Pilar Pallete | |
---|---|
Born |
Paita, Peru | 3 September 1928
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | c. 1950s–2011 |
Spouses | Richard Weldy
(
m. 1948;
div. 1953)Stephen Stewart
(
m. 1984;
div. 1997)Jesse L. Upchurch
(
m. 1998;
div. 2010) |
Children | 3, including Ethan Wayne |
Relatives | Jennifer Wayne (granddaughter) |
María del Pilar Pallete Alvarado (born 3 September 1928) is a Peruvian actress and the widow of American actor John Wayne.
Pallete was born as the daughter of a Peruvian senator in the Paita Port (northern Peru). She married and divorced professional big-game hunter Richard Weldy. [1] She met John Wayne, 21 years her senior, in Tingo María, Peru, around 1952 [2] or 1953, while still married to Weldy. Wayne was in Peru scouting locations for The Alamo. [3]
In 1953, Pallete came to Los Angeles to dub a film in English, when she ran into John Wayne for the second time. A year later on November 1, 1954, [4] [5] they married in Kona, Hawaii, the same day Wayne's divorce became final. Pallete retired from her motion picture career to be a wife and mother to their three children: Aissa, Ethan, and Marisa. [3]
During the next ten years of their marriage, they traveled extensively, usually on location for John Wayne's many films. In 1965, they moved to Newport Beach, California. [3] She rented a studio inside the Fernleaf Courtyard, in Corona Del Mar, California, where she would entertain her clients outdoors with coffee and finger sandwiches and found herself, one year later, with a full-time restaurant.[ citation needed]
Pallete married Wayne in 1954, and they remained married until his death in 1979. In 1973 she moved out of their house; however, they were never legally separated or divorced. She has always made clear that they remained married until his death. [6]
In 1984, five years after Wayne's death, Pallete married Stephen Stewart, a municipal court judge. The marriage was brief, with Pallete later describing the relationship as a "two-week mistake". [7] In 1998, Pallete married Jesse Upchurch, a travel company executive.