Esperanza Baur

Mexican actress (1920–1961)

John Wayne

(m. 1946; div. 1954)

Esperanza Baur Díaz (born Esperanza Díaz Ceballos; 17 July 1920 – 10 March 1961) was a Mexican actress and the second wife of actor John Wayne.

Biography

Born Esperanza Díaz Ceballos, nicknamed "Chata", she appeared in a small number of Spanish language films, both in leading and supporting roles.

Esperanza met John Wayne in 1941 in Mexico City while he was vacationing there.^[1] At the time, he was still married to his first wife, Josephine Alicia Saenz, but that marriage ended 25 December 1945. Esperanza and John were married on 17 January 1946, in Long Beach, California.^[1]^[2]

Their marriage was rocky and volatile from the start because she was reportedly jealous of his devotion to his work and to his four children; they had no children of their own. "Our marriage was like shaking two volatile chemicals in a jar", Wayne said. Esperanza accused Wayne of having an affair with Gail Russell, his leading lady in Angel and the Badman, which he denied. There were charges and counter-charges of unfaithfulness, drunken violence, emotional cruelty, and "clobbering". Wayne described his wife as a "drunken partygoer who would fall down and then accuse him of pushing her."^[1] Esperanza was accused of having an affair with hotel heir Nicky Hilton during divorce proceedings.^[3] They separated in May 1952;^[4] in the end the marriage lasted eight years, coming to an end on 1 November 1954.^[5]

Esperanza died of a heart attack in 1961.^[5]

Filmography

Guadalajara (1943) – Hortensia
The Count of Monte Cristo (1942)
Una luz en mi camino (1939)
La Valentina (1938) – Valentina
Jalisco Nunca Pierde aka Jalisco Never Loses (1937)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Levy, Emanuell. - "John Wayne on Women, Marriage, and Family" Archived August 13, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Milestones, Jan. 28, 1946". Time. January 28, 1946.
^ "John Wayne as the Last Hero". Time. Vol. 94, no. 6. August 8, 1969.
^ Tracey, Grant. - The Trouble in Trouble Along the Way. - Images Journal
^ ^a ^b Biography for Esperanza Baur at IMDb