# John Wayne vs. Clint Eastwood **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 3, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-wayne-vs-clint-eastwood/534829 "2010-04-03T15:46:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-wayne-vs-clint-eastwood/534829/61 "2015-05-03T03:15:44Z")
See [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18335790&postcount=24) for more information or look at [Your Top 5 All-Time Westerns Stars](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=755009) for a more complete background. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-wayne-vs-clint-eastwood/534829/62 "2015-05-04T14:08:53Z")
Heh. I’m a little slow. I just realized that these two guys represent a shift in American movie goer tastes. Wayne generally played in fairly straight forward “good guys v. bad guys” type stories and roles, which was more popular in the forties and fifties. Eastwood played more realistic (or ambiguous) characters, when audiences were more willing to watch “grey area” heroes. (I never saw any of the Rawhide stuff.) Is it possible that a viewers story telling tastes is going to determine which actor they like better? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-wayne-vs-clint-eastwood/534829/63 "2015-05-04T14:17:15Z")
Eastwood. I’m simply not old enough to be able to appreciate John Wayne as a contemporary figure; he’s a dead guy who starred in a lot of “old” movies (not saying that’s a bad thing, it’s just my perception of him). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-wayne-vs-clint-eastwood/534829/64 "2015-05-04T14:27:56Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > J > Eastwood: > – if anybody has done a convincing impression of him, I haven’t seen it, but Jim Carrey could “Call me Snake.” Kurt Russel’s entire performance in EFNY is a Clint impersonation. I swear Christian Slater did a movie like that as well, but I can’t remember it. And head to head, I’d give it to Eastwood for the total range of work, including his directing. Wayne made a lot of great movies, but so did Eastwood. Heck I even like some of their “lesser” movies, such as _Brannigan_, and\* Honkytonk Man.\* But\* The Shootist\* is the Greatest Western Evah, even more so than Josie Wales. ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-wayne-vs-clint-eastwood/534829/65 "2015-05-04T15:53:02Z")
I love them both but think John Wayne wins on amount of dialogue. Rooster on a Hot Tin Roof is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-wayne-vs-clint-eastwood/534829/66 "2015-05-04T20:43:49Z")
Wayne was a greater Western star. Eastwood is a greater star overall. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-wayne-vs-clint-eastwood/534829/67 "2015-05-04T22:09:57Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Eastwood. > > I’m simply not old enough to be able to appreciate John Wayne as a contemporary figure; he’s a dead guy who starred in a lot of “old” movies (not saying that’s a bad thing, it’s just my perception of him). Same here. Also, Eastwood did _Kelly’s Heros._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-wayne-vs-clint-eastwood/534829.md?page=3)