John Wayne and Marlon Brando, two of Hollywood’s biggest icons, were both enamored with the same actress, Katy Jurado.
Jurado was a Mexican actress who was known for her strong presence on and off the screen.
She had starred alongside Elvis Presley and was even nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role opposite Grace Kelly.
In the 1968 film Stay Away Jo, Jurado acted alongside John Wayne, marking her comeback after her tumultuous marriage to Ernest Borgnine ended.
Jurado had a fascinating family background; she was born into a wealthy Mexican dynasty that once owned much of what would become Texas.
However, she turned her back on her family and began her acting career at 19, becoming an instant success in Mexican cinema while also working as a film and bullfighting reporter.
Director Budd Boettecher discovered Jurado in 1951 while she was reporting on a bullfight, and he cast her in the film The Bullfighter and the Lady.
John Wayne was also smitten with Jurado and began to pursue her romantically.
Marlon Brando was similarly taken with her, and he later arranged a meeting with her in Mexico while he was filming Viva Zapata!
Brando said he couldn’t resist Jurado’s “enigmatic eyes, black as hell, pointing at you like fiery arrows.”
Despite her relationships with Wayne and Brando, Jurado always maintained her independence.
She turned down Wayne’s proposal, and in her relationship with Brando, she intended for it to be a brief and fun encounter.
However, the relationship lasted on and off for nine years, overlapping with Jurado’s 1953 fling with Charlton Heston on the set of Arrowhead.
Their relationship reached its peak when Brando cast Jurado in his directorial debut, One-Eyed Jacks, in 1960.
At the time, Brando was still seeing Movita Castaneda, whom he later married, while Jurado had married Ernest Borgnine in 1959.
Their marriage was explosive, with later accounts of verbal and sometimes physical violence.
Despite her tumultuous personal life, Jurado’s career continued to flourish.
In the 1950s, she had award-winning roles in Mexico and Hollywood, primarily in Westerns that suited her looks for both Mexican and American Indian roles.
In 1954, she received an Oscar nomination for playing Spencer Tracy’s Comanche wife in Broken Arrow.
She also appeared on Broadway in 1956’s The Best House in Naples.
Jurado’s relationship with Brando ended in 1963, and her marriage to Borgnine ended in 1963 as well.
Disillusioned, Jurado returned to Mexico but was tempted back to Hollywood in 1965.
Her 1968 role opposite Elvis marked a career that continued through the next three decades, spanning stage, TV, and movies.
Jurado died at home in Mexico on July 5, 2002, leaving behind a legacy as a trailblazing Hispanic actress in Hollywood.
She received two Ariel Awards (the Mexican film awards), with her second award coming in 1998 for El Evangelio de las Maravillas.
She also had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a testament to the many men who loved her along the way.
