Two Olympic gold medalists auditioned: 23-year old Buster Crabbe and 27 year old Johnny Weissmuller. Weissmuller won, and starred in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), one of the top box office draws of the year.
Apparently being muscular and bulgeworthy was not a consideration.
And Tarzan the Fearless (1933), which sank like a stone and was quickly forgotten.
Johnny continued his juggernaut in Tarzan and his Mate (1934), Tarzan Escapes (1936), and Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939), 12 movies in all, becoming the iconic Tarzan for generations of moviegoers, finally retiring to become Jungle Jim in 1948. Watch his Cannibal Attack (1954) for some major gay subtexts.
He doesn't have a lot of gay rumors, though some people suggested that when his movie son, Johnny Sheffield, grew up, they became an item.
Buster had a much more versatile career, playing many action heroes, including Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, and many Western heroes, including Billy the Kid and Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion (1955-57). He even played another Tarzan clone at the age of 44, Thunda, in the movie serial King of the Congo (1952).
He has more gay rumors than Johnny. In Full Service, the tell-all memoir of a Hollywood hustler, he's listed as one of Scotty Bowers' clients.
Close friends in real life, Buster and Johnny competed for a girl in the non-jungle drama Swamp Fire (1946), set in the Louisiana bayou.
I have to say, the dearth of gay Tarzan webcomics is surprising. I mean, yeah, it's not as culturally relevant now, but there's so much you could do.
ReplyDeleteTrue of most genre fiction, I'd bet.
i was lucky to have met buster crabbe while waxing my grandma's car he was parking his car while im polishing away he stop to ask me what i charge for waxing her car and i said its my grandma's car i thought it needed waxing so i made a deal with grams a homemade pumpkin pie for the polish gram had just moved to this condo at 999 Wilder in Makiki off Punahou St and a stones throw from Waikiki i was attending BYU on the North Shore and it was great to be back in the city my parents lived in Kahala behind Diamond Head so i was finishing the waxing and invited this guy to have pie with my grandma and myself i told him she lived on the floor with the penthouses he said he knew my grandma i said well great we took the elevator up to the penthouse and he said he needed to clean up and would be over in a few mins and i told grams that some older man i met in the garage would be joining us for pie and she said who and i said geez i didn't get his name but he lives down the hall and knows u and she smiled and said u met Buster Crabbe and on cue the doorbell rang and there he was and the PIE was over the top My grandparents started and built up a hotel biz called InterIsland Resorts that they started in 1919 on Oahu
ReplyDeleteWow!!! What a great memory!!!!!! 😁💝
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