I believe most of us are familiar with by Tarzan of the Apes protector of the jungle. The name is well-acquainted with young and old and like every story it starts with an idea and carries on from there. Some initiate from a novel and some from comic books or even both. Tarzan is a perfect example of that topic and is considered to be a super-hero without a cape. But who’s idea was he? And what was going through the person’s mind when he thought Tarzan up?
The man was Edgar Rice Burroughs. Born in Chicago September 1, 1875, ERB drifted from job to job, didn’t fare well in school but would still bite at any anything to earn a buck. Soon he indulged in reading poorly written books which soon led him to pen his own literatures and the adventures of Tarzan of the Apes was born in 1912, was an immediate sensation and money poured into his bank account like hot lava. His fortunes earned him a city in California that he called Tarzana. Back in those days it was all about the silent era as sound movies was just being experimented with.
Tarzan was read on hardback book and comics world wide and Burroughs was kept busy with numerous sequels plus the big screen. Elmo Lincoln was the first seen in the 1918 silent “Tarzan of the Apes” as the first movie Tarzan. That was followed by another lion-clothed Lincoln in “Romance of Tarzan“. That sequel was not rapturously received as the first one. Lincoln retired his vines and in 1952 a heart attack claimed his life at 63. Gene Polar in the 1920 silent “Revenge of Tarzan” was next up from the many, many actors that would go on to play the ape man. In between there were some child actors who portrayed Tarzan as a boy. Then tragedy came in 1920 with ‘The Son of Tarzan‘ staring Hawaiian Kamuela C. Searle. He had played young Tarzan then moved up to be Tarzan’s young son when he was to be rescued by an elephant in a scene. The elephant picked him up then violently slammed him to the ground where he later died. They finished the movie with a double. Back in those days it was all about the silent era as sound movies were just being experimented with.
Johnny Weissmuller
James Pierce, Frank Merrill all took their turns in the mighty jungle with Buster Crabbe in “Tarzan the Fearless” and Herman Brix in “The New Adventures of Tarzan” in 1935. These were all sound Tarzans and the silent Tarzan reign was over. Let the ‘yell’ begin. And it did after Johnny Weissmuller the most famous Tarzan and a swimming champ came to swing into action for a dozen movies not to mention his clothed and domesticated “Jungle Jim” spin-offs. Weissmuller was approached by a screen-writer who was obligated to shoot several more films at a hotel he was staying. Johnny’s swimming talent and record spoke for itself but he was under contract for underwear modeling. That term ended with Johnny becoming a household name starting with 1932’s “Tarzan the Apeman” and made a lot of money. He later returned in his lioncloth to add 11 more Apeman films to his repertoire and with his own ‘yell’ he was Tarzan.
Johnny had some attractive ‘Janes’ to be his companions in his jungle with Marueen O’ Sullivan, being his first mate, who actually had the first “wardrobe malfunction when her clothes got snagged on a tree branch when cliff diving with Tarzan. They were completely ripped off and that scene along with the underwater swim scene were shot as-is. Brenda Joyce who was a blonde, being next in line, portrayed a blonde Jane. I guess Tarzan liked both brunettes and blondes. Johnny Sheffield in “Tarzan Finds a Son” went on to be ‘Boy’ as Tarzan named him. His character spun off later to be “Bomba the Jungle Boy”. “Tarzan” or “white skin” like all others swung from the tree vines. Those thick woody vines called lianas actually were rooted at the bottom deep into the soil and that would make vine swinging very difficult. But it looks cool. Hollywood is magical. ERB never visited Africa. Only in his mind.
Tarzans were filmed all over the world but mostly in the U.S. with some rhino and alligator fight scenes being used footage in a lot of his movies. The animated Tarzan films were in a class all by themselves but were quite popular.
Johnny couldn’t be Tarzan forever as the jungle aged him so did being Jungle Jim. Glenn Morris stepped in during that time in “Tarzan’s Revenge” in 1938, followed by Lex Barker in the 1949 “Tarzan’s Magic Fountain“. But it was barrel- chested body builder Gordon Scott that made a big splash with “Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle” and five more. Denny Miller took his turn in “Tarzan the Ape Man” in 1959. Jock Mahoney, a go-to stuntman with an impressive background was up next with “Tarzan goes to India” (1962) and was a hit as Tarzans became colorized and modern technology was having a say so in the films. Mahoney had an impressive background as a stuntman and even appeared as a villian in “Tarzan the Magnificent” (1960) with Scott still being the jungle superman.
Mike Henry in the 1966 “Tarzan and the Valley of Gold” was good for Henry, who later played “Junior” in “Smokey and the Bandit” but after receiving several stitches on his chin from a chimp bite bailed out after just one go at it.
Ron Ely took to the trees for three seasons in the T.V. series from 1966-68. Just recently he had a family tragedy as his son committed murder in his home. Ron was not harmed but his son was shot to death by police. Mike O’ Keefe took over the reins in 1981 as “Tarzan the Ape man”. A lot of titles like that just makes me think they couldn’t come up with newer titles. “Greystroke: The Legend of Tarzan: Lord of the Apes” in 1984 grabbed some attention with the long headline. Joe Lara had his fun in “Tarzan in Manhatten” (T.V. movie) with Wolf Larson in another TV series from 1991-94. These are all civilized ape men now.
Casper Van Dien tried his gymnastics with “Tarzan and the Lost City” in 1998. In the 2003 Tarzan (yes another try at swinging into our living rooms) Travis Fimmel showed up on the TV. Now it was Alexander Skarsgard’s turn as he dieted and worked out for months to be the latest movie Tarzan although he only removed his shirt and never sported the loincloth. They all were clean shaven though. Margot Robbie portrayed Jane in “The Legend of Tarzan” in 2016. The movie didn’t break any box-office records but he gave it a shot. A lot of his fight scenes were cgi and although he had a ripped body, it just wasn’t adventurous enough. It remains to be seen if he or the studio will follow it up with a sequel. Hollywood is all about that. The Tarzan family tree undoubtably will keep growing and so will the lioncloth size.
