WELL, now, how many of you managed to solve the great John Wayne yedscratter, which I left you puzzling over during the festive break?

The question, posed by Dentons Green reader Jim O'Connor, was: How many times did Hollywood legend Wayne (universally referred to as The Duke) die on-screen? Most film fans who have so far buttonholed me with their answers thought it might have been a couple of times, and perhaps three at the most. But in fact this figure can be more than doubled!

Wayne was seen to definitely breathe his last in seven films over a span of about 45 years and was presumed killed in four others. Improbable as it may seem, his screen debut, in 1931, was as a corpse in The Deceiver (some modern-day critics, on unearthing this fact, have unfairly suggested that Wayne's acting ability never moved up a gear from that point).

The enacted death scenes were in: Reap the Wild Wind (1942) - killed by giant squid; The Fighting Seabees (1944) - victim of sniper; Wake of the Red Witch (1949) - killed aboard sunken ship; Sands of Iowa Jima (1949) - again a sniper's victim; The Alamo (1960) - as Davy Crocket, killed by the lance of Mexican soldier; The Cowboys (1972) - killed by deadly rival; The Shootist (1976) - died in saloon gunfight.

Tougher

Films in which his death was not actually seen comprise that 1933 debut film The Deceiver, plus Central Airport (1933) The Sea Chase (1955) and The Man who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) in which his life was told in flashback.

So it would seem that The Duke experienced more dramatic lives than a cat.

But here's another, and perhaps even tougher, brain tester for all our film buffs: How many times did Wayne get to kiss his leading lady? Doubt if it was anywhere near that death-list total, but I'd welcome some enlightenment.

IF you know, then (to quote the immortal Western superstar) 'do what a man has to do' and drop me a line at the Star.