Duane Swanson

Swanson grew up in Waterman, Illinois and attended Illinois Wesleyan University for a brief time before transferring to the University of Iowa.^[3] He played on Iowa's freshman basketball team when he and a friend decided to drop out of school and hitchhike to Los Angeles, California to enroll at the University of Southern California (USC).^[3] Iowa head coach Rollie Williams accused USC head coach Sam Barry of luring both players to California, which Barry denied.^[2] Consequently, Barry rejected Swanson and his friend from playing for USC.^[3] Instead, they signed a contract to play for Columbia Studios' team, which led to their first connections in the Hollywood industry.^[3] In 1934, Swanson signed with Joe E. Brown's All-Stars team, whom he spent the 1934–35 season competing for.^[2] In spring 1935, he played on an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) All-Star team that toured Japan, playing in 15 games.^[3]

In 1935–36, Swanson played for Universal Studios' basketball team.^[2] This squad finished second in the national AAU tournament and first in the Olympic Trials, winning the right to represent the United States at the Berlin Olympics.^[3] He ended up playing in three games during the Olympics and won a gold medal.^[2]

Upon returning to the United States, Swanson stayed in Los Angeles a few more years competing for studio teams before returning to the Midwest in 1940.^[3] He signed with the NBL's Sheboygan Red Skins to finish out the season, appearing in eleven games.^[1][3] This stint would be his last as a professional basketball.^[3] Swanson returned to Southern California and after serving in the United States Army during World War II, spent the next 25 years working in the entertainment industry.^[3][4]