Joanne Dru, whose appearances in 40 movies included starring roles opposite John Wayne in the classic Westerns "Red River" and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon," has died at age 74.
Dru died of a respiratory ailment at her home late Tuesday, said her brother, veteran TV host Peter Marshall.Dru, who was discovered by director Howard Hawks while she worked as a model, made her screen debut in 1946 in "Abie's Irish Rose."
She was then cast opposite Wayne in Hawks' "Red River," the big Chisholm Trail cattle-drive epic of 1948. The next year Dru starred with Wayne in director John Ford's cavalry story "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon."
In 1950, she was again heading west across the big screen, this time in Ford's "Wagonmaster" with Ben Johnson in a Mormon wagon train bound for Utah in the 1870s.
Her other film credits include: "All the King's Men" with Broderick Crawford, "711 Ocean Drive," "Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell" with Clifton Webb, "The Pride of St. Louis," and "Thunder Bay" with Jimmy Stewart.
In 1960-61 she starred in the ABC sitcom "Guestward Ho!" She played Babs Hooten, a refugee from New York City transplanted to a decrepit dude ranch in New Mexico. She also was a guest on many other TV shows.
Dru was born on Jan. 31, 1922, in Logan, W.Va., and moved to Beverly Hills with her first husband, actor Dick Haymes. They were married from 1941-49 and had three children.
She was married to actor John Ireland from 1949-56, and then for 22 years to the late C.V. Wood.