but it wasn't for me. The only one that I liked to paint was my husband, John Wayne," Pilar said to LA Times Today in 2023 (via SpectrumNews1).

Besides painting, Pilar published a cookbook in 1982 entitled "Pilar Wayne's Favorite and Fabulous Recipes," and her recipes were also featured in "The Official John Wayne Family Cookbook" in 2016. She also wrote a book about her relationship with John entitled "John Wayne: My Life With the Duke" in 1987. Pilar married two more times after John's death, to Stephen Stewart in 1984 and then to Jesse L. Upchurch in 1998. Neither relationship would last as long as her 25-year marriage to John.

Pilar Pallete Wayne and John Wayne met in 1952 on a movie set in Peru. However, both of them were already married at the time, so the couple would not be able to begin their marriage to each other until 1954. Their age-gap relationship (with 21 years between them) apparently had its difficulties, including an early pregnancy prior to their marriage that Pilar ultimately decided to terminate, both for the sake of John's career and due to his divorce proceedings with his second wife, Esperanza Baur. They were also living in separate houses in the years leading up to his death, and although John left Pilar out of his will, he still made sure she was provided for financially when they had separated in 1973 (per New York Times).

Despite having drifted apart, Pilar only has positive things to say about John. "I tell them Duke wasn't perfect, but he was 80%, and he was very much a family man," Pilar said in a 1987 interview with the Los Angeles Times. John had kids from different marriages, welcoming seven children total across his three marriages, and three kids with Pilar: Aissa, Ethan, and Marissa.

Pilar especially shows her enduring fondness for John on her Instagram now, with almost every post being dedicated to him or bringing him up in some way. She called him "the love of my life" on a 2023 wedding anniversary post, and shared a video of herself working on a painting of John in another post from earlier that same year. Clearly she still sees him and their relationship in a positive light even after all these years.