Background

Throughout his lifetime, Johnny Weissmuller claimed to have been born Peter John Weissmuller, the son of recent immigrants from Eastern Europe, on July 2, 1904, in the small Pennsylvania mining town of Windber, near Johnstown. Olympic historian David Wallechinsky uncovered credible evidence in the 1980s that Weissmuller had in fact been born in Freidorf, Austria-Hungary, now a district of the city of Timișoara, Romania, to Peter Weissmuller, a former soldier, and Elizabeth (Kersch) Weissmuller, a homemaker, and was brought to the United States shortly after his birth. It's also worth saying, that some sources claimed Párdány, Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Međa, Žitište, Serbia, near the Romanian border) as Weissmuller's birthplace. Wallechinsky further contended that Weissmuller's parents later switched his identity with that of his American-born brother, Peter, to qualify their older son to compete on the United States Olympic swimming team.

Education

The Weissmullers did not linger long in Windber, where Johnny's father toiled in the coal mines to scratch out an existence for his family. By 1908 they had relocated to Chicago, where Weissmuller's father owned and operated a neighborhood tavern while his mother cooked in the city's famous Turn-Verein restaurant. Johnny was enrolled in St. Michael's Parochial School. He later attended Chicago's Menier Public School (now Lane Technical College Prep High School) but quit after completing the eighth grade when his father died of tuberculosis, probably contracted during his years as a coal miner in Pennsylvania.

To help support his family, Weissmuller worked as a bellhop and elevator operator at Chicago's Plaza Hotel. In his spare time, he and younger brother Peter, both avid swimmers, joined the Stanton Park pool, where Johnny won all the junior swim meets in which he competed. At the age of twelve, he lied about his age to win a berth on the local YMCA swim team. During the summer, he spent every spare moment at Chicago's Oak Street Beach, where he and Peter pulled twenty people from the waters of Lake Michigan after a boating accident. Only eleven of those they rescued survived the mishap. The incident impressed upon Weissmuller the importance of learning to swim at an early age.

Career

Not long after the death of his father, Weissmuller came under the influence of a new father figure when he began to train at the Illinois Athletic Club under the guidance of William "Big Bill" Bachrach, already famous as the trainer of several Olympic swimming champions.

In Weissmuller's first major competition, the 1921 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) outdoor championship, he handily won his very first race, the 50-yard freestyle swim. But that was just the beginning. Over the next three years, he won every race he entered. In the run-up to the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, twenty-year-old Weissmuller looked unbeatable. He was already the world record-holder for the 100-meter freestyle. In Paris, he would compete with the defending Olympic champion, Duke Kahanamoku, who also represented the United States, and his younger brother, Sam. Weissmuller won the 100-meter event, finishing in 59 seconds flat, winning the gold medal, followed closely by Duke and Sam Kahanamoku, who took the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Two days before the 100-meter freestyle event in Paris, Weissmuller had taken gold in the 400-meter freestyle race. Later in the day of his 100-meter win, he swam as part of the winning United States team in the 800-meter relay. Weissmuller left Paris with three gold medals around his neck. Four years later at the summer games in Amsterdam, he carried the American flag at the opening ceremonies and went on to repeat his wins in the 100-meter freestyle and the 800-meter relay for a total of five gold medals at the two Olympics. Throughout the 1920s, Weissmuller was invincible in amateur competition, winning thirty-six national individual AAU championships and sixty-seven world championships. In 1924 he set a world record in the 100-meter freestyle, finishing in 57.4 seconds, and became the first swimmer to break the one-minute mark. His record in this event lasted for a decade.

Not long after the Amsterdam Olympics, Weissmuller turned professional. He toured Florida resort hotels, putting on exhibition swims in return for enough compensation to cover the costs of his travel expenses. He also signed a lucrative contract (paying $500 weekly) with B.V.D. to promote the company's swimwear. In 1929 he appeared in his first film, making a cameo appearance as himself in Glorifying the American Girl. The following year he teamed with writer Clarence Bush to produce his first book, Swimming the American Crawl and also wrote two articles for the Saturday Evening Post.

The early 1930s brought a second career for Weissmuller, who in 1932 made his debut as Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan in the film version of Tarzan the Ape Man, opposite Maureen O'Sullivan, who played Jane. For Weissmuller, it was just the first of twelve Tarzan films he starred in over the next decade and a half. Of all of the Tarzan films with or without Weissmuller in the leading role, the swimming champion's second outing, Tarzan and His Mate, is widely considered the best.

When Weissmuller had grown too old to don Tarzan's trademark loincloth, he took on the screen persona of Jungle Jim for another twelve films, running from the late 1940s through 1953. Although he appeared in a handful of films after the last of the Jungle Jim movies, his career in motion pictures was effectively over by the mid-1950s.

Leaving Hollywood behind, Weissmuller returned to Chicago where he launched his own swimming pool company and lent his name to assorted other business ventures, including health food stores and cocktail lounges. He got himself into some unfortunate business deals, largely because of his inherent naivete. Weissmuller's choices in the business arena cost him dearly, draining away much of his earnings.

In the mid-1960s, Weissmuller moved to Florida to manage the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale. In 1973, he headed west to Las Vegas and worked for a time as a greeter at the MGM Grand Hotel. Beginning in the mid-1970s, Weissmuller's health began to deteriorate significantly. After suffering a series of strokes, he and his wife moved to Acapulco, Mexico, where he died of pulmonary edema on January 20, 1984.

Achievements

• For more than a decade, Weissmuller dominated the international competitive swimming scene, quickly accumulating an impressive array of American and world records. He won the 100m freestyle and the 4x200m relay team event at both the 1924 Paris Games and 1928 Amsterdam Games. He also won gold in the 400m freestyle and a bronze medal in the water polo competition in Paris.
  
  Although his fame as a swimmer was eventually overshadowed by his popularity as the star of a dozen Tarzan movies, Weissmuller will forever be remembered as one of the greatest swimmers of all time. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Johnny Weissmuller received a star on the Hollywood Walk. In 1973, he was awarded the George Eastman Award.
  
  In addition, Weissmuller was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1965. He was awarded the title of an honorary citizen of Timișoara.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Swimming the American Crawl 1930

• movie

  • Tarzan's Desert Mystery

    (With Jane still away for the war effort, Tarzan and Boy s...)

    1943
  • Tarzan the Ape Man

    (Caught between two worlds, a man who was orphaned in the ...)

    1932
  • Tarzan and His Mate

    (Caught between two worlds, a man who was orphaned in the ...)

    1934
  • Tarzan and the Mermaids

    (Caught between two worlds, a man who was orphaned in the ...)

    1948
  • Tarzan and the Leopard Woman

    (Caught between two worlds, a man who was orphaned in the ...)

    1946
  • Tarzan and the Huntress

    (Caught between two worlds, a man who was orphaned in the ...)

    1947
  • The Phynx

    (A pop group attempts to rescue George Jessel, Dorothy Lam...)

    1970
  • Tarzan Triumphs

    (As WWII rages on, a group of Nazi paratroopers lands on t...)

    1943
  • Tarzan's New York Adventure

    (When kidnappers take Boy to the United States as a circus...)

    1942
  • Swamp Fire

    (In the delta county of Louisiana, Johnny Duval is haunted...)

    1946
  • Jungle Moon Men

    (Priestess Oma is forever young in this Jungle Jim knockof...)

    1955
  • Tarzan Finds a Son!

    (Tarzan, Jane and Cheetah find a baby boy, the only surviv...)

    1939
  • Won Ton Ton the Dog that Saved Hollywood

    (In 1924 Estie comes to Hollywood to become an actress, bu...)

    1976
  • Tarzan and the Amazons

    (A group of archaeologists asks Tarzan to help them find a...)

    1945
  • Tarzan Escapes

    (Tarzan is taken prisoner by a big-game hunter who wants t...)

    1936
  • Jungle Man-Eaters

    (Jungle Jim does battle with a would-be diamond smuggler a...)

    1954
  • Tarzan's Secret Treasure

    (Tarzan becomes involved with an expedition in search of t...)

    1941

Religion

Weissmuller was baptized as a Catholic three days after his birth.

Views

Weissmuller had an interest in natural lifestyles and opened a small chain of health food stores called Johnny Weissmuller's American Natural Foods in 1969. He was an enthusiast for John Harvey Kellogg's holistic lifestyle views and adopted the vegetarian diet prescribed by Kelloggs.

Quotations: "With but few exceptions, it is always the underdog who wins through sheer willpower."

"When people don't know me anymore or want my autograph, then I'll think about retiring."

"Treat your body well, and it'll see you through for many years."

"The William Morris Agency handled me. In that business, you're only as good as your last picture."

"Throughout my career, I swam for form. Speed came as a result of it."

"Swimming gave me my start, but my pal Tarzan did the real work. He set me up nicely."

"The director sent for me for Tarzan. I climbed the tree and walked out on a limb. The next day I was told I was an actor."

"No marriage can stand up under the strain of incessant association."

"I have always been vitally interested in physical conditioning. I have long believed that athletic competition among people and nations should replace violence and wars."

"I need freedom to be happy."

"I could make good time because I was so long and skinny, shooting through the water like a stick."

Personality

Johnny Weissmuller was happy, buoyant, generous, playful, unassuming. He loved people and sports, and most of all he had a positive winning attitude ticking away in his inner self that made him a champion - and that clock never lost a beat no matter what was going on around him.

Physical Characteristics: Weissmuller was good-looking, with broad shoulders, narrow hips, and long legs. He weighed 195 pounds and was six feet, three inches tall.

In 1974, Weissmuller learned that he had a serious heart condition. In 1977, he suffered a series of strokes. Weissmuller died of pulmonary edema.

Quotes from others about the person

• Bert Sugar: "Today, Johnny Weissmuller is best remembered not as a swimming great who set 67 world records, who held every record from 50 yards to the half-mile, and who was never beaten, but as Tarzan. It is fame that drowns out an appreciation of his skills - skills that made him one of the all-time great athletes."
  
  Russell Mittermeier: "What most people don't realize is that Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan inspired many conservation activists and scientists; he was like the first eco-warrior. I was hugely influenced by his movies. When I went to sign up for school, I said my name is Tarzan! There's no question but that for most people worldwide, Weissmuller is THE Tarzan."
  
  Arnold Swarzenegger: "In Austria, we loved Johnny Weissmuller and his Tarzan movies. I remember when I was six years old, my father took me to see Weissmuller when he opened a swimming pool in our town."

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  golf

Connections

Johnny Weissmuller was married five times. His first wife was club singer Bobbe Arnst. The couple divorced in 1933. In the same year, Weissmuller married actress Lupe Vélez. Their marriage lasted 6 years. His third wife was Beryl Scott, from whom he had three children - Johnny Weissmuller, Jr., Wendy Anne Weissmuller, and Heidi Elizabeth Weissmuller. From 1948 to 1962, Johnny was married to Allene Gates. In 1963, he married Maria Baumann. He also had a stepdaughter with Baumann, Lisa Weissmuller-Gallagher.

Father:

Peter Weissmuller

(December 16, 1876 - July 17, 1938)

Mother:

Elizabeth Kersch

(December 1, 1879 - 1964)

Spouse:

Maria Brock Mandell Bauman

ex-spouse:

Allene Gates

ex-spouse:

Bobbe Arnst

(October 11, 1903 - November 25, 1980)

ex-spouse:

Lupe Vélez

(July 18, 1908 - December 14, 1944)

Lupe Vélez was a Mexican actress, dancer and singer during the "Golden Age" of Hollywood films.

ex-spouse:

Beryl Scott

Son:

Johnny Weissmuller, Jr.

(September 23, 1940 - July 27, 2006)

Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. was an American actor and longshoreman. He also authored a book about his father.

Daughter:

Wendy Anne Weissmuller

(born June 1, 1942)

Daughter:

Heidi Elizabeth Weissmuller

(July 31, 1944 - November 19, 1962)

stepdaughter:

Lisa Weissmuller-Gallagher

(1940 - May 14, 2007)

Friend:

Buster Crabbe

(February 7, 1908 - April 23, 1983)

Buster Crabbe was an American two-time Olympic swimmer and film and television actor.

References

• Johnny Weissmuller: Twice the Hero A book by David Fury.
  2000
• Tarzan, My Father Looks at the life of the swimming champion who became an actor, starring in twelve Tarzan adventure movies.
  2002