I would like a short history on Ward Bond. He made a lot of movies with John Wayne. Did they socialize off the movie sets?
—Linda Boone, Jackson, N.C.
Yes, the pair enjoyed fishing, drinking and playing cards together. A native of Benkelman, Neb., the gruff Bond was probably most famous as wagon master Seth Adams on the TV Western Wagon Train from 1957 to 1960. He and Wayne played football at the University of Southern California in the late 1920s and remained best pals the rest of their lives. After Bond’s death of a heart attack in 1960 at 57, Wayne gave the eulogy at his funeral. The two appeared in more than a dozen films together. Among Bond’s more than 200 movie credits are Bringing Up Baby, Gone With the Wind, The Grapes of Wrath, The Maltese Falcon, It’s a Wonderful Life, Sergeant York and The Searchers.
