8 Huge Movie Actors Who Started Out As Extras
3. John Wayne
Another 20th century icon, particularly of the western genre, was actor, producer and director, Marion Robert Morrison, aka John Wayne.
'Duke' had a plethora of uncredited, extra roles throughout the 1920s to match his mainstream roles on his impressive resume. He was 'credited' as an extra in The Great K & A Train Robbery, Annie Laurie, Speak Easy and Mother Machree, to name a few.
Wayne rose to stardom particularly for his role as Ringo Kid in John Ford's 1939 feature, Stagecoach, alongside Claire Trevor, which was nominated for the likes of Best Picture and Director at that year's Academy Awards. Before working together on that title, Ford had hired Wayne initially as a prop boy and extra as a favour to Wayne's college football coach, Howard Jones.
As a result of a bodysurfing accident, Wayne lost his football scholarship to the University of Southern California. However, he did get to put his footballing expertise to good use, appearing as a player the in short film, The Draw-Back, the feature film, Glitter, and for his first ever role in 1926's Brown of Harvard.