| Pilar Pallete | |
| Birth Date: | 3 September 1928 |
| Birth Place: | Paita, Peru |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 3, including Ethan Wayne |
| Relatives: | Jennifer Wayne (granddaughter) |
María del Pilar Pallete Alvarado (born 3 September 1928) is a Peruvian actress and the widow of American actor John Wayne.
Pallete was born as the daughter of a Peruvian senator in the Paita Port (northern Peru). She married and divorced professional big-game hunter Richard Weldy.[1] She met John Wayne, 21 years her senior, in Tingo María, Peru, around 1952[2] or 1953, while still married to Weldy. Wayne was in Peru scouting locations for The Alamo.
In 1953, Pallete came to Los Angeles to dub a film in English, when she ran into John Wayne for the second time. A year later on November 1, 1954,[3] [4] they married in Kona, Hawaii, the same day Wayne's divorce became final. Pallete retired from her motion picture career to be a wife and mother to their three children: Aissa, Ethan, and Marisa.[5]
During the next ten years of their marriage, they traveled extensively, usually on location for John Wayne's many films. In 1965, they moved to Newport Beach, California.[5] She rented a studio inside the Fernleaf Courtyard, in Corona Del Mar, California, where she would entertain her clients outdoors with coffee and finger sandwiches and found herself, one year later, with a full-time restaurant.
Pallete married Wayne in 1954, and they remained married until his death in 1979. In 1973 she moved out of their house; however, they were never legally separated or divorced. She has always made clear that they remained married until his death.[6]
In 1984, five years after Wayne's death, Pallete married Stephen Stewart, a municipal court judge. The marriage was brief, with Pallete later describing the relationship as a "two-week mistake".[7]
In 1998, Pallete married Jesse Upchurch, a travel company executive.
In 2023, she said that she keeps John Wayne's memory alive through painting.[8]