Biographie

A noticeable weight gain and failing health (back problems) triggered his suicide in 1959, at the age of 54, dying from an overdose of barbiturates. He left behind a note in which he apologized to all the people he'd purportedly let down during his Hollywood days.

He eloped with Loretta Young in 1930 when he was 25 and she was just 17, shortly after appearing together in The Second Floor Mystery (1930). He was not Catholic, and they were not married by a priest. The scandal caused a sensation. Loretta was able to obtain an annulment since the marriage was invalid in the eyes of the Catholic Church.

John Wayne was best man at his marriage to Estelita Rodriguez.

Married and divorced five times, including an annulment from Loretta Young, his first.

In his later years he was a member of what became known as "The John Ford Stock Co.", a group of character actors whom director John Ford used in many of his films.