Indiana University has long been known for its athletic endeavors, but little attention has been given to its athletes who went on to blaze a trail in Hollywood.

In their book "Glory of Old IU: 100 years of Indiana Athletics", long-time Bloomington Herald-Times sports editor Bob Hammel and current IU Assistant Athletic Director Kit Klingelhoffer write about James "Babe" Pierce, an IU football player who after graduation pursued employment as a high school football coach. His first stop was in Arizona, and the next was in Glendale, Cal. One of the players who played for him in the sunshine state was Marion Morrison, who would become better known as John Wayne on the big screen after playing football on the collegiate level at Southern Cal.

Pierce's father-in-law was Edgar Rice Burroughs, who penned the Tarzan novels and after eyeing his son-in-law, believed the 6'4", 220-pounder embodied what Tarzan should look like. One thing led to another and Pierce ended up getting the lead role in the 1927 silent film "Tarzan and the Golden Lion". While that would mark Pierce's lone cinematic appearance in that role, he and his wife provided the voices for Tarzan and Jane on a radio program heard for several years.

Once John Wayne made it big in Hollywood, he never forgot his high school football coach and Pierce had parts in several of Wayne's movies.

Another IU-to-Hollywood story involved Kermit Maynard, who lettered in three sports at Indiana University (1919-21 in football, basketball and baseball). After leaving IU, he married and settled in Minneapolis, where he secured employment at a Hormel meat packing plant.

Now, he could have lived his life in relative obscurity if not for the fact his older brother, Ken, was making a good living in Hollywood as an actor. He encouraged his brother to seek his fortune doing the same. The Maynards were born in Vevay, Ind., but were raised in the Hoosier city of Columbus. Ken Maynard was a trick rider with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show and later appeared with the Ringling Brothers Circus. He also was a champion rodeo rider. His first picture in Hollywood was in 1923, and his popularity quickly grew as he appeared in 60 films (Westerns) in the 1930's and 1940's.

In "The Last Night," the credits list his real name. He was famous for stunts with his horse Tarzan, but went beyond just acting. He's listed in the credits of 16 films as the producer, a music composer in three films and the writer of three others. All told, Ken Maynard appeared in a total of 91 films, although some web sites suggest a greater number. He also carries the notoriety as being the first singing cowboy.

Kermit arrived in Hollywood in 1926 and due in part to the influence his older brother had on filmmakers starred in a series of westerns near the end of the silent era. He was billed as "Tex" Maynard to avoid confusion with his brother.

Like Ken, Kermit was an accomplished horseman and in fact was the stunt man for his brother in some of his movies. In the 1930's he was a main character in a series of 10 films that carried a Canadian Mounties' theme. Working for the same company, Kermit Maynard also was a main character in eight traditional-style westerns. After the popularity of the westerns on the big screen gave way to the westerns that popularized television during the 1950's, Kermit's career slowed, but he still had supporting roles in serials and westerns.

All told, his career included 250 sound movie credits, including 220 westerns. Kermit also served as a representative for the Screen Extras Guild, which is known today as the Screen Actors Guild.

Some 40 years after "Babe" Pierce's migration west, another IU football player would catch the acting bug after arriving on the left coast. Earl Faison was one of the outstanding players during the early years of the American Football League. As a member of the San Diego Chargers, he was selected All-Pro four times. He also found time to appear in a couple of episodes of "The Beverly Hillbillies" as well as make appearances on "The Six Million Dollar Man," "The Night Stalker" and in the movie "Heaven Can Wait" starring Warren Beatty.

After his career as a professional football player was cut short by an injury, Faison pursued employment in the field of education. Faison recently retired as a high school educator and football coach in San Diego.

One of the more notable players he coached was Marcus Allen, who after winning the Heisman Trophy at USC would go on to enjoy a productive career in the National Football League, including a Super Bowl ring with the Los Angeles Raiders in 1983.

In 1994, Hollywood decided it was time to make a movie about a college basketball coach succumbing to the evils of illegal recruiting because of the pressures of winning. The services of well-known director William Friedkin were secured for the filming of "Blue Chips." Friedkin's more notable efforts include "The French Connection" and "The Exorcist."

A lot of the basketball scenes were shot in venues around Indiana. As most IU fans know, former IU player Matt Nover secured a prominent part in the film "Blue Chips," starring as the irrepressible Ricky Roe.

Recognizing a common complaint about sports movies is oftentimes the action isn't realistic enough, the film's producers used real players, which greatly enhanced the film's authenticity. The pool of players included former Hoosiers Eric Anderson, Calbert Cheaney, Greg Graham, Joe Hillman, Jamal Meeks, Chris Reynolds and Keith Smart.

The film's game footage was shot during two games played between the Western University Dolphins coached by Pete Bell (Nick Nolte) and the squad coached by Bob Knight. Unlike the movie script, though, Knight's teams won both games. Ever the coaching perfectionist, Knight wasn't playing to the cameras when he got on his players when they did something wrong.

Indiana University fans can point to several examples in Hoosier history with a story line worthy of a great Hollywood script.

First of all, there was the 1967 Cinderella story of the IU football team grabbing a share of the Big Ten crown and playing in the Rose Bowl.

Secondly, remember the 1976 season when Bob Knight guided his Indiana Hoosiers to the National Championship with a non-Hurryin' Hoosier approach to the game. Adding drama to the title game was the injury to Bobby Wilkerson just minutes into the action, which immediately invoked visions of the previous season when Scott May's broken arm likely cost the Hoosiers another unbeaten season.

A third movie-caliber tale would be about the 1987 national championship and the improbably hero. Keith Smart's life would make a great made-for-television movie. Lightly regarded coming out of high school, Smart would do a stint at McDonalds before being discovered and going away to junior college and then Indiana University. The film's climatic ending, of course, would be when Smart hit the shot giving IU the 1987 NCAA title. While the credits were rolling, the screen might show a montage of little boys and girls alone on the court counting down an imaginary time clock while preparing to launch a game-winning shot.

Finally, the IU soccer team giving Jerry Yeagley a national championship winner in his final game would make for another Hollywood ending with Mike Freitag's winning run this season being made as the sequel.