When Johnny Weissmuller finally hung up his Tarzan loincloth and became Jungle Jim in a series of "B" movie jungle adventures for "Jungle Sam" Katzman, the search was underway to find a replacement for the "King of the Jungle." Many actors and athletes tried out, including Jock Mahoney who would later portray the apeman at the age of 44. Eventually 29 year old Alexander Crichlow Barker, Jr. was chosen but we all know him better by his screen name, Lex Barker.
       Sol Lesser signed Lex to be the tenth apeman. Lex would go on to make five Tarzan motion pictures for RKO Pictures, from 1949 to 1953. Lex would also have five different actresses play the role of Jane: Brenda Joyce, Vanessa Brown, Virginia Huston, Dorothy Hart and Joyce MacKenzie. But after starring in five Tarzan movies, Lex was afraid of forever being typecast and so quit the part and went to Europe, where he became an international star. Lex Barker died April 11, 1973 at the age of 53. Here then is Lex Barker, one of the best TARZAN's.

Click SITEMAP above to proceed

Tarzan® is the property of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., Tarzana CA

This website is copyright © 2002 by William Armstrong
and is for educational and entertainment purposes only. No rights given or implied.

NOTE: For best results, set your monitor to 1024 by 768 pixels.