John Wayne Called ‘True Grit’ the Best Script He Ever Read — and It Won Him an Oscar

John Wayne in True Grit graphic image — Everett Collection

What To Know

John Wayne’s portrayal of Rooster Cogburn in True Grit is celebrated as one of his best roles.
Wayne ensured blacklisted screenwriter Marguerite Roberts received full credit for the film’s acclaimed script.
The character of Rooster Cogburn, a gruff yet principled U.S. Marshal, became iconic.

When True Grit was released in the summer of 1969, it brought us John Wayne as the craggy and cranky, ever-drunk but always quick on the draw, Rooster Cogburn. Wayne played the one-eyed antihero of author Charles Portis’ spare but powerful novel, published just a year before the hit film. He is not only a character for the ages, but also the one meant to be the final peak to John Wayne’s immense career, finally winning the star an Oscar.

Despite Wayne’s conservative views, the actor made sure that blacklisted screenwriter Marguerite Roberts got full screen credit for True Grit, which he called “the best script I’ve ever read.”

He had the right idea. The story follows the gruff U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, acting against his better instincts as he agrees to be hired by headstrong 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Kim Darby). She is looking for the scoundrel Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey), who murdered her father. Glen Campbell, as Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, is also along for the ride.

TRUE GRIT, Kim Darby, John Wayne, Glen Campbell, 1969

Everett Collection

Cogburn, who meets his match in Mattie, just wants to be left alone, get tanked, and collect his fees from his job working for the famed “hanging judge” Isaac Parker (James Westerfield) in the notoriously violent Indian Territory. Still, he’s got admiration for Mattie’s spunk, and he refuses to cotton to any unnecessary cruelty, especially when it comes to the youngster. “She reminds me of me,” he tells LaBoeuf at one point.

In the end, Cogburn gets his man and saves the day, famously putting his horse’s reins in his mouth and riding with rifles loaded toward his showdown with a cry of “Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!”

After having killed Chaney and saved Mattie’s life, Cogburn bids Mattie one final adieu in style—by jumping a fence atop his horse and racing off into the Hollywood sunset.

Wayne reprised the role of Rooster in the 1975 film, Rooster Cogburn, teaming up with Katharine Hepburn for the first time in both their long careers. While essentially the same story, it showed a softer, more romantic side of the gruff antihero, but didn’t have the same draw as True Grit, leaving plans for a third movie scrapped.

This article appeared in the February 2026 Top Cowboys issue of ReMIND Magazine. It can be purchased at the link below.