What Happened to ‘Wagon Train’ Star Ward Bond? Inside His Sudden Death and John Wayne’s Final Goodbye
Even if Ward Bond‘s name doesn’t sound familiar, you probably remember his face. He was Bert the police officer in It’s a Wonderful Life, Captain Clayton in The Searchers, and Major Seth Adams on Wagon Train. With Wagon Train, after decades as one of Hollywood’s busiest supporting actors, Bond finally became the star of his own television series. Unfortunately, his life ended suddenly, just a few years later, on November 5, 1960, at just 57 years old, leaving Wagon Train without its original wagon master and fellow Western star John Wayne without one of his closest friends.
Wardell Edwin Bond was born on April 9, 1903, in Benkelman, Nebraska. He lived there with his family until 1919, when they moved to Denver. Bond later attended the University of Southern California, where he played football and was a starting lineman on the school’s first national championship team in 1928.
Football helped him get into movies as director John Ford recruited Bond, Wayne, and several other football players for small roles in the 1929 film Salute. Ford paired the two young men together, and they soon became close friends. Their friendship would last for more than 30 years. He made 25 films with Ford and also worked several times with director Frank Capra. His many credits included It Happened One Night, The Grapes of Wrath, The Maltese Falcon, Sergeant York, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Rio Bravo.
Wagon Train made Ward Bond a TV star
Everett Collection
Bond and Wayne also shared the screen many times. They appeared together in 22 movies and two television shows, including They Were Expendable, Fort Apache, The Quiet Man, The Searchers and Rio Bravo. Their long history together made Bond one of Wayne’s closest friends in Hollywood.
In 1957, Bond landed one of his rare leading roles as Major Seth Adams on NBC’s Wagon Train. The Western followed a group of settlers traveling from Missouri to California, with Adams serving as the wagon master responsible for getting them there safely. The series became one of television’s biggest hits and reached No. 1 in the ratings during the spring of 1960.
Bond was still starring in Wagon Train when he traveled to Dallas in November 1960 with his wife, Mary Louise. He was scheduled to make a personal appearance at the Cotton Bowl during a game between the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys. Instead, he sadly suffered a heart attack at the Town House Motor Hotel and died at age 57. His death came during production of Wagon Train’s fourth season. Rather than explaining his disappearance, producers brought in John McIntire as a new wagon master named Christopher Hale.
John Wayne’s final goodbye to Ward Bond
Everett Collection
The loss hit Wayne hard. He accompanied Bond’s body back from Dallas and delivered the eulogy at his funeral. “We were the closest of friends, from school right on through,” Wayne said, according to his website. “He was a wonderful, generous, big-hearted man.” Wayne also took part in a ceremony at sea before Bond’s ashes were scattered in the ocean. Bond left Wayne the same shotgun Wayne had borrowed on a hunting trip years earlier before accidentally shooting Bond in the backside in his will. Bond was not seriously injured, but he never let Wayne forget what happened.
Bond received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960, just months before his death. In 2001, he was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
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