only one tarzan!

We were the TV generation. We remember when there were more fuzzy channels than clear channels. There wasn't a lot of original television programming. The Finlayson kids watched Loony Toons on Saturday mornings and a show comprised of old black and white silent shorts called Funny Men. After we had our fill of Bugs Bunny and Keystone Kops, we'd get to watch a Tarzan movie. I remember Brook, Jennie, Irene and myself piling on a quilt in front of the Zenith every Saturday morning - our weekend ritual - and Tarzan was the feature presentation!

Now there's been a lot of actors play Tarzan, and a lot of Tarzan movies made, but you and I know that there is only one Tarzan. All those half naked guys that came along to fill the loin cloth of Johnny Weissmuller - couldn't. Now Johnny wasn't the first to play the swinging jungle man (he was the sixth) but he was with out question the best Tarzan to ever hit the silver screen. Olympic Gold (5 Gold & 1 Bronze) medalist swimmer and a yell that no other actor could bellow. This man made Tarzan real. Even Edgar Rice Burroughs himself, was pleased with the Weissmuller choice.

If Weissmuller was the perfect Tarzan, Maureen O'Sullivan was the perfect Jane. Still to this day, I believe Maureen O'Sullivan to be one of the most beautiful actresses I've ever seen. Johnny Sheffield was a young actor that played Boy, Tarzan's adopted son. I think one of the most disturbing scenes in the entire Weissmuller run, was when Cheeta the chimpanzee was killed by a charging Rhino. In TARZAN AND HIS MATE, Cheeta saves Tarzan by taking on a charging Rhino. That death was my first celluloid death scene and I remember being upset by it. I couldn't believe that Cheeta was dead!

By the way, did you know that Cheeta the chimpanzee is still living (as of 2008)? He was just two years old when the Weissmuller Tarzans were being filmed. Cheeta is now 76 years old and is officially the oldest chimpanzee alive. He's made a monkey out of his co-stars, living to such a ripe old age. Why hell - I even bet that Rhino is a pile of brittle bones by now.

Enjoy every banana sandwich Cheeta!