What Happened To John Wayne's Third & Final Wife Pilar Pallete?

John Wayne's life and legacy have become something of a myth. For many of us, the Hollywood legend's name is evocative of olden times, when classic Westerns were shot in black and white and movie stars smoked cigars. After all, Wayne has been dead for nearly half a century at this stage. However, his third wife, Pilar Pallete, acts as a connection point between the Golden Age of Hollywood and today, showing that we're never too far from the past. As of this writing, the Peruvian-born artist is alive and still actively making art. In September 2026, Pallete celebrated her 98th birthday. While she has been quiet on social media for the past couple of years, she previously showed that she is dedicated to Wayne's legacy and to her love of painting. 

In a May 2023 Instagram video, Pallete discussed how she met the Duke as she painted a portrait of him. Pallete, the mother of three of Wayne's children and his wife from 1954 until his death in 1979, often praises the "True Grit" star, highlighting the importance he still holds in her life. "Today is our wedding anniversary. Duke was the love of my life," she gushed on Instagram to mark the special day in November 2023. Besides her art and reminiscing about her ex-husband, Pallete also spends time with her loved ones. In March 2024, she and Wayne's youngest daughter, Marisa, enjoyed family dinner together, which she proudly shared on Instagram. It looks like Wayne's forever wife is happily living out her final years surrounded by love and art. 

Pilar Pallete may be enjoying her nonagenarian years in relative peace and quiet, but she did quite a bit in the decades after she became a widow. While Pallete and John Wayne lived separately for the final six years of his life, she emphasizes that they were still married and very much still close. "We were married until the day he died," she clarified to the Los Angeles Times in 1987. Pallete went on to remarry a couple of times, though those marriages were short-lived and she continues to maintain that Wayne was her big love. In 1984, the artist tied the knot with Municipal Judge Stephen Stewart, though she barely considers that union real at all, quipping, "It was a two-week mistake, I call it." In 1990, Pallete confirmed that she had no interest in reigniting her love life, since nothing could ever come close to what she had with Wayne. 

"I really don't think marriage for me is necessary. I had a wonderful marriage with the Duke," she told the Los Angeles Times. But, in 1998, the artist married Jesse Upchurch (they divorced in 2010). Her love life aside, Pallete also kept herself busy with a series of projects. She ran a Mexican-import business with her daughter, Marisa, in the '80s before turning her attention to cookbooks. From then, she focused on painting, a medium she dedicates up to six hours a day to. "I realized I was no good at painting men. I wanted to, but it wasn't for me. The only one that I liked to paint was my husband," she shared with the Los Angeles Times in 2023.