Tarzan Plays Golf

Tarzan Plays Golf

This is a publicity still from the 1936 MGM film, Tarzan Escapes. Tarzan escapes was the third Tarzan movie starring Johnny Weissmuller in the title role. In all, Weissmuller made six Tarzan films. At the time, Weissmuller was he sixth to play the character.

Weissmuller (1904 – 1984) was quite the athlete. A competitive swimmer, he won five Olympic Gold Medals for swimming, and a Bronze for water polo. He was the first to break the one minute barrier for the 100 meter freestyle and the first to swim the 440 in under five minutes. Weissmuller won fifty two US National Championships and set 50 world records. Interestingly, he took up swimming to recover from polio.

After playing Tarzan, Weissmuller went on to make thirteen Jungle Jim movies for Columbia.

Weissmuller was a good golfer, who played in two official PGA TOUR tournaments: The Western Open in 1937, where he shot 87-85 and missed the cut. In 1948, he played the Hawaiian Open and finished 37th with a 79–75–79–76=309.

Created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan made his first appearance in the October 1912 issue of The All Story. Burroughs went on to write 25 Tarzan novels. Burroughs also created the character of John Carter of Mars.