The Big Trail in 1930 was Marion's first leading role. He was all of 23 years old and had been slogging his way toward something resembling a film career since dropping out of college when an injury ended his football scholarship. Walsh is generally credited with changing Marion's name. The director was spending off-moments reading a biography of Revolutionary War General "Mad Anthony" Wayne during the shoot; Marion was friends with another movie upstart, John Ford. Marion chose John, Walsh chose Wayne, and a star — wasn't quite born. Although The Big Trail was something of an epic for the time, it was a dud, and now-John Wayne labored for nearly 10 years in low-budget westerns, even a series portraying a singing cowboy named Sandy. "John Wayne" became synonymous with a movie stereotype, coupled with Marion/John's outspoken conservative political views. An Academy Award awaited him for 1969's True Grit, and through it all, his good friends still called him Duke. Not Marion.
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