What part of Johnny Weissmullers portrayal of Tarzan is most remembered?”
Weissmuller starred in six Tarzan movies for MGM with actress Maureen O’Sullivan as Jane (with whom he had a brief affair[citation needed]) and Cheeta the Chimpanzee. The last three also included Johnny Sheffield as Boy. Then, in 1942, Weissmuller went to RKO and starred in six more Tarzan movies with markedly reduced production values. Unlike MGM, RKO allowed Weissmuller to play other roles, though a three picture contract with Pine-Thomas Productions led to only one film, Swamp Fire, being made, co-starring Buster Crabbe. Sheffield appeared as Boy in the first five features for RKO. Another co-star was Brenda Joyce, who played Jane in Weissmuller’s last four Tarzan movies. In a total of twelve Tarzan films, Weissmuller earned an estimated $2,000,000 and established himself as what many consider the definitive Tarzan. Although not the first Tarzan in movies, (that honor went to Elmo Lincoln), he was the first to be associated with the now traditional ululating, yodeling Tarzan yell. (
Tarzans through Time A Brief History of Former Ape Men by Beth Rowen While nearly 20 beefcake actors have shed their clothes and donned loincloths to play Tarzan, none have displayed the swinging finesse, physical perfection, or animalistic qualities of the most recent ape man, Disney’s animated King of Swing. Weissmuller: Archetypal Ape Man While 1999’s Tarzan, voiced by Tony Goldwyn, may be the most buff and fully realized character, he is not the most memorable. Five-time Olympic gold-medalist swimmer Johnny Weissmuller remains the archetypal Tarzan. Weissmuller portrayed the Lord of the Jungle in 12 films, beginning with Tarzan, the Ape Man in 1932. MGM’s most memorable Tarzan movies featured those pairing Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan as Jane. They appeared in six films together in the 1930s and early ’40s. The most famous of these outings is probably 1934’s Tarzan and His Mate, in which Tarzan and Jane do a nude underwater dance. This controversial film marked the last Tarza
In a total of twelve Tarzan films, Weissmuller earned an estimated $2,000,000 and established himself as what many consider the definitive Tarzan. Although not the first Tarzan in movies, (that honor went to Elmo Lincoln), he was the first to be associated with the now traditional ululating, yodeling Tarzan yell. (During an appearance on television’s The Mike Douglas Show in the 1970s, 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).
