Johnny Weissmuller, Jr.
Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. (23 September 1940 — 27 July 2006) was an American actor and longshoreman. He also authored a book about his father, the five-time Olympic Games gold medalist Johnny Weissmuller, who achieved additional fame playing the title role in the Tarzan movies of the 1930s and 1940s.
Weissmuller's mother was Beryl Scott, the third of his father's five wives. He was born in San Francisco, where his father was performing at the Golden Gate International Exposition in a water ballet show called Billy Rose's Aquacade. The younger Weissmuller graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he was on the swim team. He joined the United States Navy, using his swimming acumen to specialize in underwater demolition.
In 1958, Weissmuller Jr. got his first screen role in the Mickey Rooney film Andy Hardy Comes Home. His subsequent credits include parts in THX 1138 and American Graffiti (as Bad Ass #1). His last movie role was as a bounty hunter in the 1988 release Wildfire. Weissmuller Jr. also appeared as a guest star in two episodes of The Streets of San Francisco. In 1961, he appeared in the episode "The Four" with Jack Elam in the western series, Lawman, starring John Russell.
Weissmuller Jr. returned to San Francisco in 1973. He worked as a longshoreman, but also appeared in Bay Area stage productions. His longest-running stage role was as Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest at the Little Fox Theater in San Francisco. Weissmuller Jr. also belonged to yacht clubs in San Francisco, Hawaii and Acapulco, taking part in several Transpac yacht races from California to Hawaii.
"He was really a swashbuckler; he filled the room," said his wife, Diane Weissmuller.
Weissmuller Jr.'s memoir, Tarzan, My Father, was published in 2002 by ECW Press in Toronto. In 2005, he retired from the docks to begin writing a book about work as a longshoreman. He died from liver cancer on 27 July 2006, aged 65.
External links
- Selna, Robert. (2006, July 31). Johnny Weissmuller Jr. — dockworker, actor, yacht racer. The San Francisco Chronicle
- (2006, August 1). Johnny Weissmuller Jr., 65; Son of 'Tarzan' Was an Athlete, Actor. The Los Angeles Times