Henry Hathaway - Later Career and Death

Later Career and Death

In the 1960s, Hathaway directed John Wayne in several notable films, including Circus World (1964). Wayne asked Hathaway to cast John Smith in the role of Steve McCabe in the film. Smith from 1959 to 1963 had played the part of rancher Slim Sherman on NBC's Laramie series. According to Smith's Internet biography, Hathaway developed an intense dislike for Smith and stopped him from landing choice roles thereafter in Hollywood.

Hathaway also directed Wayne in his Oscar winning performance in True Grit (1969).

He directed Nevada Smith, a 1966 Western starring Steve McQueen that was based on the Harold Robbins' novel The Carpetbaggers. In addition, Hathaway was one of three directors on the epic Cinerama Western, How the West Was Won (1962), directing the bulk of the film, including the river, prairie, and train robbery sequences.

Hathaway may have stepped in for George Seaton in directing some winter outdoor scenes for the blockbuster hit Airport (1970), which starred Dean Martin, who previously had been in Hathaway's John Wayne western films The Sons of Katie Elder and 5 Card Stud. Hathaway made his 65th and final film in 1974.

Hathaway died from a heart attack in 1985 in Hollywood and is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Although often overlooked as a director, his body of work earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1638 Vine Street.