Ranking 10 Most Prolific Actor-Director Duos Of All Time

Collaborations: Stagecoach, The Long Voyage Home, They Were Expendable, Fort Apache, Three Godfathers, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, The Searchers, The Wings of Eagles, The Horse Soldiers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Donovan's Reef, How the West Was Won

Including the films in which Wayne was cast as an extra, they've made 20 movies together. Twenty. That's legally considered a marriage in some countries.

Ford transformed John Wayne from a B-list, "third rate bum" (Wayne's words) into an icon practically by himself -- movie by movie. In the beginning, he patiently taught him the basics of acting while on set, and continued molding him throughout his career, even long after he became "The Duke".

Ford brought out the best in his apprentice, especially early in his career, and showcased a more thoughtful side of Wayne that wasn't all bristle and swagger. The Quiet Man, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and Three Godfathers go against his classic tough guy image to varying degrees, and the results are beautiful.

Of course, it was also this partnership that created the epic cowboy persona Wayne is still remembered for, blossoming out of classics like Stagecoach, The Searchers, and Fort Apache.

The average Rotten Tomatoes score -- if you're into that sort of thing -- for their films is 90%. There's not another collaboration that can sniff that kind of consistency. Well, almost no other collaboration...