Bruce Bennett
Actor
Born May 19, 1906 in Tacoma, Washington, USA
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]
Filmography
Tarzan: Lord of the Movies
Tarzan (Archive Footage)
Discovering Treasure: The Story of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'
James Cody (archive footage)
Tarzan at the Movies, Part 2: The Many Faces of Tarzan
Tarzan (archive footage)
Laat de dokter maar schuiven
John
The Clones
Clone Lab Assistant
Deadhead Miles
Johnny Mesquitero
Lassie: Well of Love
Bert Daniels
Torpedo of Doom
Lt. Frank Corley
Branded
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Gen. Adams
The Virginian
Silas Graham
The Outsider
Gen. Bridges
Fiend of Dope Island
Charlie Davis
The Alligator People
Dr. Eric Lorimer
The Cosmic Man
Dr. Karl Sorenson
77 Sunset Strip
The Texan
Flaming Frontier
Capt. Jim Hewson
Perry Mason
Lawrence Balfour
Ain't No Time for Glory
Lt. Col. Steven Granville
Panic!
Three Violent People
Commissioner Harrison
Love Me Tender
Maj. Kincaid
Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer
Daniel Boone
West Point
The Three Outlaws
Charlie Trenton
The Bottom of the Bottle
Brand
Hidden Guns
Stragg
Robbers' Roost
'Bull' Herrick
Strategic Air Command
Gen. Espy
The Big Tip Off
Bob Gilmore
Lassie
Dragonfly Squadron
Dr. Stephen Cottrell
Stories of the Century
William Clark Charles Quantrill
With This Ring
Frederick C. Miller
Letter to Loretta
Seth Ranson
Dream Wife
Charlie Elkwood
Cavalcade of America
Abe Lincoln
Sudden Fear
Steve Kearney
Angels in the Outfield
Saul Hellman
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Judge Paul Maston
The Last Outpost
Col. Jeb Britton
The Great Missouri Raid
Cole Younger
The Second Face
Paul Curtis
Shakedown
David Glover
Mystery Street
Dr. McAdoo
Undertow
Reckling
Without Honor
Fred Bandle
The Doctor and the Girl
Dr. Alfred Norton
The House Across the Street
Matthew J. Keever
The Younger Brothers
Jim Younger
To the Victor
Henderson
Smart Girls Don't Talk
Marty Fain
Silver River
Stanley Moore
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
James Cody
Dark Passage
Bob
Cheyenne
Ed Landers
Nora Prentiss
Dr. Joel Merriam
The Man I Love
San Thomas
A Stolen Life
Jack R. Talbot
Beer Barrel Polecats
Prison Guard (archive footage)
Danger Signal
Dr. Andrew Lang
Mildred Pierce
Albert 'Bert' Pierce
I'm from Arkansas
Bob Hamlin
U-Boat Prisoner
Archie Gibbs
There's Something About a Soldier
Frank Molloy
Sahara
Waco Hoyt
Frontier Fury
Clem Hawkins (uncredited)
The More the Merrier
FBI Agent Evans
Murder in Times Square
Supai George
Underground Agent
Lee Graham
Sabotage Squad
Lieutenant John Cronin
Atlantic Convoy
Capt. Morgan
Submarine Raider
1st Office Russell
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
Tommy Lydel
Honolulu Lu
Skelly
Three Girls About Town
Reporter
The Officer and the Lady
Bob Conlon
Two Latins from Manhattan
Federal Agent
Dutiful But Dumb
Vulgarian Soldier in General's Office (uncredited)
So Long Mr. Chumps
Prison Guard / Truck Driver (uncredited)
The Phantom Submarine
Paul Sinclair
The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date
Scotty
West of Abilene
Frank Garfield
No Census, No Feeling
Football Player #20 (uncredited)
Glamour for Sale
Cop (uncredited)
The Spook Speaks
Mordini's former assistant
Before I Hang
Dr. Paul Ames
The Secret Seven
Patrick Norris
How High Is Up?
Workman with Leaky Lunchpail (uncredited)
Girls of the Road
Officer Sullavan
The Taming of the Snood
Detective
Babies for Sale
Policeman
Boobs in the Woods
Park Ranger (uncredited)
The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady
McManus
Island of Doomed Men
Hazen - Guard (uncredited)
Escape to Glory
Ship's gunnery officer
The Man from Tumbleweeds
Prison Warden
The Man with Nine Lives
State Trooper (uncredited)
Hi-Yo Silver
Bert Rogers
Blazing Six Shooters
Geologist Winthrop
The Heckler
Ole Margarine
Five Little Peppers at Home
Jim - King's Chauffeur
Convicted Woman
Reporter (uncredited)
Cafe Hostess
Budge
Invisible Stripes
Rich Man (uncredited)
My Son Is Guilty
Lefty
Blondie Brings Up Baby
Mason's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Five Little Peppers And How They Grew
Tom - King's Chauffeur
Daredevils of the Red Circle
Tiny Dawson
Hawk of the Wilderness
Lincoln Rand Jr / Kioga
Land of Fighting Men
Fred Mitchell
The Fighting Devil Dogs
Lieutenant Frank Corby
Tarzan and the Green Goddess
Tarzan
The Lone Ranger
Bert Rogers
Amateur Crook
Jimmy Baxter
Danger Patrol
Joe
Sky Racket
Eric Lane - Agent 17
Million Dollar Racket
Larry Duane
Flying Fists
Hal "Chopper' Donovan, aka Hal Smith
A Million to One
Johnny Kent
Silks and Saddles
Jimmy Shay
Two Minutes to Play
Martin Granville
Shadow of Chinatown
Martin Andrews
Shadow of Chinatown
Martin Andrews
The New Adventures of Tarzan
Tarzan
The New Adventures of Tarzan
Tarzan
Student Tour
Hercules
Death on the Diamond
Man on Ticket Line (uncredited)
Treasure Island
Man at Tavern (uncredited)
Riptide
Man at Cannes Bar (uncredited)
Meet the Baron
Train Passenger (uncredited)
College Humor
Student
Movie Crazy
Dinner Guest (Uncredited)
Million Dollar Legs
Klopstokian Athlete (uncredited)