John Wayne turned down The Dirty Dozen

[rpm]

He decided to go with The Green Berets instead. The role of Major Reisman went to Lee Marvin after John Wayne declined. That's two roles that I'm glad The Duke didn't attempt. The first being The Waco Kid in Blazing Saddles. But it would have been interesting to see what kind of performance Mel Brooks could have milked out of The Duke as The Waco Kid.

[RngFndr]

+1, I Agree.. Lee Marvin was Excellent in that Role..
The Duke would have made a good General tho..
(Borgnine was great in that role anyway!)

[USAFCAPcTSgt]

John Wayne turned down the role of Commander Adama from original Battlestar Galactica.  Nothing against Lorne Greene but the "Duke" would've hunted the Cylons down while keeping the civies in tow.

[Saxman]

rpm:

Wayne actually turned down the role of Taggart in Blazing Saddles. He was game for playing a villain and would have loved to do it, but decided that because of his more family-friendly image the film would be too dirty for him (but he DID tell Brooks he'd be the first in line to see it himself).