Johnny Weissmuller (1904 - 1984)

         Johnny Weissmuller

Johnny Weissmuller was born Johann Peter Weißmüller in June 1904 in Timisoara, Romania, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His parents immigrated to the US when he was 3 years old.

He had polio as a child and was advised to take up swimming to build his strength. This he did with great success and he grew to be a 190lb long limbed athlete. He became a champion swimmer, won five Olympic gold medals, held 67 world titles and at one time held every freestyle record from sprints to the half-mile. In his amateur swimming career he never lost a race.

In 1929 he quit swimming and worked for the BVD bathing suit company before MGM showed an interest. He first appeared as Adonis in a fig leaf in 'Glorifying the American Girl' in 1929, and then landed the role that defined his career in 'Tarzan the ape Man' in 1932. Lithe, long-haired, nearly-naked, and iarticulate, Weissmuller's Tarzan is intriguingly partnered with Maureen O'Sullivan's sophisticated but melting Jane. The film was a major box-office success and Johnny Weissmuller became an international superstar almost overnight.

Famed for the line,'Me Tarzan, you Jane,' Weissmuller claimed he never said it; it was 'Tarzan, Jane.' Their jungle idyll is expanded, with Tarzan picking up a few more words in 'Tarzan and His Mate' in 1934.

Although O'Sullivan eventually got free of the series after six movies, Weissmuller stayed for a total of ten more sequels at two different studios, MGM and RKO Pictures. The sex was sifted out of the formula but the adventure remained, and Weissmuller's Tarzan has any number of iconic moments: ripping through jackets as he prepares for 'Tarzan's New York Adventure' in 1942, and snarling 'Die Nazi' as he enters the war effort in 'Tarzan Triumphs' in 1943.

When Weissmmuller left the series after Tarzan and the Mermaids' in 1948, the distinctive yodeling yell he invented remained on the soundtrack. Paunchier and in tropical shorts rather than a loincloth, Weissmuller continued adventuring in a run of 13 'Jungle Jim' films, including 'Jungle Jim' in 1948 and 'Voodoo Tiger' in 1952. From 'Cannibal Attack' in 1954 onward, the 'Jungle Jim' name was dropped and the hero became simply 'Johnny Weissmuller'.

When his film career ended Weismuller had a series of unsuccessful business ventures, including a swimming pool company and a failed tourist attraction called 'Tropical Wonderland' in Florida. In failing health from 1974 he lived the last part of his life in Mexico with his fifth wife, Maria. Johnny Weissmuller died on January 20, 1984,at the age of 79.