Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn is a fictional
American Old WestThe American Old West comprises the history, geography, peoples, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the period of the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
character who first appears in the 1968
Charles PortisCharles McColl Portis is an American author best known for his 1968 classic Western novel True Grit and his 1966 novel Norwood.Portis has been described as "one of the most inventively comic writers of western fiction"...
novel,
True GritTrue Grit by Charles Portis first appeared as a 1968 serial in The Saturday Evening Post. Portis subsequently re-issued it in book form with a somewhat changed storyline...
. The novel was adapted into a 1969 film,
True GritTrue Grit is a 1969 Western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne as U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn. The film is adapted from the 1968 novel, True Grit, by Charles Portis.-Synopsis:...
, and from that a 1975 sequel entitled
Rooster CogburnRooster Cogburn is a 1975 sequel to the 1969 western film, True Grit, and stars John Wayne, in his penultimate film, who reprises his role as U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn...
(also known as
Rooster Cogburn (... and the Lady)) was also produced. The character was also featured in a
made-for-televisionA television movie is a feature film that is produced for and originally distributed by a...
sequel, entitled
True Grit: A Further AdventureTrue Grit: A Further Adventure was a made for TV sequel to the films True Grit and Rooster Cogburn.While John Wayne played the role of Rooster Cogburn in the first two films, Warren Oates played him in this 1978 television movie....
, made in 1978. In 2009 it was announced that the
Coen brothersJoel Coen and Ethan Coen, known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers. For more than twenty years, the pair have written and directed numerous successful films, ranging from screwball comedies to hardboiled thrillers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, known together...
are planning a remake of the film.
In both theatrical releases, Rooster was portrayed by
John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height...
.
Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn is a fictional
American Old WestThe American Old West comprises the history, geography, peoples, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the period of the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
character who first appears in the 1968
Charles PortisCharles McColl Portis is an American author best known for his 1968 classic Western novel True Grit and his 1966 novel Norwood.Portis has been described as "one of the most inventively comic writers of western fiction"...
novel,
True GritTrue Grit by Charles Portis first appeared as a 1968 serial in The Saturday Evening Post. Portis subsequently re-issued it in book form with a somewhat changed storyline...
. The novel was adapted into a 1969 film,
True GritTrue Grit is a 1969 Western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne as U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn. The film is adapted from the 1968 novel, True Grit, by Charles Portis.-Synopsis:...
, and from that a 1975 sequel entitled
Rooster CogburnRooster Cogburn is a 1975 sequel to the 1969 western film, True Grit, and stars John Wayne, in his penultimate film, who reprises his role as U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn...
(also known as
Rooster Cogburn (... and the Lady)) was also produced. The character was also featured in a
made-for-televisionA television movie is a feature film that is produced for and originally distributed by a...
sequel, entitled
True Grit: A Further AdventureTrue Grit: A Further Adventure was a made for TV sequel to the films True Grit and Rooster Cogburn.While John Wayne played the role of Rooster Cogburn in the first two films, Warren Oates played him in this 1978 television movie....
, made in 1978. In 2009 it was announced that the
Coen brothersJoel Coen and Ethan Coen, known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers. For more than twenty years, the pair have written and directed numerous successful films, ranging from screwball comedies to hardboiled thrillers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, known together...
are planning a remake of the film.
In both theatrical releases, Rooster was portrayed by
John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height...
. Wayne garnered his only
OscarThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
for his performance in the first of the two movies. Cogburn is portrayed as an
anti-heroIn fiction, an antihero is a protagonist archetype whose character or goals are antithetical to traditional heroism. The term dates to 1714, although literary criticism identifies the trope in earlier literature. - History :...
, which was an unusual role for Wayne, who usually played a strait-laced hero.
The 1978 sequel starred
Warren OatesWarren Mercer Oates was a prolific American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia...
in the featured role.
Fictional character biography
Cogburn is a veteran of the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
who probably served under Confederate guerilla leader
William QuantrillWilliam Clarke Quantrill , was a Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War. After leading a Confederate bushwhacker unit along the Missouri-Kansas border in the early 1860s, which included the infamous raid and sacking of Lawrence, Kansas in 1863, Quantrill eventually ended up in...
. He was once married to an
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
woman, who left him to return to her first husband after bearing Cogburn a single, extremely clumsy son (of whom Cogburn says, "He never liked me anyway."). Cogburn is described as a "fearless, one-eyed
U.S. marshalThe United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice and is the oldest federal law enforcement agency in the United States....
who
never knew a dry day in his lifeAlcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions. In common and historic usage, alcoholism is any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, despite health problems and negative social consequences...
." He is "the toughest marshal" working the
Indian TerritoryThe Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the use of Native Americans...
(present-day
OklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
) on behalf of Judge
Isaac ParkerIsaac Charles Parker served as a U.S. District Judge presiding over the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas for 21 years. He served in that capacity during the most dangerous time for law enforcement during the western expansion...
, the real-life judge of the
United States District Court for the Western District of ArkansasThe United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas is a United States District Court with jurisdiction over the western half of the state of Arkansas...
(having criminal jurisdiction in the
Indian TerritoryThe Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the use of Native Americans...
, as the
bailiffA bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed...
repeatedly announces in both films).
In the first film, Cogburn helps a headstrong 14-year-old girl, Mattie Ross (played by
Kim Darby-Biography:Darby was born Deborah Zerby in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of professional dancers Inga and Jon Zerby. Her father insisted on calling her "Derby" Zerby because he believed it was a great stagename.-Career:...
), to track down Tom Chaney (
Jeff CoreyJeff Corey was an American stage and screen actor who became a well-respected acting teacher after being blacklisted in the 1950s.-Biography:...
), the man who drunkenly killed her father. In the sequel, he teams up with elderly spinster Eula Goodnight (
Katharine HepburnKatharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, television and stage.Hepburn holds the record for the most Best Actress Oscar wins with four, from 12 nominations. Hepburn won an Emmy Award in 1976 for her lead role in Love Among the Ruins, and was nominated for four other Emmys, two...
) and Wolf (Richard Romancito) while on the trail of a desperado, Hawk (
Richard JordanRichard Anson Jordan was a Harvard-educated American stage, screen and film actor. He was a long-time member of the New York Shakespeare Festival, and appeared in many Off Broadway and Broadway plays...
), who has stolen a shipment of
nitroglycerinNitroglycerin , also known as nitroglycerine, , trinitroglycerin, trinitroglycerine, 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane and glyceryl trinitrate, is a heavy, colorless, oily, explosive liquid obtained by nitrating glycerol...
from the U.S. Army.
Cogburn lives in
Fort Smith, ArkansasFort Smith is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. With a population of 80,268 at the 2000 census, it is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 288,818 residents which...
in the back of a Chinese dry-goods store, along with the proprietor, his friend and gambling buddy Chen Lee, and an orange tabby cat named after Confederate Gen.
Sterling PriceSterling Price was a lawyer, politician, and militia general from the U.S. state of Missouri, an American Army general during the Mexican-American War, and a Confederate Army major general during the American Civil War....
.