# Picture of John Wayne with a geiger counter **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 20, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733 "2010-04-20T12:33:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gnahr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gnahr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnahr4)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/1 "2010-04-20T12:33:13Z")
In Cecils article “Did John Wayne die of cancer caused by a radioactive movie set?” He talks about how the disastrous “The Conqueror” gave half of the moviecrew cancer. In the article he mentions, that there exists a picture of John Wayne on the set holding a geigercounter. Does anyone know where you can find this picture on the internet? I have searched but with no luck. Thx ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/2 "2010-04-21T06:02:46Z")
Linkie: [Did John Wayne die of cancer caused by a radioactive movie set? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/374/did-john-wayne-die-of-cancer-caused-by-a-radioactive-movie-set) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/3 "2010-04-21T15:06:41Z")
I had no idea about that being how Wayne contracted cancer. In the 50s, of course, scientists were still unsure about the long-term effects of radiation and were setting off explosions willy-nilly without regard to prevailing winds or human impact. There was even a project in the work to create a harbor in Alaska by setting off five or six large nuclear devices near a village. It spawned the first evironmental impact study, which luckily killed the project. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/4 "2010-04-21T16:29:43Z")
Hell, in the 50’s the USDOT wanted to clear a path through the Rocky Mountains for a highway. Guess how they wanted to clear the way? The most amazing thing about the whole project wasn’t what it wanted to do, but that it wasn’t finally scrubbed _until the 70’s_. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/5 "2010-04-21T17:55:47Z")
Wayne was a heavy smoker. He continued smoking even after lung surgery. Perhaps the radiation increased his risk. But, I suspect smoking is what really caused the cancer. I bet 60% of that film crew smoked. Smoking was very common before the 1970’s. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/6 "2010-04-21T18:10:08Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Wayne was a heavy smoker. He continued smoking even after lung surgery. > Perhaps the radiation increased his risk. But, I suspect smoking is what really caused the cancer. > > I bet 60% of that film crew smoked. Smoking was very common before the 1970’s. Did you read the linked article? > [@](#): > > Of the 220 persons who worked on The Conqueror on location in Utah in 1955, 91 had contracted cancer as of the early 1980s and 46 died of it, including stars John Wayne, Susan Hayward, and Agnes Moorehead, and director Dick Powell. Experts say under ordinary circumstances only 30 people out of a group of that size should have gotten cancer. The cause? No one can say for sure, but many attribute the cancers to radioactive fallout from U.S. atom bomb tests in nearby Nevada. > > * * * > > The movie was shot in the canyonlands around the Utah town of St. George…In 1953, the military had tested 11 atomic bombs at Yucca Flats, Nevada, which resulted in immense clouds of fallout floating downwind. Much of the deadly dust funneled into Snow Canyon, Utah, where a lot of The Conqueror was shot. The actors and crew were exposed to the stuff for 13 weeks, no doubt inhaling a fair amount of it in the process, and Hughes later shipped 60 tons of hot dirt back to Hollywood to use on a set for retakes, thus making things even worse…Thirty years later, however, half the residents of St. George had contracted cancer, and veterans of the production began to realize they were in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/7 "2010-04-21T18:28:03Z")
The radiation was definitely a major factor. I was only pointing out cancer sticks (cigarettes) must have played a part too. Some one like J Wayne would have gotten sick regardless. Even if he never made that movie. Lung cancer would have eventually got him. IIRC he was a 2 pack a day smoker. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/8 "2010-04-21T19:05:59Z")
No picture of The Duke and his geiger counter but [here’s a newspaper article from 1980 that talks about his boys believing their cancers can be traced back to visiting the set.](http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YrMTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xI4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4637,1587243&dq=john-wayne+geiger-counter&hl=en) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/9 "2010-04-21T21:51:29Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Hell, in the 50’s the USDOT wanted to clear a path through the Rocky Mountains for a highway. Guess how they wanted to clear the way? The most amazing thing about the whole project wasn’t what it wanted to do, but that it wasn’t finally scrubbed _until the 70’s_. If you want to read a scary and all-too-true book about this sort of thing, give _[The Firecracker Boys](http://www.amazon.com/Firecracker-Boys-H-bombs-Environmental-Movement/dp/0465003486/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271886617&sr=8-1)_ a try. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/10 "2010-04-22T02:53:38Z")
Except Wayne didn’t die of lung cancer – he died of stomach cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/11 "2010-04-22T06:23:14Z")
Really aceplane. Your agenda is obvious and annoying. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/12 "2010-04-22T09:01:41Z")
I poked around with Google and can’t find the picture, but I remember seeing it in a book: John Wayne and his two sons, with their shirts off, holding a Geiger counter on the set of _The Conqueror_. Now if I could just remember the book … ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/13 "2010-04-22T12:46:59Z")
> [@shantih](#): > > I poked around with Google and can’t find the picture, but I remember seeing it in a book: John Wayne and his two sons, with their shirts off, holding a Geiger counter on the set of _The Conqueror_. Now if I could just remember the book … [Hollywood Hall of Shame](http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Hall-Shame-Expensive-History/dp/0399507140/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271940194&sr=8-1) — IIRC, the “Titans and their Toys” exhibit. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-of-john-wayne-with-a-geiger-counter/536733/14 "2010-04-22T14:08:31Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > [Hollywood Hall of Shame](http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Hall-Shame-Expensive-History/dp/0399507140/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271940194&sr=8-1) — IIRC, the “Titans and their Toys” exhibit. [Page 52.](http://books.google.com/books?cd=1&id=1OlkAAAAMAAJ&dq=Hollywood+Hall+of+Shame%3A+The+Most+Expensive+Flops+in+Movie+History&q=geiger+counter)