Johnny Weissmuller
Swimmer, Olympic athlete
1904 – 1984
Who was Johnny Weissmuller?
Johnny Weissmuller was an Austro-Hungarian-American competition swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in films of the 1930s and 1940s and for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. Weissmuller was one of the world's fastest swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals for swimming and one bronze medal for water polo. He won fifty-two US National Championships, set sixty-seven world records and was purportedly undefeated in official competition for the entirety of his competitive career. After his swimming career, he became the sixth actor to portray Edgar Rice Burroughs's ape man, Tarzan, a role he played in twelve motion pictures. Dozens of other actors have also played Tarzan, but Weissmuller is by far the best known. His character's distinctive Tarzan yell is still often used in films.
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
"Johnny Weissmuller." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2021. Web. 27 Jan. 2021. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/johnny_weissmuller>.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Jun 2, 1904
Freidorf - Also known as
- Peter John Weissmuller
- Johann Peter Weißmüller
- Janos Weissmuller
- Janos Weißmüller
- Johnny Weissmüller
- Big John
- János Weißmüller
- Peter Johann Weissmüller
- Johnny Weismuller
- Parents
- Siblings
- Spouses
- Maria Brock Mandell Bauman
(1963 - 1984/01/20) - Allene Gates
(1948/01/29 - 1962) - Beryl Scott
(1939/08/20 - 1948/01/29) - Lupe Vélez
(1933/10/08 - 1939) - Bobbe Arnst
(1931/02/28 - 1933/10) - Camilla Louiee
- Maria Brock Mandell Bauman
- Children
- Ethnicity
- Hungarian American
- Austrian American
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Lived in
- Timișoara
- Elk Grove Village
- Acapulco
- Windber
- Chicago
- Died
- Jan 20, 1984
Acapulco - Resting place
- Valley of the Light Cemetery
Submitted
on July 23, 2013