The most popular series of Tarzan films began with Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), starring Johnny Weissmüller and Maureen O'Sullivan. Weissmüller, the son of ethnic-German immigrants from Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary, was already well known as a five-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming.

Who played Tarzan in the 70's?

Ronald Pierce Ely (born June 21, 1938) is an American actor and novelist born in Hereford, Texas, and raised in Amarillo. Hereford, Texas, U.S. Ely is best known for having portrayed Tarzan in the 1966–1968 NBC series Tarzan and for playing the lead role in the film Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975).

Who played the first original Tarzan?

role in “Tarzan of the Apes”

film in 1918, with lantern-jawed Elmo Lincoln as the first movie ape-man. More than a dozen actors have since swung through the trees as Tarzan, the most popular having been Johnny Weissmuller, a former Olympic swimming champion.

Who played Tarzan other than Johnny Weissmuller?

The list includes all the movies with different actors in the role of Tarzan. Among them, Elmo Lincoln, Herman Brix, Lex Barker, Buster Crabbe, Johnny Weissmuller, Gordon Scott, Ron Ely and others.

Who was the most famous Tarzan?

These days, Johnny Weissmuller is best known as the most famous actor to play the role of Tarzan. While his yelling went on to become iconic, before his appearances on the silver screen, the American was a swimmer. An elite swimmer at that. The best of his era.

TARZAN ACTORS (1918-2016) THROUGH THE YEARS

How old was Tarzan when he died?

He parlayed his success in the pool into Hollywood stardom, where nearly a century later he is still well known for his role as Tarzan. And yet, Weissmuller's most important maneuver was not known until after he passed away in 1984 at age 79.

Who played Tarzan the most times?

JOHNNY WEISSMULLER

The five-time Olympic gold-medalist swimmer played Tarzan in a whopping 12 films, beginning with the 1932 smash hit Tarzan the Ape Man.

What is the most accurate Tarzan movie?

The filmmakers did something amazing with Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan. The film is one of the more accurate retellings of the original novel (at least in the first half), focusing intently on its themes of Tarzan as an outsider and taking a truly serious and bleak look at the original tale.

Who played Tarzan in the 90s?

Career. Lara played Tarzan in the 1989 TV movie Tarzan in Manhattan and in the 1996-1997 follow-up TV series Tarzan: The Epic Adventures. He also appeared in numerous action films, including Steel Frontier and American Cyborg: Steel Warrior. He stopped acting after 20 years in 2002 to pursue a career in country music.

Who is Tarzan in real life?

Real-life 'Tarzan' who lived in the jungle for decades after escaping the Vietnam War dies of cancer. A Vietnamese man who lived in the jungle for four decades has died of cancer at the age of 52. Ho Van Lang first fled to the jungle in 1972 with his father after half of his family died in the Vietnam War.

Who did the original Tarzan yell?

Tarzan's distinctive call was either created by sound recordist Douglas Shearer from various sounds, or it was indeed Johnny Weissmuller doing the yell himself. Co-star Maureen O'Sullivan insisted throughout her life that it was Weissmuller doing the yell without any technical assistance.

Why did Maureen O'Sullivan leave Tarzan?

After appearing in Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942), O'Sullivan asked MGM to release her from her contract so she could care for her husband, John Farrow, who had just left the Navy with typhoid. She retreated from show business, devoting her time to her family.

Who was the original legend of Tarzan?

“Tarzan of the Apes” was the creation of Edgar Rice Burroughs, but he may have gotten his inspiration for the character from the Fourteenth Earl of Streatham. In 1868, a young English nobleman named William Mildin was shipwrecked off the African Coast. The 11-year-old boy was apparently adopted by monkeys (apes?).

Who played Tarzan in the 80s?

The 1980s saw two Tarzan films, the utterly forgettable Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981), starring Miles O'Keefe and Bo Derek, and the inspired Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984), starring Christopher Lambert and Andie MacDowell.

Who played Tarzan between 1932 and 1948?

Weissmuller starred in twelve Tarzan films produced in Hollywood between 1932 and 1948, becoming the actor most commonly associated with the Tarzan character.

Who played Tarzan in 1967?

Tarzan is a series that aired on NBC from 1966 to 1968. The series portrayed Tarzan (played by Ron Ely) as a well-educated character who had grown tired of civilization, and returned to the jungle where he had been raised.

Who became famous for playing Tarzan?

Despite his athletic records, Weissmuller is best known for his motion-picture role as Tarzan of the Apes, a character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Weissmuller starred in 12 Tarzan films between 1932 and 1948, beginning with Tarzan the Ape Man (1932).

Who played Tarzan in the 2016 version?

Alexander Skarsgård said that one of the main reasons he took this role was to impress his father Stellan Skarsgård. He said, "My dad is a massive Tarzan fan. Growing up, we had these VHS cassettes of the Johnny Weissmuller films, and that was my introduction to the character.

What is the most faithful Tarzan movie?

It is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs's book Tarzan of the Apes. The movie adapts only the first part of the book. The rest of the book became the sequel, The Romance of Tarzan. The movie is considered the most faithful to the book of all the movie adaptations.

What is considered the best Tarzan movie?

Was Johnny Weissmuller in the original Tarzan movie?

Tarzan the Ape Man is a 1932 pre-Code American action adventure film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs' famous jungle hero Tarzan and starring Johnny Weissmuller, Neil Hamilton, C. Aubrey Smith and Maureen O'Sullivan. It was Weissmuller's first of 12 Tarzan films.

How old was Tarzan supposed to be?

Throughout the entirety of the movie, Tarzan's exact age is never revealed. However, in the original novel Tarzan of the Apes, he was said to be one year old when his parents died, and 21 years of age when he met a 19-year-old Jane Porter.

Did Tarzan win any Oscars?

It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song ("You'll Be in My Heart" by Phil Collins).

Is Tarzan based on a true story?

Tarzan, as Mr. Burroughs portrayed him, was a young English nobleman, a certain Lord Greystoke, who was lost in the jungle as an infant and grew up among the apes. As he appeared in print, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was a fictional character -- a literary invention -- pure and simple.