Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O'Sullivan, and Johnny Sheffield in a scene from the film 'Tarzan's New York Adventure', 1942.
Johnny Weissmuller earned five Olympic gold medals in swimming—and set 51 world records. After retiring from competition, he became Hollywood’s most famous noble savage.
It’s hard to decide what’s a more impressive feat: those 51 world records or that Weissmuller did not lose a single race in his 10 years of amateur competition. The guy could swim. He quit the sport after the 1928 Olympics and toured the country as a model and spokesman for a swimwear company (for which he was paid a then-lavish sum of $500 a week).
When MGM decided to make a “talkie” based on the first Tarzan book, Weissmuller was cast as the tree-dwelling hero. (Incredibly, the producer who offered Weissmuller his contract had no idea that his leading man was also an Olympic hero.) Released in 1932, Tarzan the Ape Man was a hit—Weissmuller’s laconic brawn thrilled audiences. He went on to star in 11 more Tarzan movies—in which he never once uttered the line: “Me Tarzan, you Jane.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntwSGBWCRIw]