Johnny Weissmuller

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. In 1931, Weissmuller married Bobbe Arnst, the first of his five wives. They were divorced in 1932. The following year, Weismuller wed Latin actress Lupe Velez, whom he divorced in 1938. He married Beryel Scott, his third wife, in 1939. The couple had three children but were divorced in 1948, the same year that Weissmuller married Allene Gates, his fourth wife. He and Gates divorced in 1962. Weissmuller married his fifth and final wife, German-born Maria Bauman, in 1963.

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. A compelling romance, the 1934 film, directed by Cedric Gibbons and Jack Conway, costarred Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane. Although the story line at first glance might seem a trifle hokey, the on-screen chemistry between Weissmuller and O'Sullivan is by far the most effective of all their screen pairings. The sudden appearance of Jane's old flame and his hunting chum threatens the idyllic love match between Tarzan and Jane. The two Englishmen try their best to persuade Jane to forsake the jungle and return with them to the delights of London's Mayfair. In the end, Jane's love for Tarzan prevails, and she sends her ivory-hunting former love packing. The performances of both Weissmuller and O'Sullivan in this film are by far the best of all the Tarzan movies they made together. Of the film, the late critic Pauline Kael wrote: "It's cheerful and outrageously preposterous. You are right in the heart of the craziest Africa ever contrived for your entertainment; no wild beast ever misses a cue."

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. Hardly the world's sharpest businessman, 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.

For more than a decade, Weissmuller dominated the international competitive swimming scene, quickly accumulating an impressive array of American and world records. Sportswriters in the 1920s vied with one another to come up with the most creative nickname for the rugged American swimming champion, conjuring up such colorful entries as "Flying Fish," "King of Swimmers," "America's Greatest Waterman," and "Prince of the Waves." 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.