6. From Toiling in Poverty Row Studios to Stardom
Early in the Great Depression, an aspiring actor named Marion Robert Morrison caught the eye of Hollywood director Raoul Walsh. Walsh saw something in Morrison, and decided to cast him in his first lead role in 1930’s The Big Trail. Unfortunately, the movie did not do well. As a matter of fact, it flopped badly and sent its lead actor back into Hollywood purgatory. However, one good thing came out of it: the lead actor, on the recommendation of Walsh and the studio, had changed his name to John Wayne.
During the following years, John Wayne toiled in obscurity, with roles in dozens of forgettable Westerns for so-called Poverty Row Studios. However, his fortunes improved in 1938, when Oscar-winning director John Ford saved him from a dead-end career by offering him the lead role in Stagecoach. The movie was a hit. It kicked off a productive relationship that lasted for 23 pictures, during which the iconic director crafted John Wayne’s public image, and transformed him into a Hollywood legend.