Johnny Weissmuller

Johnny Weissmuller (June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven world records. Weissmuller understood the potential role that athletic competition could play in the world, "I have always been vitally interested in physical conditioning. I have long believed that athletic competition among people and nations should replace violence and wars."

After his swimming career, he became the sixth actor to portray Tarzan in films, a role he played in twelve motion pictures. Other actors also played Tarzan, but Weissmuller was the actor most identified with the role.

As an Olympic swimmer, Weissmuller was a hero to many. Weissmuller also inspired people through his portrayal of Tarzan, who always protected his family and animal friends from the deeds of evil doers.

Early Life

Johnny Weissmuller was registered as János Weissmüller at birth in Freidorf near Temeschburg, Banat. At the time, Freidorf was part of Austria-Hungary. Today it is a suburb of Timişoara, Romania). Weissmuller was born to German-speaking parents of Jewish and Roman Catholic descent, Petrus Weißmüller and Elisabeth Kersch, according to his Hungarian birth and (Roman Catholic) baptismal records. In fact, he was named Johann by his parents, but all legal records at the time used the Hungarian forms of personal names.

When Johnny was seven months old, the family emigrated to the United States aboard the S.S. Rotterdam. They left the Dutch port of Rotterdam on January 14, 1905, and arrived in New York twelve days later. Upon entering the United States, the family names were recorded in English as Peter, Elizabeth and Johann Weissmuller. Peter had been born 1876-12-31.

After a brief stay in Chicago, Illinois, to visit relatives, the Wessmullers moved to the coal mining town of Windber, Pennsylvania outside of Pittsburgh. Peter Weissmuller worked as a miner. His youngest son, Peter Weissmuller, Jr., was born in Windber on September 3, 1905.

After several years in Western Pennsylvania, the family moved to Chicago. Johnny's father owned a bar for a time. His mother became head cook at a popular restaurant. Later, Peter Sr. worked as a brewer for the United States brewery in Chicago.

Johnny's parents eventually divorced, as is shown by the divorce document filed in Chicago by Elizabeth Weissmuller. Many sources incorrectly state that Weismuller's father died of tuberculosis contracted from working in coal mines and left her a widow. Elizabeth Weissmuller even appears with her sons on the Cook County census listed as a widow. It is possible that because divorce had a stigma at the time, that Elizabeth referred to herself as a widow to avoid this stigma for her and her sons.

Peter actually sired another large family following his divorce, and lived to an old age. By 1930 he had married his second wife, Anna, with whom he had a son named Edward and a daughter Ruth.

Johnny and his brother Peter learned to swim at a young age in order to become stronger and healthier. Johnny in particular was rather weak and sickly. Both boys quickly became known as aggressive swimmers. The beaches of Lake Michigan became their favorite place for summer recreation. Johnny also joined the Stanton Park pool, where he began swimming competitively. He soon won all the junior swim meets. At the age of twelve Johnny earned a spot on the YMCA swim team.

Swimming Career

When Weissmuller left high school, he worked as a bellhop and elevator operator at the Plaza Hotel in Chicago. At the same time he began training for the Olympics with swim coach William Bachrach at the Illinois Athletic Club. This is when Johnny developed his revolutionary high riding front crawl. He made his amateur debut on August 6, 1921, winning his first AAU race in the 50-yard freestyle (crawl stroke).

Though he was foreign-born, Weissmuller gave his birthplace as Windber, Pennsylvania, and his birth date as that of his younger brother, Peter Weissmuller. This was to ensure his eligibility to compete as part of the United States Olympic team. U.S. birth was also critical issue in obtaining an American passport.

On July 9, 1922, Weissmuller broke Duke Kahanamoku's world record for the 100 meter freestyle, swimming it in just 58.6 seconds. He was the first person to swim the 100 meter freestyle in less than a minute. He won the Gold Medal for the 100 meter freestyle at the 1924 Summer Olympics, beating both Duke and Samuel Kahanamoku, who were silver and bronze medalists respectively. He also took gold medals in the 400 meter freestyle and the 4 x 200 meters relay. As a member of the American water polo team, he also won a bronze medal. Four years later, at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, he won another two Olympic titles.

In all, he won five Olympic gold medals, one bronze medal, won fifty-two U.S. National Championships and set sixty-seven world records. Johnny Weissmuller retired from his amateur swimming career undefeated.

Motion Picture Career

In 1929, Weissmuller signed a contract with BVD to be a model and representative. He traveled throughout the country doing swim shows, handing out leaflets promoting the BVD brand of swimwear, giving his autograph and appearing on talk shows. Also in 1929, Johnny made his first motion picture appearance as an Adonis wearing only a figleaf, in a movie titled "Glorifying the American Girl". He appeared in the first of several "Crystal Champions", movie shorts filmed in Silver Springs, Florida featuring Weissmuller and other Olympic champions.

His career really 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. The 6'3" Weissmuller became an overnight international sensation. Even the author, Edgar Rice Burroughs, who created the character of Tarzan in his books, was pleased with Weissmuller's portrayal of Tarzan.

Weissmuller starred in six Tarzan movies for [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) with actress Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane. The last three also included Johnny Sheffield as Boy. Weismuller said about the series, "Tarzan films are decent films, designed for family viewing. It's an idealistic, down-to-earth story about a man's love for animals and the care of his family".

Production of Tarzan movies at MGM ended with the onset of the Second World War. Johnny Weissmuller's contribution to the war effort was to teach navy recruits to swim to safety out from under waters covered with burning petroleum.

In 1942, Weissmuller went to RKO Studios and starred in six more Tarzan movies. Sheffield appeared as Boy in the first five features for that studio. Another costar was blonde actress Brenda Joyce, who played Jane in Weissmuller's last four Tarzan movies. In a total of twelve Tarzan movies, Weissmuller earned an estimated $2,000,000 and established himself as the best known of all the actors who have ever portrayed Tarzan.

Although not the first Tarzan in movies (that honour went to Elmo Lincoln), Weismuller was the first to be associated with the now traditional ululating, yodeling Tarzan yell. During an appearance on television's Mike Douglas Show in the 1970's, Weissmuller explained how the famous yell was created. Recordings of three vocalists were spliced together to get the effect—a soprano, an alto, and a hog caller! This famous yell is still used in films.

When he finally left the role of Tarzan, Johnny immediately traded his loincloth costume for jungle fatigues, appearing fully clothed in the role of "Jungle Jim" (1948) for Columbia. He made thirteen Jungle Jim movies between 1948 and 1954. In the next year, he appeared as himself in three more jungle movies.

Also in 1955, Weissmuller began production of the Jungle Jim television adventure series for Screen Gems, a film subsidiary of Columbia Pictures. The show ran for twenty six episodes. Reruns of the show played on network and syndicated TV for many years.

Personal Life

Weissmuller had five wives. They were: band and club singer Bobbe Arnst (married 1931-divorced 1933); actress Lupe Vélez (married 1933-divorced 1939); Beryl Scott (married 1939-divorced 1948); Allene Gates (married 1948-divorced 1962); and Maria Bauman (married 1963-his death 1984).

With his third wife, Beryl, he had three children, Johnny Scott Weissmuller (or Johnny Weissmuller, Jr., also an actor) (born September 23, 1940, died July 27, 2006), Wendy Anne Weissmuller (born June 1, 1942) and Heidi Elizabeth Weissmuller (July 31, 1944-November 19, 1962).

Later Years

In the late 1950s, Weissmuller moved back to Chicago and started a swimming pool company. He also lent his name to other ventures, but did not have success in business. He retired in 1965 and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was Founding Chairman of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

In 1970, he attended the British Commonwealth Games in Jamaica where he was presented to Queen Elizabeth. He also made a cameo appearance 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. He worked as a greeter at the MGM Grand Hotel for a time. In 1974, he broke a hip and leg. While hospitalized for these injuries, he learned that in spite of his strength and lifelong daily regimen of swimming and exercise, he had a serious heart condition.

In 1976, he appeared for the last time in a motion picture playing a movie crewman who is fired by a movie mogul, played by Art Carney. The movie was "Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood". He also made his final public appearance that year, when he was inducted into the Body Building Guild Hall of Fame.

Weissmuller suffered a series of strokes in 1977. For a time in 1979, he was a patient in the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. Later he and his last wife, Maria, moved to Acapulco, Mexico, the location of his last Tarzan movie.

Johnny Weissmuller died on January 20, 1984 of pulmonary edema at a retirement home in Acapulco. He is buried in the Valley of The Light Cemetery there.

His former co-star and movie son, Johnny Sheffield, said of him, "I can only say that working with Big John was one of the highlights of my life. He was a Star with a capital "S" and he gave off a special light and some of that light got into me. Knowing and being with Johnny Weissmuller during my formative years had a lasting influence on my life."

Johnny Weissmuller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6541 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Filmography

• Glorifying the American Girl (1929) (Paramount) ... Adonis
• Crystal Champions (1929) (Paramount) ... Himself
• Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) (MGM) ... Tarzan
• Tarzan and His Mate (1934) (MGM) ... Tarzan
• Tarzan Escapes (1936) (MGM) ... Tarzan
• Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939) (MGM) ... Tarzan
• Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941) (MGM) ... Tarzan
• Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942) (MGM) ... Tarzan
• Tarzan Triumphs (1943) (RKO Pathé) ... Tarzan
• Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943) (RKO Pathé) ... Tarzan
• Stage Door Canteen (1943) (United Artists) ... Himself
• Tarzan and the Amazons (1945) (RKO Pathé) ... Tarzan
• Swamp Fire (1946) (Paramount) ... Johnny Duval
• Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946) (RKO Pathé) ... Tarzan
• Tarzan and the Huntress (1947) (RKO Pathé) ... Tarzan
• Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948) (RKO Pathé) ... Tarzan
• Jungle Jim (1948) (Columbia) ... Jungle Jim
• The Lost Tribe (1949) (Columbia) ... Jungle Jim
• Mark of the Gorilla (1950) (Columbia) ... Jungle Jim
• Captive Girl (1950) (Columbia) ... Jungle Jim
• Pypmy Island (1950) (Columbia) ... Jungle Jim
• Fury of the Congo (1951) (Columbia) ... Jungle Jim
• Jungle Manhunt (1951) (Columbia) ... Jungle Jim
• Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land (1952) (Columbia) ... Jungle Jim
• Voodoo Tiger (1952) (Columbia) ... Jungle Jim
• Savage Mutiny (1953) (Columbia) ... Jungle Jim
• Valley of Head Hunters (1953) (Columbia) ... Jungle Jim
• Killer Ape (1953) (Columbia) ... Jungle Jim
• Jungle Man-Eaters (1954) (Columbia) ... Jungle Jim
• Cannibal Attack (1954) (Columbia) ... Himself
• Jungle Moon Men (1955) (Columbia) ... Himself
• Devil Goddess (1955) (Columbia) ... Himself
• The Phynx (1970) (Warner Bros.) ... Cameo
• Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) (Paramount) ... Crewman

Literature

• Johnny Weismuller Jr., Tarzan My Father, Toronto: ECW Press 2002

External Links and References

• The Official Johnny Weissmuller Web Site
• Johnny Weissmuller at the Internet Movie Database
• LOUIS S. NIXDORFF, 1928 OLYMPIC GAMES COLLECTION, 1926-1978 - Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
• The passenger list of the ship that brought the Weissmuller to Ellis Island
• Medal records of Olympians

Preceded by: Frank Merrill

Actors to portray Tarzan 1932-1948

Succeeded by: Buster Crabbe

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