Big Enough for John Wayne and Me

ANDREW J. FENADYAWARD-WINNINGWRITER/PRODUCER OF CHISUMFor well over half a century, family and scores of friends and even strangers have been inquiring about, and listening to, countless anecdotes, mostly in the humorous vein, involving celebrities I have worked with, many of whom were close friends - John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Charles Bronson, Jack Warner, Robert Taylor, Ray Milland, Burt Reynolds, Broderick Crawford, Bob Hope, Don Ameche, Nick Adams, Chuck Connors, Dan Blocker, Hedy Lamarr, Gail Russell, Agnes Moorhead, Stella Stevens, Angela Lansbury, John Carradine, John Ford, Don Meredith - on and on. As time goes by, those family members, friends and even strangers, have become more vocal in urging me to put at least some of it on paper, in part for our family generations of the future, and as one man's perspective of the past with people in a time and place that can never happen again. It became evident that I would have to put up or shut up. It's not easy for a zesty fellow to shut up. The lesser of two consequences was to start scribbling. What was it like, this place, Hollywood? Was it Babylon - or Paradise? What were they like, these people? Were they heaven sent - or hell bent? Or both? If you'd care for one man's perspective with a liberal dose of humor (I hope) kindly read on.