runcy:
No dund93 it's not a myth, the Duke spanked many a female co-star, with what seemed to be a regular thing with Maureen O'Hara in both the Quiet Man and McLintock.
I'm pretty sure there are only two on-screen spankings by John Wayne, in
McLintock! and
Donovan's Reef. (Maureen gets roughed up a fair bit in
The Quiet Man, but not spanked.) If you can identify any others, Runcy, I'd be very interested to hear of them.
The now largely forgotten Tim Holt (
Magnificent Ambersons,
Treasure of the Sierra Madre) dished out more movie spankings than JW, in three minor westerns:
Rustlers (1947),
Thunder Mountain (1947) and
The Stagecoach Kid (1949).
I've always loved the spanking Rod Cameron gives Yvonne De Carlo in
Frontier Gal (1945), not only because it's one of the longest I've ever seen in a mainstream movie (about 50 swats), but because it's being watched by De Carlo's wide-eyed little daughter. When it's over the moppet declares: "You spanked my mommy! That means you love her!" Bright kid.