John Wayne and in them he played cowboys, cavalrymen, and unconquerable loners extracted from the Republic's central creation myth." Wayne's other roles in Westerns include a cattleman driving his herd north on the Chisholm Trail in "Red River" (1948), a Civil War veteran whose young niece is abducted by a tribe of Comanches in "The Searchers" (1956), a troubled rancher competing with a lawyer (James Stewart) for a woman's hand in marriage in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962), and a cantankerous one-eyed marshal in "True Grit" (1969). He is also remembered for his roles in "The Quiet Man" (1952), "Rio
John Wayne scholarship, and without funds, had to leave the university. As a favor to USC football coach Howard Jones, who had given silent western film star, Tom Mix, tickets to USC games, director John Ford and Mix hired Wayne as a prop boy and extra. Wayne later credited his walk, talk, and persona to his acquaintance with Wyatt Earp, who was good friends with Tom Mix. Wayne soon moved to bit parts, establishing a longtime friendship with the director who provided most of those roles, John Ford. Early in this period, he had a minor, uncredited role as a guard in