Johnny Weissmuller performed in “The Water Follies” at the Derby Baths in Blackpool in 1949. The Derby Baths was a swimming complex known for its Art Deco architecture and Olympic-sized seawater pool. It also had high diving boards and was popular for international competitions.
Johnny Weissmuller was born Johann Peter Weißmüller on 2 June 1904. He was a Hungarian-born ethnic German American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive-swimming records of the 20th century. He set world records alongside winning five gold medals in the Olympics. He won the 100m freestyle and the 4 × 200 m relay team event in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris and the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Weissmuller also won gold in the 400m freestyle, as well as a bronze medal in the water polo competition in Paris.Following his retirement from swimming, Weissmuller played Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan in twelve feature films from 1932 to 1948; six were produced by MGM, and six additional films by RKO. Weissmuller went on to star in sixteen Jungle Jim movies over an eight-year period, then filmed 26 additional half-hour episodes of the Jungle Jim TV series.
1949. Blackpool, England. Radio and Stage Stars at Blackpool. US swimmer and actor most famous for his role as Tarzan, Johnnie Weissmuller, is lifted by a group of Showgirls on the beach, with Blackpool Tower in the background.
1949. Blackpool, England. Radio and Stage Stars at Blackpool. US swimmer and actor most famous for his role as Tarzan, Johnnie Weissmuller, is pictured with his wife Allene having their palms read by a Gypsy.
1949. Blackpool, England. Radio and Stage Stars at Blackpool. US swimmer and actor most famous for his role as Tarzan, Johnnie Weissmuller, is pictured with his wife Allene on a shooting range.
Weissmuller (Tarzan) with Maureen O’Sullivan (Jane) in Tarzan’s Secret Treasure
Weissmuller’s first film was the non-speaking role of Adonis in the movie Glorifying the American Girl. He appeared wearing only a fig leaf while hoisting actress Mary Eaton on his shoulders. He was noticed by the writer Cyril Hume, which led to his big break playing Tarzan in Tarzan the Ape Man in 1932.
When asked to play Tarzan, Weissmuller was already under contract to model BVD underwear. MGM agreed to have actresses such as Greta Garbo and Marie Dressler featured in BVD ads so that he could be released from his BVD contract. The author of Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs, was pleased with Weissmuller, although he so hated the studio’s depiction of Tarzan as an individual who barely spoke English that he created his own concurrent Tarzan series starring Herman Brix as a suitably articulate version of the character (as is true to the original books). One of the early screenwriters for the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies was Ivor Novello, who came up with the line, ‘Me Tarzan, you Jane.’ But Novello left that role to pursue other types of work.
Weissmuller is considered the definitive Tarzan. He originated the famous Tarzan yell, which was created by sound recordist Douglas Shearer. Shearer recorded Weissmuller’s normal yell, but manipulated it and played it in reverse. Weissmuller went on to play the lead in the film Jungle Jim. He appeared in sixteen Jungle Jim movies over eight years, going on to film 26 episodes of the Jungle Jim TV series. He retired from acting in 1957 and died twenty-seven years later on 20 January 1984.
Weissmuller c. 1940s
