Bruce Bennett
Personal Info
Known For Actor
Gender Male
Birthday 1906-05-19
Deathday 2007-02-24 (100 years old)
Place of Birth Tacoma, Washington, USA
Also Known As Harold Herman Brix, Herman Brix
Bruce Bennett
Biography
Bruce Bennett (born Harold Herman Brix) was an American actor and Olympic silver medalist shot putter. His first career was as an athlete. At the University of Washington, where he majored in economics, he played football (tackle) in the 1926 Rose Bowl and was a track-and-field star. Two years later, he won the Silver medal for the shot put in the 1928 Olympic Games. Brix moved to Los Angeles in 1929 after being invited to compete for the Los Angeles Athletic Club and befriended actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr., who arranged a screen test for him at Paramount. In 1931, MGM, adapting author Edgar Rice Burroughs's popular Tarzan adventures for the screen, selected Brix to play the title character. Brix, however, broke his shoulder filming the 1931 football film Touchdown, so swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller replaced Brix and became a major star. After Ashton Dearholt convinced Burroughs to allow him to form Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises, Inc., and make a Tarzan serial film, Dearholt cast Brix in the lead. Pressbook copy has it that Burroughs made the choice himself, but, in fact, in his biography, Brix confirmed that Burroughs never even saw him until after the contract was signed, and then only briefly. The film was begun on location in Guatemala, under rugged conditions (jungle diseases and cash shortages were frequent). Brix did his own stunts, including a fall to rocky cliffs below. The Washington Post quoted Gabe Essoe's passage from his book Tarzan of the Movies: "Brix's portrayal was the only time between the silents and the 1960s that Tarzan was accurately depicted in films. He was mannered, cultured, soft-spoken, a well educated English lord who spoke several languages, and didn't grunt."[4] Brix shown in the opening credits of the serial The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935). Due to financial mismanagement, Dearholt had to complete filming of much of the serial back in Hollywood, and Brix, although his travel and daily living expenses in Guatemala were covered throughout the shoot, never received his contracted salary, along with the rest of the cast. The finished film, The New Adventures of Tarzan, was released in 1935 by Burroughs-Tarzan, and offered to theatres as a 12-chapter serial or a seven-reel feature. A second feature, Tarzan and the Green Goddess, was culled from the footage in 1938.
Known For
Actor
as James Cody (archive footage)
as Clone Lab Assistant
as Johnny Mesquitero
as Bert Daniels
as Lt. Frank Corley
as Gen. Adams
as Silas Graham
as Gen. Bridges
as Charlie Davis
as Dr. Eric Lorimer
as Dr. Karl Sorenson
as Capt. Jim Hewson
as Lawrence Balfour
as Dan Morgan
as Matt Lambert
as Malone
as Reve Watson
as Commissioner Harrison
as Maj. Kincaid
as Daniel Boone
as Charlie Trenton
as Brand
as Stragg
as Gen. Espy
as 'Bull' Herrick
as Bob Gilmore
as Dr. Stephen Cottrell
as William Clark Charles Quantrill
as Charlie Elkwood
as Seth Ranson
as Steve Kearney
as Abe Lincoln
as Saul Hellman
as Col. Jeb Britton
as Cole Younger
as Judge Paul Maston
as Paul Curtis
as David Glover
as Dr. McAdoo
as Dr. Grant
as Ben Archer
as Reckling
as Fred Bandle
as Dr. Alfred Norton
as Matthew J. Keever
as Jim Younger
as Henderson
as Marty Fain
as Stanley Moore
as James Cody
as Bob
as Ed Landers
as Dr. Joel Merriam
as San Thomas
as Jack R. Talbot
as Prison Guard (archive footage)
as Dr. Andrew Lang
as Albert 'Bert' Pierce
as Bob Hamlin
as Archie Gibbs
as Frank Molloy
as Waco Hoyt
as Clem Hawkins (uncredited)
as FBI Agent Evans
as Supai George
as Lee Graham
as Lieutenant John Cronin
as Capt. Morgan
as 1st Office Russell
as Tommy Lydel
as Skelly
as Reporter
as Bob Conlon
as Federal Agent
as Vulgarian Soldier in General's Office (uncredited)
as Prison Guard / Truck Driver (uncredited)
as Paul Sinclair
as Scotty
as Frank Garfield
as Football Player #20 (uncredited)
as Cop (uncredited)
as Mordini's former assistant
as Dr. Paul Ames
as Patrick Norris
as Workman with Leaky Lunchpail (uncredited)
as Officer Sullavan
as Detective
as Policeman
as Park Ranger (uncredited)
as McManus
as Hazen - Guard (uncredited)
as Ship's gunnery officer
as Prison Warden
as State Trooper (uncredited)
as Bert Rogers
as Geologist Winthrop
as Ole Margarine
as Jim - King's Chauffeur
as Reporter (uncredited)
as Budge
as Rich Man (uncredited)
as Lefty
as Mason's Chauffeur (uncredited)
as Tom - King's Chauffeur
as Tiny Dawson
as Lincoln Rand Jr / Kioga
as Fred Mitchell
as Lieutenant Frank Corby
as Tarzan
as Bert Rogers
as Jimmy Baxter
as Joe
as Eric Lane - Agent 17
as Larry Duane
as Hal "Chopper' Donovan, aka Hal Smith
as Johnny Kent
as Jimmy Shay
as Martin Granville
as Martin Andrews
as Martin Andrews
as Tarzan
as Tarzan
as Hercules
as Man on Ticket Line (uncredited)
as Man at Tavern (uncredited)
as Man at Cannes Bar (uncredited)
as Train Passenger (uncredited)
as Student
as Dinner Guest (Uncredited)
as Klopstokian Athlete (uncredited)
Writer
as Writer