Cogburn Quotes

I don`t think John Ford had any kind of respect for me as an actor until I made Red River (1948) for Howard Hawks. I was never quite sure what he did think of me as an actor. I know now, though. Because when I finally won an Oscar for my role as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (1969), Ford shook my hand and said the award was long overdue me as far as he was concerned. Right then, I knew he`d respected me as an actor since Stagecoach (1939), even though he hadn`t let me know it. He later told me his praise earlier, might have gone to my head and made me conceited, and that was why he`d never said anything to me, until the right time.

In spite of the fact that Rooster Cogburn would shoot a fella between the eyes, he`d judge that fella before he did it. He was merely trying to make the area in which he was marshal livable for the most number of people.