Bruce Bennett

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

142

Gender

Male

Birthday

1906-05-19

Day of death

2007-02-24 (100 years old)

Place of Birth

Tacoma, Washington, USA

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

  • Perry Mason

    Perry Mason

  • Perry Mason

    Perry Mason

  • Perry Mason

    Perry Mason

  • Perry Mason

    Perry Mason

  • Perry Mason

    Perry Mason

  • The Virginian

    The Virginian

  • Lassie

    Lassie

  • 77 Sunset Strip

    77 Sunset Strip

  • Kraft Suspense Theatre

    Kraft Suspense Theatre

  • The Texan

    The Texan

  • Branded

    Branded

  • Lux Video Theatre

    Lux Video Theatre

  • Lux Video Theatre

    Lux Video Theatre

  • Cavalcade of America

    Cavalcade of America

  • Mildred Pierce

    Mildred Pierce

  • Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer

    Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer

  • Panic!

    Panic!

  • So Long Mr. Chumps

    So Long Mr. Chumps

  • Million Dollar Racket

    Million Dollar Racket

  • The Spook Speaks

    The Spook Speaks

  • The Officer and the Lady

    The Officer and the Lady

  • My Son Is Guilty

    My Son Is Guilty

  • How High Is Up?

    How High Is Up?

  • Letter to Loretta

    Letter to Loretta

  • Sahara

    Sahara

  • I'm from Arkansas

    I'm from Arkansas

  • Without Honor

    Without Honor

  • With This Ring

    With This Ring

  • The Outsider

    The Outsider

  • The Man with Nine Lives

    The Man with Nine Lives

  • Lassie: Well of Love

    Lassie: Well of Love

  • Island of Doomed Men

    Island of Doomed Men

  • The Great Missouri Raid

    The Great Missouri Raid

  • The Alligator People

    The Alligator People

  • The More the Merrier

    The More the Merrier

  • West Point

    West Point

  • Flying Fists

    Flying Fists

  • Murder in Times Square

    Murder in Times Square

  • To the Victor

    To the Victor

  • Tarzan and the Green Goddess

    Tarzan and the Green Goddess

  • Daredevils of the Red Circle

    Daredevils of the Red Circle

  • The Clones

    The Clones

  • Shakedown

    Shakedown

  • Silver River

    Silver River

  • Stories of the Century

    Stories of the Century

  • The Last Outpost

    The Last Outpost

  • Atlantic Convoy

    Atlantic Convoy

  • Dark Passage

    Dark Passage

  • Sudden Fear

    Sudden Fear

  • Meet the Baron

    Meet the Baron

  • The Second Face

    The Second Face

  • Sky Racket

    Sky Racket

  • Convicted Woman

    Convicted Woman

  • The Man from Tumbleweeds

    The Man from Tumbleweeds

  • The Bottom of the Bottle

    The Bottom of the Bottle

  • Dutiful But Dumb

    Dutiful But Dumb

  • The Heckler

    The Heckler

  • The Secret Seven

    The Secret Seven

  • Hawk of the Wilderness

    Hawk of the Wilderness

  • Beer Barrel Polecats

    Beer Barrel Polecats

  • Dragonfly Squadron

    Dragonfly Squadron

  • Angels in the Outfield

    Angels in the Outfield

  • The Younger Brothers

    The Younger Brothers

  • Underground Agent

    Underground Agent

  • Five Little Peppers at Home

    Five Little Peppers at Home

  • Love Me Tender

    Love Me Tender

  • Hidden Guns

    Hidden Guns

  • The House Across the Street

    The House Across the Street

  • Two Latins from Manhattan

    Two Latins from Manhattan

  • Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

    Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

  • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

    The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

  • Invisible Stripes

    Invisible Stripes

  • The New Adventures of Tarzan

    The New Adventures of Tarzan

  • Mystery Street

    Mystery Street

  • The Big Tip Off

    The Big Tip Off

  • The New Adventures of Tarzan

    The New Adventures of Tarzan

  • Undertow

    Undertow

  • The Phantom Submarine

    The Phantom Submarine

  • The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date

    The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • Nora Prentiss

    Nora Prentiss

  • Torpedo of Doom

    Torpedo of Doom

  • Treasure Island

    Treasure Island

  • Escape to Glory

    Escape to Glory

  • U-Boat Prisoner

    U-Boat Prisoner

  • The Three Outlaws

    The Three Outlaws

  • Glamour for Sale

    Glamour for Sale

  • Deadhead Miles

    Deadhead Miles

  • Two Minutes to Play

    Two Minutes to Play

  • Blazing Six Shooters

    Blazing Six Shooters

  • The Man I Love

    The Man I Love

  • Dream Wife

    Dream Wife

  • Fiend of Dope Island

    Fiend of Dope Island

  • A Million to One

    A Million to One

  • Student Tour

    Student Tour

  • Danger Signal

    Danger Signal

  • The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady

    The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady

  • Cafe Hostess

    Cafe Hostess

  • The Fighting Devil Dogs

    The Fighting Devil Dogs

  • Flaming Frontier

    Flaming Frontier

  • Girls of the Road

    Girls of the Road

  • Blondie Brings Up Baby

    Blondie Brings Up Baby

  • Danger Patrol

    Danger Patrol

  • Riptide

    Riptide

  • The Taming of the Snood

    The Taming of the Snood

  • Damon Runyon Theater

    Damon Runyon Theater

  • Movie Crazy

    Movie Crazy

  • Robbers' Roost

    Robbers' Roost

  • The Cosmic Man

    The Cosmic Man

  • Three Girls About Town

    Three Girls About Town

  • Before I Hang

    Before I Hang

  • College Humor

    College Humor

  • Three Violent People

    Three Violent People

  • Tarzan: Lord of the Movies

    Tarzan: Lord of the Movies

  • Death on the Diamond

    Death on the Diamond

  • Strategic Air Command

    Strategic Air Command

  • Hi-Yo Silver

    Hi-Yo Silver

  • West of Abilene

    West of Abilene

  • Laat de dokter maar schuiven

    Laat de dokter maar schuiven

  • Babies for Sale

    Babies for Sale

  • Smart Girls Don't Talk

    Smart Girls Don't Talk

  • There's Something About a Soldier

    There's Something About a Soldier

  • Million Dollar Legs

    Million Dollar Legs

  • Land of Fighting Men

    Land of Fighting Men

  • Submarine Raider

    Submarine Raider

  • Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!

    Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!

  • A Stolen Life

    A Stolen Life

  • Amateur Crook

    Amateur Crook

  • Shadow of Chinatown

    Shadow of Chinatown

  • Tarzan at the Movies, Part 2: The Many Faces of Tarzan

    Tarzan at the Movies, Part 2: The Many Faces of Tarzan

  • Sabotage Squad

    Sabotage Squad

  • Five Little Peppers And How They Grew

    Five Little Peppers And How They Grew

  • Honolulu Lu

    Honolulu Lu

  • Shadow of Chinatown

    Shadow of Chinatown

  • The Doctor and the Girl

    The Doctor and the Girl

  • Ain't No Time for Glory

    Ain't No Time for Glory

  • The Lone Ranger

    The Lone Ranger

  • No Census, No Feeling

    No Census, No Feeling

  • Boobs in the Woods

    Boobs in the Woods

  • Discovering Treasure: The Story of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'

    Discovering Treasure: The Story of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'

  • Silks and Saddles

    Silks and Saddles

  • Frontier Fury

    Frontier Fury