He was shocked when the legendary star suddenly spit on his new deck shoes. “He put a hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Bert, always spit on new shoes for good luck,’” Minshall explains today. “That was my introduction to the great John Wayne. He liked me because I took good care of his children. It was easily the best job I ever had.” Bert Minshall rose from deckhand to first mate to, eventually, captain of the boat, but in those early days, his primary job was to keep an eye on Wayne’s three young children.

Wild Goose

In his book about his years on the Wild Goose, Bert Minshall has fondly discussed first meeting John Wayne when the boat was docked in La Paz, Mexico.