Born Janos (Johann) Weiszmuller to Petrus Weiszmuller and Ersebert (Elizabeth) Kersch.
Date of birth...June 2, 1904
Freidorf, Banat, Austria-Hungary (now Romania)
Date of death: January 20, 1984
Acapulco, Mexico (series of strokes)
Johnny Weissmuller was born in Timisoara, Romania, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, though he would later claim to have been born in Windber, Pennsylvania, probably to ensure his eligibility to compete as part of the US Olympic team.
A sickly child, he took up swimming on the advice of a doctor. He grew to be a 6' 3", 190-pound champion athlete - undefeated winner of five Olympic gold medals, 67 world and 52 national titles, holder of every freestyle record from 100 yards to the half-mile. In his first picture, Glorifying the American Girl (1929), he appeared as an Adonis clad only in a fig leaf. After great success with a jungle movie, MGM head Louis B. Mayer, via Irving Thalberg, optioned two of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan stories. Cyril Hume, working on the adaptation of Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), noticed Weissmuller swimming in the pool at his hotel and suggested him for the part of Tarzan. Weissmuller was under contract to BVD to model underwear and swimsuits; MGM got him released by agreeing to pose many of its female stars in BVD swimsuits. The studio billed him as "the only man in Hollywood who's natural in the flesh and can act without clothes". The film was an immediate box-office and critical hit. Seeing that he was wildly popular with girls, the studio told him to divorce his wife and paid her $10,000 to agree to it. After 1942, however, MGM had used up its options; it dropped the Tarzan series and Weissmuller, too. He then moved to RKO and made six more Tarzans. After that he made 16 Jungle Jim (1948) programmers for Columbia. He retired from movies to run private business in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Weissmuller had five wives: 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 Baumann (married 1963 – his death 1984).
With his third wife, Beryl, he had three children, Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. (September 23, 1940 – July 27, 2006), Wendy Anne Weissmuller (b. June 1, 1942), and Heidi Elizabeth Weissmuller (July 31, 1944 – November 19, 1962).
In 1974, Weissmuller broke both his hip and leg, marking the beginning of years of declining health. While hospitalized he learned that, in spite of his strength and lifelong daily regimen of swimming and exercise, he had a serious heart condition. In 1977, Weissmuller suffered a series of strokes. In 1979, he entered the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California for several weeks before moving with his last wife, Maria, to Acapulco, Mexico, the location of his last Tarzan movie.
On January 20, 1984, Weissmuller died from pulmonary edema at the age of 79. At his request, he was buried in Acapulco at Valley of the Light Cemetery where, also at his request, a recording of the Tarzan yell he invented was played.
(from the IMDb Biography By Ed Stephan and Wikipedia)
(from the Internet Movie Database)
1. Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
.... Stagehand #2
... aka Won Ton Ton (USA: poster title)
2. "Jungle Jim" .... Jungle Jim (26 episodes, 1955-1956)
- Power of Darkness (1956) TV episode .... Jungle Jim
- Gift of Evil (1956) TV episode .... Jungle Jim
- The Silver Locket (1956) TV episode .... Jungle Jim
- Return of the Tauregs (1956) TV episode .... Jungle Jim
- The Avenger (1956) TV episode .... Jungle Jim
(21 more)
3. Devil Goddess (1955) .... Johnny Weissmuller
4. Jungle Moon Men (1955) .... Johnny Weissmuller
5. Cannibal Attack (1954) .... Johnny Weissmuller
6. Jungle Man-Eaters (1954) .... Jungle Jim
7. Killer Ape (1953) .... Jungle Jim
8. Valley of Head Hunters (1953) .... Jungle Jim
... aka Valley of the Headhunters
9. Savage Mutiny (1953) .... Jungle Jim
10. Voodoo Tiger (1952) .... Jungle Jim
11. Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land (1952) .... Jungle Jim
12. Jungle Manhunt (1951) .... Jungle Jim
13. Fury of the Congo (1951) .... Jungle Jim
14. Jungle Jim in Pygmy Island (1950) .... Jungle Jim
... aka Pygmy Island (USA: short title)
15. Captive Girl (1950) .... Jungle Jim
... aka Jungle Jim and the Captive Girl
16. Mark of the Gorilla (1950) .... Jungle Jim
17. The Lost Tribe (1949) .... Jungle Jim
18. Jungle Jim (1948) .... Jungle Jim
19. Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948) .... Tarzan
... aka Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Mermaids
20. Tarzan and the Huntress (1947) .... Tarzan
... aka Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Huntress
21. Swamp Fire (1946) .... Johnny Duval
22. Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946) .... Tarzan
... aka Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Leopard Woman
23. Tarzan and the Amazons (1945) .... Tarzan
... aka Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and the Amazons
24. Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943) .... Tarzan
... aka Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan's Desert Mystery
25. Tarzan Triumphs (1943) .... Tarzan
... aka Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan Triumphs
26. Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942) .... Tarzan
27. Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941) .... Tarzan
28. Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939) .... Tarzan
29. Tarzan Escapes (1936) .... Tarzan
30. Tarzan and His Mate (1934) .... Tarzan
31. Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) .... Tarzan
32. Glorifying the American Girl (1929) .... Adonis (segment "Loveland")
Self:
1. It's Showtime (1976) (uncredited) .... Himself
... aka Crazy Animals (USA: alternative title)
... aka Jaws, Paws, Claws (USA: alternative title)
... aka Wonderful World of Those Cukoo Animals (USA: alternative title)
... aka World of Those Cuckoo (USA: alternative title)
2. "ABC's Wide World of Entertainment" .... Himself (1 episode, 1974)
... aka ABC Late Night (USA: new title)
- That's Entertainment! 50 Years of MGM (1974) TV episode .... Himself
3. "Das aktuelle Sportstudio" .... Himself (1 episode, 1971)
... aka Das aktuelle Sportstudio (West Germany)
... aka ZDF Sportstudio (Germany: new title)
- Episode dated 16 October 1971 (1971) TV episode .... Himself
4. The Phynx (1970) .... Himself
5. "The David Frost Show" .... Himself (1 episode, 1969)
- Episode #1.8 (1969) TV episode .... Himself
6. "Toast of the Town" .... Himself / ... (3 episodes, 1954-1967)
... aka The Ed Sullivan Show (USA: new title)
- Episode #21.10 (1967) TV episode .... Himself - Audience Bow
- Episode #9.47 (1956) TV episode .... Himself
- Episode #8.8 (1954) TV episode .... Himself
7. "Here's Hollywood" .... Himself (1 episode, 1961)
- Episode dated 14 August 1961 (1961) TV episode .... Himself
8. "Celebrity Golf" .... Himself (1 episode)
... aka The Golf Channel Presents Celebrity Golf with Sam Snead (USA: alternative title)
- Johnny Weissmuller (????) TV episode .... Himself
9. "You Bet Your Life" .... Himself (1 episode, 1958)
... aka The Groucho Show (USA: last season title)
- Episode #8.3 (1958) TV episode .... Himself
10. "This Is Your Life" .... Himself (1 episode, 1957)
- Duke Kahanamoku (1957) TV episode .... Himself
11. Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Plays Golf (1955) .... Himself
12. Screen Snapshots: Fun in the Sun (1952) .... Himself - Golf Player
13. Stage Door Canteen (1943) .... Himself
14. Rodeo Dough (1940) .... Himself
15. Medicus Film of New York World's Fair (1940) .... Himself
16. Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 10 (1937) .... Himself
17. Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 1 (1936) .... Himself
18. Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs (1936) .... Himself
19. The Human Fish (1932) .... Himself
... aka The Grantland Rice Sportlight: Human Fish (USA: series title)
20. Water Bugs (1931) .... Himself
21. Swim or Sink (1931) .... Himself
22. Crystal Champions (1929) .... Himself
Archive Footage:
1. "MythBusters"
- Quicksand, Bathtub Electrocution, MRI Rays and Tattoos (2004) TV episode .... Himself
2. Haunts of the Black Masseur (2004) (TV) .... Himself
3. Complicated Women (2003) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself
4. Classified X (1998) (TV) .... Himself
5. Tarzan at the Movies Part 1: Johnny Weissmuller (1996) (V)
6. The Roaring Twenties (1996) (V) (uncredited) .... Himself (at swimming meet)
7. The Celluloid Closet (1995) (uncredited) .... Tarzan
8. Brooklyn Bridge (1981) (uncredited) .... Himself (clip from "Tarzan's New York Adventure")
9. That's Entertainment, Part II (1976) .... Clip from 'Tarzan the Ape Man'
10. Hooray for Hollywood (1975) .... Himself
11. Hollywood Without Make-Up (1963) .... Himself
12. The Yellow Cab Man (1950) (voice) (archive sound) (uncredited) .... Tarzan
13. This Is America: Sports' Golden Age (1948) .... Himself - Olympics
14. Wege zu Kraft und Schönheit - Ein Film über moderne Körperkultur (1925) .... Himself
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