| Bruce Bennett | |
|---|---|
 Bennett in the trailer for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) |
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| Born | Harold Herman Brix May 19, 1906 Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Died | February 24, 2007 (aged 100) |
Bruce Bennett (May 19, 1906 – February 24, 2007) was an American actor and Olympic silver medalist shot putter. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is John Huston 's 1948 Feature film adaptation of B Events 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships 110 men and Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 303 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships 110 men and Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 303 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works During the 1930s, he went by his real name of Herman Brix (having dropped the first name "Harold").
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Early life and Olympics
Born as Harold Herman Brix in Tacoma, Washington, his first career was as an athlete. At University of Washington, where he majored in economics, he played football in the 1926 Rose Bowl. See Washington (disambiguation for other uses The University of Washington, founded in 1861, is a public research University American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive Team sport known for mixing strategy with The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American College football Bowl game, usually played on January 1 ( New Year's Day) at the Rose Two years later he won the silver medal for shot-putting in the 1928 Olympic Games, and held the indoor and outdoor records for shot-putting. A Silver medal is a Medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests (typically athletics competitions such as the Olympic Games, The shot put is an Athletics (track and field event involving "putting" (throwing in a pushing motion a heavy The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an International Multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 [1]
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's athletics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | 1928 Amsterdam | Shot put | |
Early film career and Tarzan
In 1931, MGM, adapting author Edgar Rice Burroughs's popular Tarzan adventures for the sound-movie screen, selected Herman Brix to play the title character. The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an International Multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 At the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, 27 athletics events were contested Edgar Rice Burroughs ( September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan is a Fictional character, an archetypal Feral child raised in the African jungle by Apes who later returns to civilization only to Unfortunately, Brix was injured filming the 1931 football movie Touchdown, which also prevented his entry into the 1932 Olympics. The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, were an International Multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1932 Swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller replaced Brix and became a major star. Johnny Weissmuller (June 2 1904 &ndash January 20 1984 was an American swimmer and Actor who was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s winning
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). Guatemala (República de Guatemala) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west the Pacific Ocean to the southwest Brix did his own perilous stunts, including a harrowing 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. The Washington Post is the largest and most circulated Newspaper in Washington D He was mannered, cultured, soft-spoken, a well-educated English lord who spoke several languages, and didn't grunt. "[2]
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 theaters as a 12-chapter serial or a seven-reel feature. The New Adventures of Tarzan is a 1935 American Film serial in 12 chapters A second feature was culled from the footage in 1938: Tarzan and the Green Goddess. The New Adventures of Tarzan is a 1935 American Film serial in 12 chapters
Name change and movie career
Brix continued to work in serials and action features for low-budget studios until 1939. Finding himself still typecast as Tarzan in the minds of major producers, Brix changed his name to "Bruce Bennett" and became a member of Columbia Pictures' stock company. }} Columbia Pictures Industries Inc is an American Film production and distribution company During the next few years he would be seen playing minor roles in many Columbia films, from expensive dramas to B mysteries to Three Stooges short subjects (How High Is Up? being a memorable appearance). The Three Stooges were an American Vaudeville and Comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous Short subject films Short subject is a format description originally coined in the North American Film industry in the early period of cinema. How High is Up? is the 48th Short subject starring American Slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. His screen career was interrupted by World War II, when he entered the service. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including
Bennett appeared in many top-notch films in the 1940s and early 1950s including Sahara (1943), Mildred Pierce (1945) (as Joan Crawford's husband), Nora Prentiss (1947), Dark Passage (1947), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) opposite Humphrey Bogart, Mystery Street (1950) and Sudden Fear (1952). Sahara is a 1943 War film directed by Zoltan Korda. Humphrey Bogart stars as a U Mildred Pierce ( 1945) is a Warner Bros Feature film starring Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, Zachary Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; ( March 23, 1905 - May 10, 1977) Crawford was signed to a motion picture Nora Prentiss is a 1947 Black-and-white drama film shot in the Film noir style Dark Passage ( 1946) is a novel by David Goodis which was the basis for the 1947 film noir Dark Passage. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is John Huston 's 1948 Feature film adaptation of B Mystery Street is 1950 Black-and-white film directed by John Sturges with Cinematography by famed lensman John Alton Sudden Fear ( 1952) is an RKO Radio Pictures Feature film starring Joan Crawford and Jack Palance in a noir-ish
The Washington Post noted, "He moved into grittier roles in the late 1940s and early 1950s, playing a detective in William Castle's Undertow and a forensic scientist who helps solve a crime in John Sturges's Mystery Street. William Castle ( April 24, 1914 &ndash May 31, 1977) was an American Film director, producer, and John Eliot Sturges ( 3 January 1911 &ndash 18 August 1992) was an American film director He was sympathetic as an aging baseball player in Angels in the Outfield (1951). Baseball is a Bat-and-ball Sport played between two teams of nine players each [3]
Later life
From the mid-1950s on, Bennett mainly appeared in lesser films, such as The Alligator People (1959), and on television in guest starring roles. The Alligator People is a 1959 Science fiction Horror film directed by Roy Del Ruth. He was a very successful businessman during the 1960s outside of acting.
A lifelong avid parasailer and skydiver, he last went skydiving (from an altitude of 10,000 feet), over Lake Tahoe, at 96 years of age. Parasailing also known as parascending is a recreational activity where a person is towed behind a vehicle (usually a boat while attached to a specially designed Parachuting, also known as skydiving is where a person jumps from enough height so that he can deploy a fabric Parachute and land safely Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater Lake in the Sierra Nevada mountains of the United States. [4]
Bennett reached his 100th birthday on May 19, 2006, and died less than a year later in February 2007 of complications from a broken hip. Events 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships 110 men and Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. [5]
NB: Standard works of reference such as Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies and Katz's Encyclopedia of Film give his date of birth as 1909 (or May 19, 1909) but the Internet Movie Database (link below) has 1906, and this date is confirmed by the 1920 and 1930 U. Events 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships 110 men and Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting S. Census records.
References
Source
- Ephraim Katz: Encyclopedia of Film (ISBN 0 333 90690 X)
External links
- Bruce Bennett at the Internet Movie Database
- Bruce Bennett at Allmovie
- 2004 interview
- Washington Post obituary
| Preceded by Buster Crabbe |
Actors to portray Tarzan 1935, 1938 |
Succeeded by Glenn Morris |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Bennett, Bruce |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Brix, Harold Herman |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1906-5-19 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| DATE OF DEATH | 2007-2-24 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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