When people think of John Wayne, they often assume he must have collected a shelf full of Oscars for all the iconic Westerns he starred in. But in reality, he won only one competitive Academy Award in his entire career — and it came very close to the end of his career. That long-awaited moment came on April 7, 1970, at the 42nd Academy Awards, when Wayne took home the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit.
