Phil C
04-21-2012, 11:46 PM
With the summer olympics coming it can be noted that several actors helped get their start in the olympics. Four of them played Tarzan in at least one movie. There was only one that actually made more than one.
1. Johnny Weissmuller who won five gold medals in swimming at the Paris Olympics in 1924 and the Amersterdam Olympics in 1928. In the 1928 Olympics he also won a silver medal as part of the Men's Water Polo Team. He was indeed a Tarzan favorite as he made 12 of them in the 1930s and 1940s. He also was famous in Jungle Jim movies and tv series.
2. Buster Crabbe who was a swimmer and won a bronze medal in 1928 and in the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles won the gold in the 400m freestyle. This was the famous one in which he just reached the bank barely ahead of the swimmer from Japan. He only made one Tarzan movie called Tarzan the Fearless which was actually a series originally but it has been lost but we still have the one hour movie. Buster was more famous in seriel movies as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. He made many grade B movies in main roles and supporting roles.
3. Glenn Morris who won the decathlon at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He only made one Tarzan movie called Tarzan's Revenge in 1937. His movie career was very short but he had success in the insurance business. I have seen this movie and wonder why he wasn't given more opportunities. He was the only one of the 4 that didn't have a long movie and/or tv career.
4. Harold Herman Brix (born in 1906) was a bronze winner in the shot put in the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam. He went into the movies and his screen name was Bruce Bennett. His only Tarzan movie was the seriel made in 1935 called The New Adventures of Tarzan. He made many movies, however, mainly as a character actor in supporting roles.
It can be pointed out the the 1960 decathlon winner in Rome was Rafer Johnson who had a long career as a supporting actor. He did appear in supporting roles in two Tarzan movies called Tarzan and the Great River and Tarzan and the Jungle Boy in the later 1960s. He did a good job in both of them.
1. Johnny Weissmuller who won five gold medals in swimming at the Paris Olympics in 1924 and the Amersterdam Olympics in 1928. In the 1928 Olympics he also won a silver medal as part of the Men's Water Polo Team. He was indeed a Tarzan favorite as he made 12 of them in the 1930s and 1940s. He also was famous in Jungle Jim movies and tv series.
2. Buster Crabbe who was a swimmer and won a bronze medal in 1928 and in the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles won the gold in the 400m freestyle. This was the famous one in which he just reached the bank barely ahead of the swimmer from Japan. He only made one Tarzan movie called Tarzan the Fearless which was actually a series originally but it has been lost but we still have the one hour movie. Buster was more famous in seriel movies as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. He made many grade B movies in main roles and supporting roles.
3. Glenn Morris who won the decathlon at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He only made one Tarzan movie called Tarzan's Revenge in 1937. His movie career was very short but he had success in the insurance business. I have seen this movie and wonder why he wasn't given more opportunities. He was the only one of the 4 that didn't have a long movie and/or tv career.
4. Harold Herman Brix (born in 1906) was a bronze winner in the shot put in the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam. He went into the movies and his screen name was Bruce Bennett. His only Tarzan movie was the seriel made in 1935 called The New Adventures of Tarzan. He made many movies, however, mainly as a character actor in supporting roles.
It can be pointed out the the 1960 decathlon winner in Rome was Rafer Johnson who had a long career as a supporting actor. He did appear in supporting roles in two Tarzan movies called Tarzan and the Great River and Tarzan and the Jungle Boy in the later 1960s. He did a good job in both of them.