Johnny Weissmuller

Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an 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 U.S. National Championships, set more than fifty world records (spread over both freestyle and backstroke), and was purportedly undefeated in official competition for the entirety of his competitive career. After retiring from competitions, 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.

Early life

Johann Peter Weißmüller was an ethnic German, the elder son of Peter Weissmüller and his wife Elisabeth (née Kersch), both Banat Swabians, an ethnic German population in southeast Europe. Johann Peter had one sibling, a younger brother, Peter. His generally accepted birthplace was in Freidorf, Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day Timișoara, Romania) (German: Temeschwar). The records of St Rochus Church in Freidorf show that Johann, son of Peter and Elizabeth (née Kersch) Weissmüller, was baptized there on June 5, 1904, three days after his birth. However, the ship's roster from his family's arrival at Ellis Island lists his birthplace as Párdány, Kingdom of Hungary, in present-day Serbia, not far from the Romanian border.