Hollywood icon John Wayne may have developed cancer from radiation exposure from nearby nuclear testing while filming "The Conqueror" in Utah in 1956, according to reports.
During filming in Snow Canyon, Utah, few members of the cast and crew were aware that just months earlier, the Atomic Energy Commission had conducted 11 nuclear tests at Yucca Flat in neighboring Nevada, according to RadarOnline.
Thousands of sheep died after one of the blasts, but according to the outlet, the AEC said the deaths were the result of "unprecedented cold weather."
As RadarOnline reported, radioactive dust settled in Snow Canyon, and for 13 weeks, Wayne was exposed to it through inhalation and contaminated drinking water. He and his sons brought a Geiger counter into the desert.
The outlet cited a local newspaper as saying: "It is said to have crackled so loudly, John Wayne thought it was broken. Moving it to different clumps of rocks and sand produced the same result. Officials said the canyons and dunes around St. George, a remote, dusty town where the film was shooting, was completely safe."
By 1980, cancer had affected 91 of the 240 people involved in the making of "The Conqueror," with 46 ultimately dying from the disease, prompting a researcher to declare it "an epidemic," RadarOnline reported.
Director Dick Powell died from cancer in 1963, the same year actor Pedro Armendáriz, who portrayed Jamuga, Genghis Khan's ally, took his own life after a diagnosis of terminal neck cancer.
Susan Hayward, cast as a Tartar princess, died from brain cancer in 1975, while Agnes Moorehead, known for her healthy lifestyle, died of uterine cancer the year before.
John Wayne's sons, Michael Wayne and Patrick Wayne, frequently visited the set. Later, Michael Wayne was treated for skin cancer, and Patrick Wayne had a benign tumor removed from his chest.
John Wayne beat lung cancer in 1964 but died from stomach cancer in 1979. After his death, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Defense Nuclear Agency was cited by RadarOnline as saying, "Please, God, don't let us have killed John Wayne."
According to The Guardian, the film ultimately became known as an "RKO Radioactive Picture."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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