Yakima Canutt , Inspiration for John Wayne
I’m Susan Allen welcome to Open Range. When it comes to believable horsemanship John Wayne’s success can be attributed to a Northwest cowboy called Yakima Cannutt. Back after the Break. John Wayne’s famous True Grit run with reins in his teeth could be considered tribute to stuntman Yakima Canutt. Despite the name he acquired after a rodeo photographer at the Pendleton Roundup misidentified him, Canutt, born Enos Canutt was raised on a ranch near Colfax not Yakima. After a career in rodeo he applied his riding techniques to develop movie stunts including equipment like release stirrups and cable riggings that while making shots safer for riders often proved deadly for horses. Today much of what he configured has been banned from Hollywood. Canutt’s is known for his jaw dropping foray onto a stage coach made famous in the movie with the same name. John Wayne was so taken with the stunt rider that he patterned his on-screen persona from Canutt... his slow way of talking, his hip rolling walk, all Yakima. Canutt in turn taught Wayne to do his own stunts and the art, (trust me it’s an art), of falling off a horse. By the 1950’s Canutt would become one of the best action directors famous for movies like Ben Hur where he spent five months on the chariot race sequence alone without a human or horse being hurt. Canutt received an Academy Award for creating the category of stuntman and despite breaking nearly every bone in his body from rodeo and stunt riding lived to be 90.
