1904-1984
Known as Tarzan in films from the 1930's and 1940's, Johnny Weissmuller (Jonas [Johann] Peter Wießmüller) was born on this day in Friedorf, Austria-Hungary (now Timisoara, Romania) to ethnic Banat Swabian Germans. His parents immigrated to the U.S., passing through through Ellis Island, when he was just 7 months old. The family settled with a relative in Penslsyvania, becoming part of the community known here in the U.S. erroneously as "Pennsylvania Dutch." Weissmuller contracted polio at the age of nine; one the therapies recommended to his family was swimming and water therapeutics. This unfortunate event would end up being the foundation for his very long career in film and out. Around this time, the family relocated to Chicago, a location with a very large YMCA. At some point, he became so good, he was invited to join their swim team. Eventually he would represent the United States in swim competition and water polo at the 1924 Summer Olympics games in 1924 (after some innocent fudging of his personal information)--winning 2 medals and setting a world record along the way. He also competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. He medal total for both come to 5 gold medals and one bronze. For the rest of his life he credited swimming and a Dr. John Kellog's holistic lifestyle and diet for his success in overing his polio. His success at the Olympics also made him famous. So, of course, the movies "came calling." Though almost the lion's share of his film appearances were in the characters of Tarzan or Jungle Jim, that is not the case of the three films that he appeared in 1929. His first feature film was actually a full talkie: Glorifying the American Girl is a musical starring Mary Eaton and Eddie Cantor which feature a whole host of famous folks in cameo roles; Weissmuller was, fittingly, cast as Adonis--appearing in the film wearing only a fig leaf. The film was released in December of 1929. This cameo was his feature film debut, but Weissmuller was also in two documentaries in 1929; one of which is fully silent. But, inadvertently, Johnny actually made his film debut in a 1925 German documentary film that is a prime example of early racist propaganda in the country. Although billed as a "drama," Ways to Strength and Beauty features a large number of archival filmed footage and photos--many of them Americans (the film is also the debut of one infamous film maker: Leni Riefenstahl) . Though Weissmuller was indeed "German born"--hardly anyone knew that at the time, as he generally told people that he was actually born in Pennsylvania--he did have a Germanic last name...and he was the absolute epitome of the budding sense of racial purity and strength that Nazis perceived set them as a people apart from others....in other words: fascism. The other two films in which he appeared are also documentaries, one of them a fully silent film. Water Wonders was a silent short that featured Weissmuller giving a swimming demonstration; while Crystal Champions was also a short sports themed film, it was shot with full sound by the small company Sport Pictorals and features some truly innovative underwater photography. He would not show back up in any sort of film until 1931, when he made a risqué short with Stubby Kruger. His big break, though, was just around the corner. He debuted as Tarzan in 1932 and never looked back. The film, Tarzan the Ape Man, marked the successful reboot of the Tarzan franchise in the new era of sound. The Weissmuller "Tarzan yell" has since become the very idea of the character; it too also debuted in this film. Aside from a few shorts or cameo appearances, he wouldn't play another character in a film until 1946, when he appeared in the B-grade Swamp Fire. Then, two years later--with two more Tarzan films in-between--his new "wild man" character Jungle Jim in Jungle Jim. In 1956 Jungle Jim was made into a television series. After just one season, the show was cancelled and Weissmuller retired, moved to several locations, eventually ending up at a "Jungle Jim" tourist attraction in central Florida. He did appear in three more films in the 1970's, the last of which was Won Ton Ton: The Dog Saved Hollywood. In the late 1970's he suffered a series of strokes--he eventually moved with his last wife to Acapulco, Mexico where he died on the 20th of January, 1984 at the age of 79. He is buried there at the (in English) Valley of the Light cemetery. Reportedly, when his coffin was lowered into the ground--his famous Tarzan yell was played three times. During his lifetime, Weissmuller was married five times; the most famous of which was to Lupe Velez.
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| [Source: Flickr] |
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| [Source: Greg Chard--Find A Grave] |
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