"of the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF). He was inducted into the ISHOF the same year. In September 1966, Weissmuller joined former screen Tarzans James Pierce and Jock Mahoney to appear with Ron Ely as part of the publicity for the upcoming premiere of the ""Tarzan"" TV series. In the late 60s and early 70s, Weissmuller was involved with a tourist attraction called Tropical/Florida Wonderland, a.k.a. Tarzan's Jungleland, on US1 in Titusville, Florida. Weissmuller's face appeared in the collage on the iconic front cover of The Beatles' 1967 record album ""Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"". Based on his"
"Johnny Weissmuller Jr. Johnny Weissmuller Jr. (23 September 1940 — 27 July 2006) was an American actor and longshoreman. He also authored a book about his father, the five-time Olympic Games gold medalist Johnny Weissmuller, who achieved additional fame playing the title role in the Tarzan movies of the 1930s and 1940s. Weissmuller's mother was Beryl Scott, the third of his father's five wives. He was born in San Francisco, where his father was performing at the Golden Gate International Exposition in a water ballet show called ""Billy Rose's Aquacade"". The younger Weissmuller graduated from the University of Southern California"
"national championships, set more than 50 world records (spread over both freestyle and backstroke), and was purportedly undefeated in official competition for the entirety of his competitive career. After retiring from competitions, he became the sixth actor to portray Tarzan, a role he played in twelve feature films. Dozens of other actors have also played Tarzan, but Weissmuller is by far the best known. Weissmuller's distinctive Tarzan yell is still often used in films in his legacy. Johann Weißmüller was an ethnic German, the elder son of Peter Weißmüller and his wife Elisabeth (née Kersch), both Banat Swabians, an ethnic"
"sweater company ""Jantzen"". In 1922, Johnny Weissmuller became the first person to swim the 100 m in less than a minute, using a six kicks per cycle Australian crawl. Johnny Weissmuller started the golden age of swimming, winning five Olympic medals and 36 national championships and never losing a race in his ten-year career, until he retired from swimming and started his second career starring as Tarzan in film. His record of 51 seconds in freestyle stood for over 17 years. In the same year, Sybil Bauer was the first woman to break a men's world record over the 440"
"could; during the following years, he developed a love and an appreciation for American directors and actors. At the age of 11, he took up swimming in order to emulate the Austro-Hungarian American swimmer and actor Johnny Weissmuller, who played ""Tarzan"" in 1932. As a teenager, Bongioanni's two main passions were swimming and films. In 1939, Bongioanni was introduced to Turin's CINEGUF, a Cinema Department founded within Turin University for students who wanted to enter the film industry. This gave him an excellent opportunity to gain experience as a camera operator. In 1941, he joined the Cinema Department of the"
"role of Johnny Duval in the 1946 film ""Swamp Fire"", Weissmuller played only three roles in films during the heyday of his Hollywood career: Tarzan, Jungle Jim, and himself. According to the book by Weissmuller's son ""Tarzan, My Father"", while playing golf in Cuba in 1958 during the Cuban Revolution, Weissmuller's golf cart was suddenly surrounded by rebel soldiers. Weissmuller was unable to communicate who he was until he got out of the cart and attempted the trademark Tarzan yell. The soldiers then recognized him and shouted '""¡Es Tarzán! ¡Es Tarzán de la Jungla!"" Johnny and his companions were not"
"he said, ""Lord Greystoke--Tarzan of the Apes!"" Shrimp's jaw dropped. ""Is dat Johnny Weismuller? [""sic""]"" he demanded. Tarzan shook his head as though to clear his brain of an obsession. His thin veneer of civilization had been consumed by the fires of battle. ... When Weissmuller finally left the role of Tarzan, he immediately traded his loincloth costume for a slouch hat and safari suit for the role of ""Jungle Jim"" (1948) for Columbia. He made 13 ""Jungle Jim"" films between 1948 and 1954. According to actor Michael Fox, Weissmuller shot two ""Jungle Jim"" films consecutively with nine days filming"
"Hawaii. ""He was really a swashbuckler; he filled the room,"" said his wife, Diane Weissmuller. He had two children with her. Weissmuller Jr.'s memoir, ""Tarzan, My Father"", was published in 2002 by ECW Press in Toronto, Ontario. In 2005, he retired from the docks to begin writing a book about work as a longshoreman. He died from liver cancer on 27 July 2006, aged 65. He was married to Diane Weissmuller and had a daughter Heidi Medsker and a son. Johnny Weissmuller Jr. Johnny Weissmuller Jr. (23 September 1940 — 27 July 2006) was an American actor and longshoreman. He"
"against another Olympian turned actor Johnny Weissmuller in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. Weissmuller himself achieved Hollywood fame as the lead in multiple Tarzan films. His family's Hawaiian connections endeared Bunker to the local community; “the beach boys of Waikiki became his mentors and introduced him to ""Oahu's North Shore.” This mentoring was rare as Bunker was white with blonde hair and blues eyes which in Hawaii classified him as a haole, meaning, in its simplest term, a foreigner, aloof and ignorant of local ways. Many non-Hawaiians who moved to the islands in the 1960s during the surfing boom fell"
"starred Glenn Morris. With the exception of ""The New Adventures of Tarzan"", which was partially filmed in Guatemala, the Tarzan movies of this period were mostly filmed on Hollywood sound stages, with stock jungle and wildlife footage edited into the final product. After ""Tarzan and the Mermaids"" in 1948, Weissmuller retired from the series, believing that he was now too old to play the loincloth-clad character. He went on, however, to appear in a long series of similar adventures wearing a safari suit as Jungle Jim. After Weissmüller's departure, producer Sol Lesser led a nationwide search for a replacement, auditioning"
"place in the semi-final, although he still progressed to the final of the 400 m freestyle. Charlton finished in a distant sixth, some ten seconds behind the winner. In the 1500 m event, Charlton finished second in his heat, before coming fifth in his semi-final, resulting in his elimination. Whilst in Los Angeles, Charlton was offered the chance to audition in Hollywood. Weissmuller had done 12 ""Tarzan"" movies and was now Jungle Jim. But he turned down the offer because he didn't fancy swimming around, with his head out of the water, looking for baboons and alligators and things chasing"
"Tarzan Triumphs Tarzan Triumphs is a 1943 adventure film in which Tarzan fights the Nazis. Johnny Weissmuller had portrayed the popular Edgar Rice Burroughs character in six films with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but this was his first with the producer Sol Lesser at RKO Pictures. Lesser had previously produced ""Tarzan the Fearless"" and ""Tarzan's Revenge"". Weissmuller was reunited with two of his three co-stars from several of the earlier films, Johnny Sheffield and Cheeta, but Maureen O'Sullivan was unable to reprise her role as Jane because the franchise switched from MGM to RKO, and O'Sullivan was an MGM contract player. Instead, Frances"
"film ""Tarzan of the Apes"". With the advent of talking pictures, a popular Tarzan movie franchise was developed, which lasted from the 1930s through the 1960s. Starting with ""Tarzan the Ape Man"" in 1932 through twelve films until 1948, the franchise was anchored by former Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller in the title role. Weissmuller and his immediate successors were enjoined to portray the ape-man as a noble savage speaking broken English, in marked contrast to the cultured aristocrat of Burroughs's novels. With the exception of the Burroughs co-produced ""The New Adventures of Tarzan"", this ""me Tarzan, you Jane"" characterization of"
"the Weissmuller films, even though they shared a jungle treehouse and (particularly in the second film of the series, ""Tarzan and His Mate"") a strong sexual chemistry. In keeping with Motion Picture Production Code requirements, their son ""Boy"" was found and adopted rather than born to Jane. The ""Boy"" character, played by Johnny Sheffield, appeared in eight consecutive films in the series, starting with ""Tarzan Finds a Son"" (1939). Weissmüller's yodel-like ""Tarzan yell"" became so associated with the character that it was sometimes dubbed into later films featuring different actors. Cheeta the chimpanzee provided comic relief through the series. Due"
"Johnny Weissmuller, who encouraged him to train with famous coach Clyde Swendsen. Kurtz graduated from Hollywood High School and went on to the University of Southern California especially to join the diving team. He won a bronze medal in the 10 meter platform at the 1932 Olympics and placed fifth in 1936, competing with an injured shoulder. He also won the AAU platform title in 1933. Kurtz joined the Army to train as a pilot, anticipating a career in commercial aviation. Before the war, he held the national junior transcontinental speed record and established half a dozen other speed marks"
"her for two years. His acting career began when he signed a seven-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and played the role of Tarzan in ""Tarzan the Ape Man"" (1932). The movie was a huge success and Weissmuller became an overnight international sensation. The author of ""Tarzan"", Edgar Rice Burroughs, was pleased with Weissmuller, although he so hated the studio's depiction of a Tarzan who barely spoke English that he created his own concurrent Tarzan series filmed on location in Central American jungles and starring Herman Brix as a suitably articulate version of the character. Weissmuller starred in six Tarzan movies for"
"to complex licensing issues relating to Tarzan, a number of competing films starring other actors were made during the Weissmüller period. The first of these was ""Tarzan the Fearless"" (1933), featuring another Olympic swimmer, Buster Crabbe. ""The New Adventures of Tarzan"" (1935), hearkening back to the original concept of the character as an intelligent Englishman, was a serial featuring Herman Brix that was reedited into two feature films, the first released in the same year and with the same title as the serial, and the second, ""Tarzan and the Green Goddess"" released in 1938. ""Tarzan's Revenge"", also released in 1938,"
"moving with his last wife, Maria, to Acapulco, Mexico, the location of his last Tarzan movie. On January 20, 1984, Weissmuller died from pulmonary edema at the age of 79. He was buried just outside Acapulco, Valle de La Luz at the Valley of the Light Cemetery. As his coffin was lowered into the ground, a recording of the Tarzan yell he invented was played three times, at his request. He was honored with a 21-gun salute, befitting a head-of-state, which was arranged by Senator Ted Kennedy and President Ronald Reagan. His former co-star and movie son Johnny Sheffield wrote"
"available for rent. There were dances on Friday and Saturday night. The Strehlows owned and operated the beach and filled in a section of the Bay to add an additional Olympic-size swimming pool and a roller coaster with views of the Bay. Its two outdoor pools hosted swimming races and exhibitions by swimmers such as Olympian Johnny Weissmuller, who later starred as MGM's Tarzan, and Jack LaLanne who started a chain of health clubs. The park also featured a hand-carved carousel from the Dentzel Company and a Ferris wheel. The park closed down in 1939 because of the Great Depression,"
"trials and failed to qualify for the Los Angeles Games. Brix moved to Los Angeles in 1929 after being invited to compete for the Los Angeles Athletic Club and befriended actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr., who arranged a screen test for him at Paramount. In 1931, MGM, adapting author Edgar Rice Burroughs's popular Tarzan adventures for the screen, selected Brix to play the title character. Brix, however, broke his shoulder filming the 1931 football film ""Touchdown"", so swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller replaced Brix and became a major star. After Ashton Dearholt convinced Burroughs to allow him to form Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises, Inc.,"
"climbing trees and swinging from vines. He met Johnny Weissmüller, who agreed that Bragg would be perfect as Tarzan. When he won the gold at the 1960 Olympics he did the infamous Tarzan yell from the podium, shocking the crowd. He was offered the role twice, but was injured and missed both opportunities. His dream was unfulfilled. He later became athletic director at Stockton State College (N.J.), the owner of a summer camp, and the author of ""A Chance to Dare: The Don Bragg Story"". His time running a summer camp is chronicled in ""Kamp Olympik"" by Don and Theresa"
"Lesser thought he had outgrown the role of a cute boy, so the character did not appear in further films. Tarzan and the Huntress Tarzan and the Huntress is a 1947 adventure film starring Johnny Weissmuller in his eleventh outing as Tarzan. Brenda Joyce makes the third of five appearances as Jane and Johnny Sheffield marks his eighth and final appearance as Boy. Patricia Morison and Barton MacLane co-star. The film was produced by Sol Lesser and Kurt Neumann, written by Jerry Gruskin and Rowland Leigh (based on characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs) and directed by Kurt Neumann. It"
"films. Starting afresh with an extremely free adaptation of ""Tarzan of the Apes"" which threw out everything that had gone before, the Weissmüller series was a boon to the franchise if not to the character. In contrast to the articulate nobleman of Burroughs's novels, Weissmuller's Tarzan was a natural hero with a limited vocabulary. The ersatz pidgin of his dialogue has often been mocked as ""Me Tarzan, you Jane,"" although that particular line was never spoken in any of the films (see insert). Tarzan and Jane were clearly married in the novels, but their legal status was left ambiguous in"
"Feature films Short subjects Maureen O'Sullivan Maureen Paula O'Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish-American actress best known for playing Jane in the ""Tarzan"" series of films starring Johnny Weissmuller. O'Sullivan was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, in 1911, the daughter of Mary Eva Lovatt (née Frazer) and Charles Joseph O'Sullivan, an officer in the Connaught Rangers who served in World War I. Maureen returned to Boyle in 1988 to be honoured by the town. She attended a convent school in Dublin, then the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Roehampton (now Woldingham School), England."
"Maureen O'Sullivan Maureen Paula O'Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish-American actress best known for playing Jane in the ""Tarzan"" series of films starring Johnny Weissmuller. O'Sullivan was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, in 1911, the daughter of Mary Eva Lovatt (née Frazer) and Charles Joseph O'Sullivan, an officer in the Connaught Rangers who served in World War I. Maureen returned to Boyle in 1988 to be honoured by the town. She attended a convent school in Dublin, then the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Roehampton (now Woldingham School), England. One of her classmates"
"than a game, including the respect of his old friend Babe (Jack Oakie); his girl, Mary (Peggy Shannon); and, his player, Paul (Charles Starrett) could lose his life. Herman Brix broke his shoulder during filming, ""Touchdown""; and, was unable to play Tarzan, in MGM's screen adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs's popular character, in the 1932 film, ""Tarzan the Ape Man"". The injury prevented him from competing in the 1932 Olympics. At the time, he still held the world record for shot put. Swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller replaced him, as Tarzan, and became a major star. Touchdown (1931 film) Touchdown is"
"swimmer and ""Tarzan"" star Johnny Weissmuller, who, Williams wrote in her autobiography, repeatedly tried to seduce her. Despite this, Williams remained with the show until it closed on September 29, 1940. Williams had planned to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics but it was cancelled because of the outbreak of World War II. It was at Aquacade that Williams first attracted attention from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scouts. MGM's head, Louis B. Mayer, had been looking for a female sports star for the studio to compete with Fox's figure skating star, Sonja Henie. Williams signed her contract with MGM in 1941. In her"
"in swimming. He became the most famous and longest-lasting screen Tarzan, starring as the Ape Man in a total of twelve films, through 1948, the first six produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the final six from RKO. The beauteous and scantily clad O'Sullivan was a major factor in the early popularity of the series. The role of Jane in the films was reduced after O'Sullivan departed in 1942 following the sixth film in the series (and the last for MGM), ""Tarzan's New York Adventure"". Two Jane-less films followed before Brenda Joyce took over the role for the last four Weissmüller Tarzan"
"out to be a reading of a Shakespearean soliloquy for which he was not suited. Pierce never worked for MGM. Lesser wanted an athlete like Johnny Weissmuller to play Tarzan. At this time Paramount released ""King of the Jungle"" with Buster Crabbe as Kaspa the Lion Man (a Tarzanesque character), which brought him to Lesser's attention. Like Weissmuller, Crabbe was also an Olympic swimmer, fitting the producer's requirements. Lesser contracted him ""on a loan-out from Paramount."" Buster Crabbe had actually been tested for the part of Tarzan with MGM in 1931 but, in his own words, ""the test wasn't fair."""
"Tarzan's Desert Mystery Tarzan's Desert Mystery is a 1943 American Tarzan film directed by Wilhelm Thiele and starring Johnny Weissmuller and Nancy Kelly. Like its immediate predecessor, ""Tarzan Triumphs"", the film makes reference to Tarzan's mate, Jane, played in earlier Weissmuller films by Maureen O'Sullivan, but it does not show her on screen. The explanation given is that she is in England helping the war effort. (When the character of Jane finally did return in the next Tarzan film, she was played by Brenda Joyce, not O'Sullivan.) The film revolves around Tarzan's quest, at the urging of Jane, to find"
"the Tarzan series produced by Lesser 1945-1954. The Tarzan films were produced for RKO and starred Johnny Weissmuller and later Gordon Scott. Neumann became known as a specialist in science fiction movies owing to his producing and directing such productions as ""Rocketship X-M"" (1950) and ""The Fly"" (1958) about a scientist's transportation experiment that transforms him into a fly creature. Neumann directed other sci-fi and horror films such as ""Kronos"" (1957) and ""She-Devil"" (1957), and directed non-scifi films such as ""The Ring"" (1952) an independent feature co-starring Rita Moreno, ""Carnival Story"" (1954), ""Mohawk"" (1956), and ""The Deerslayer"" (1957). Contrary to"
"interest in natural lifestyles, Weissmuller opened a small chain of health food stores called Johnny Weissmuller's American Natural Foods in California in 1969. In 1970, he attended the British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where he was presented to Queen Elizabeth II. That same year, he appeared with former co-star Maureen O'Sullivan in ""The Phynx"" (1970). Weissmuller lived in Florida until the end of 1973, then moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he worked as a greeter at Caesars Palace along with boxer Joe Louis for a time. In 1976, he appeared for the last time in a motion picture, playing"
"swimming pool was built, and it stayed in operation until the mid-1960s. On Sunday, July 11, 1926, Olympic medalist and Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller set a new world record in the 220-yard free style swim in the pool in front of 3,000 spectators. Lake swimming also continued over the coming decades. Many amusement parks at the time had race tracks, dance halls, and sometimes a theater and bowling alley, making them year round attractions. The race track was added in 1931, although it closed in 1969. The theater, dance hall, and bowling alley were also added around the same time."