The shooter showed Ron Howard what an 'artist' John Wayne could be

If you've read a biography of Wayne, you'll find that most of his co-stars are extremely appreciative, if not downright amazed, at his ability to mold a character to suit his particular needs. In Scott Eyman's 'John Wayne: The Life and Legend', Ron Howard, who worked with the star on his swan song, Don Siegel's 'The Shootist', explains how he came to learn the art of the game actor from The Duke. As he told Eyman:

"When we were doing lines and [Wayne] was sorting out his performance, there was sometimes an awkward moment that was a little stuffy - speech that didn't quite land. And he was saying , 'Let me try again.' And he put this hitch, this pause he had in his speeches, and the verse suddenly took on power. He understood how to work the rhythms of the word, to find a surprising nuance in the moment of the dialogue.

According to Howard, this was "Wayne's way of emphasizing an aspect of a verbal moment". When the actor-director revisited Wayne's films over the years, he found that these minor tweaks could make him laugh or look vulnerable. "It was interesting," Howard said. "And that was art."