Acclaimed author, international correspondent and boulevardier Charles Glass has been relatively discreet about one highlight of his CV: he used to be John Wayne’s chauffeur. Glass has reviewed Scott Eyman’s new biography of the Western star, John Wayne: The Life and Legend, in the new edition of The Spectator and, in passing, mentions that he used to drive the Hollywood star when finishing high school in LA, and later after university.
“As I recall it was a big blue Pontiac or Chevy,” says Glass on the phone from France today. His mother, a family friend of the Waynes, suggested him when the film star’s regular driver was off sick. Glass graduated to also answering Wayne’s fan mail. “And I learnt to forge his signature on the photos that were sent out.”
