(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is the title lobby card from THE LUCKY TEXAN (Lone Star/Monogram, 1933), one of the Paul Malvern produced Lone Star oaters which were released by Monogram. Memorable for the scene of Wayne (doubled by Yakima Canutt) riding a stick down a water drainage chute into a river. Direction and story was handled by Robert North Bradbury, Bob Steele's father. Bradbury must have liked this "ridin' a board or tree limb down a water chute" as he also used it in Wayne's THE LAWLESS FRONTIER (Lone Star/Monogram, 1934). (And again when he directed and authored the story for the Bob Steele TRAIL OF TERROR (Hackel/Supreme, 1935), filming it at medium range so you can clearly see that Steele was doing the log ridin'.)

This webpage is simply to chronicle the cinema adventures of one Marion Morrison, AKA John Wayne, from his early screen work up to his breakthrough performance as 'the Ringo Kid' in the John Ford directed STAGECOACH (1939).

Prior to that landmark western, Wayne labored for about a dozen years in mostly small budget films churned out by many production companies, including several on 'Poverty Row'.  And the nearly fifty sound westerns and serials that he starred in during the decade of the Great Depression gave him valuable screen time and experience prior to his emergence as a major film star.

Wayne was born Marion Morrison in Winterset, Iowa in 1907, but the family moved to California around 1915. Some biographies list his real name as Marion Michael Morrison, while others refer to Marion Robert Morrison and other variations.

Bobby Copeland provided the following:

His parents called him Robert Michael and the name was duly recorded on his birth certificate. Then Mary Morrison had a sudden change of heart.  Her one wealthy relative was called Marion, and, in an attempt to acquire her child a future inheritance, she renamed him Marion Michael Morrison ...  She named her second, more favored son, Robert.  (Source:  Pilar Wayne's book, John Wayne: My Life with the Duke, McGraw Hill, New York, 1987).

Just to complicate matters further about Duke's original name, Donald Shepherd et al, in their book Duke: The Life and Times of John Wayne say that he was originally called Marion Robert but this was changed to Marion Mitchell.  In later years Duke called himself 'Michael' because the 'Mitchell' member of the family that he was named after (his maternal grandfather) was diagnosed with a mental illness, and in those days this amounted to great family shame.  According to these authors, Duke went to great lengths to eliminate records that recorded his name as 'Mitchell'.  The authors claim this to be quite a mystery, for it seems out of character for Duke to reject the name of his maternal grandfather, who was quite a man to look up to before his illness. (Source: Donald Shepherd and Robert Slatzer, with Dave Grayson: Duke: The Life and Times of John Wayne, Doubleday & Co., New York, 1985).

Wayne did go to Glendale High School (Glendale, California) and to USC, the University of Southern Cal.

His first film role was a bit part (uncredited) as a football player in BROWN OF HARVARD (MGM, 1926) which starred Tom Brown as the collegiate rowing and football hero. In the late 1920s, Wayne and USC football team players were featured in the early pigskin adventure SALUTE (Fox, 1929), which starred the muscular George O'Brien and directed by John Ford. He'd do bit parts in several other John Ford silents. Ten years later, Ford and Wayne would collaborate on another film together.

Wayne bounced around Tinseltown doing whatever supporting roles and bit parts that he could scrounge. Hollywood opinion was that his lead role in the big budget (and big screen) THE BIG TRAIL (Fox, 1930) for director Raoul Walsh would bring immediate stardom. But that did not happen. He continued working whenever and wherever, even supporting Buck Jones and Tim McCoy in their early 1930s oaters at Columbia Pictures.

Above, Wayne in his early twenties and wearing buckskins for his starring role in Raoul Walsh's THE BIG TRAIL (Fox, 1930). Right, Duke on Duke.

Then he connected with Warner Bros., who had surprisingly decided to bring forth a B western series (which would be chock full of stock footage from their earlier First National silents with Ken Maynard).  Wayne rode a white hoss named 'Duke' (which was necessary to match the stock footage of Ken Maynard on Tarzan).  Good looking and tall in the saddle, the young Wayne was well suited for his new role as a B western hero.

Happy to be busy, Wayne also labored for producer Nat Levine and his Mascot serial factory in three cliffhangers, THE SHADOW OF THE EAGLE (Mascot, 1932), THE HURRICANE EXPRESS (Mascot, 1932), and THREE MUSKETEERS (Mascot, 1933). None of these were westerns. The advantage of the Mascot chapterplays was that Wayne was on the screen week after week after week.  This exposure enhanced his reputation as an action star and increased his name recognition to the Saturday matinee ticket buyers.

Around this time, he met stuntman Yakima Canutt, and the two would become close friends.  During those early days in Hollywood, Wayne would become lifelong buddies with several other people, including Ward Bond (of TV's WAGON TRAIN) and Paul Fix (Sheriff Micah Torrance on THE RIFLEMAN TVer).

After concluding the work at Warners and Mascot, Wayne settled in for a long series of low-budget sagebrush yarns which were produced by Monogram's Trem Carr and Paul Malvern via their Lone Star production unit.  In the preceding years, Monogram had tried a bunch of different cowboy heroes - Tom Tyler, Bill Cody, Rex Bell and Bob Steele.  The Wayne and Malvern formula must have been successful for they did two dozen sagebrush adventures over a three year period - all were reasonably solid quickies, with a few, such as THE TRAIL BEYOND, rising above the ordinary. Most featured Yakima Canutt doing stuntwork and/or supporting roles ... George Hayes was also in many, and he even played the head baddie in a couple ... and Robert North Bradbury, Bob Steele's father, directed thirteen and even wrote story/scripts for some.

And the answer is yes - Wayne was one of the earliest singing cowboys. Thankfully, his time as a troubadour was brief.  RIDERS OF DESTINY (Lone Star/Monogram, 1933) is Wayne's first for Carr and Malvern and he plays undercover lawman Singin' Sandy Saunders. The title credits mentions Wayne as "Singin' Sandy", and the film opening has John on his white hoss playing a guitar and singing a tune with cactus in the background. Greasy Earl Dwire is Forrest Taylor's gunslingin' henchman "Slip Morgan", and Wayne plugs Dwire through both wrists in a street shootout.  Taylor, who has been foiled by Wayne at every turn, is nervously munching and mouthing a cigar through the entire six reels.  And during the climatic chase, Taylor and his mount (Yak Canutt probably doubling for him) go over a cliff and he drowns in the river (with bubbles rising to the surface of the water).

Robert North Bradbury was the director and writer of the script/screenplay on RIDERS OF DESTINY. The "shoot-em through both wrists" gunfight scene was used by Bradbury a year earlier when he also helmed and wrote THE MAN FROM HELL'S EDGES (Sono-Art/World Wide, 1932). That starred Steele, who at the end plugs baddie Julian Rivero (as "Lobo") through both wrists during a saloon duel.

In RIDERS, Wayne does several tunes, dubbed of course. Some say the singing was done by Bill Bradbury, the son of Robert North Bradbury, Sr. and twin brother of Bob Steele. Others suggest that the voice was prolific B-western support player Jack Kirk or tall galoot Glenn Strange. Whomever, it was definitely not big band leader and crooner Smith Ballew.

In the gunfight scene with Dwire, Wayne strolls down the street quietly mouthing the lyrical "There'll be blood a runnin' in town before night ... tonight you'll be drinkin' your drinks with the dead". The author of that "blood and death" tune was Robert N. Bradbury. After listening to this many times in my later years, I'm inclined to think that the voice was Jack Kirk.  Earlier, and with guitar in hand, the young Duke serenades pretty blonde heroine Cecilia Parker about a "Desert Breeze". The person doing that song had a somewhat different voice, and I'm guessing this was done by Steele's brother, Bill Bradbury. Or maybe it was Jack Kirk.

RIDERS OF DESTINY wasn't the last of John mouthing a song - for example, he was dubbed doing tunes in LAWLESS RANGE (Republic, 1935) and WESTWARD HO (Republic, 1935), both of which were filmed simultaneously in mid 1935, and both included Jack Kirk and Glenn Strange among the cast. Les Adams spent time chatting with Bob Steele and Smith Ballew, and one of the subjects was who was the singing voice for John Wayne in RIDERS OF DESTINY and some other John Wayne oaters. Les has a detailed writeup, including some comments from Wayne, and that info is on the next page.

(Courtesy of Ed Phillips) From L-to-R are Charlie/Charley Sargent, Jack Kirk, John Wayne, Cactus Mack McPeters, Chuck Baldra and Glenn Strange in a scene from Wayne's WESTWARD HO (Republic, 1935). In the film's opening titles, Glenn Strange is credited and under Strange's name is listed "the Singing Riders". These "guys in black shirts" did double duty as singers as well as members of the "Singing Riders" that rode white horses and assisted Wayne. On the far right is the non-singing Tex Palmer. (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above, on the far left wearing the suit is baddie Ed Peil and next to him is Yakima Canutt.  On the right is Wayne restraining pretty Eleanor Hunt and George Hayes handling the other six gun.  From BLUE STEEL (Lone Star/Monogram, 1934).