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

  • Lassie

    Lassie

  • The Virginian

    The Virginian

  • Shakedown

    Shakedown

  • Kraft Suspense Theatre

    Kraft Suspense Theatre

  • The Texan

    The Texan

  • Without Honor

    Without Honor

  • Flying Fists

    Flying Fists

  • 77 Sunset Strip

    77 Sunset Strip

  • Treasure Island

    Treasure Island

  • Invisible Stripes

    Invisible Stripes

  • Atlantic Convoy

    Atlantic Convoy

  • Cafe Hostess

    Cafe Hostess

  • Three Girls About Town

    Three Girls About Town

  • U-Boat Prisoner

    U-Boat Prisoner

  • Riptide

    Riptide

  • West Point

    West Point

  • Hi-Yo Silver

    Hi-Yo Silver

  • Branded

    Branded

  • Glamour for Sale

    Glamour for Sale

  • Cheyenne

    Cheyenne

  • Dream Wife

    Dream Wife

  • Panic!

    Panic!

  • Love Me Tender

    Love Me Tender

  • Nora Prentiss

    Nora Prentiss

  • So Long Mr. Chumps

    So Long Mr. Chumps

  • Cavalcade of America

    Cavalcade of America

  • Torpedo of Doom

    Torpedo of Doom

  • Beer Barrel Polecats

    Beer Barrel Polecats

  • Lux Video Theatre

    Lux Video Theatre

  • Lux Video Theatre

    Lux Video Theatre

  • The Alligator People

    The Alligator People

  • The Big Tip Off

    The Big Tip Off

  • Stories of the Century

    Stories of the Century

  • West of Abilene

    West of Abilene

  • Movie Crazy

    Movie Crazy

  • Undertow

    Undertow

  • Tarzan: Lord of the Movies

    Tarzan: Lord of the Movies

  • Angels in the Outfield

    Angels in the Outfield

  • With This Ring

    With This Ring

  • Babies for Sale

    Babies for Sale

  • College Humor

    College Humor

  • Letter to Loretta

    Letter to Loretta

  • Smart Girls Don't Talk

    Smart Girls Don't Talk

  • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

    The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

  • Sahara

    Sahara

  • Mildred Pierce

    Mildred Pierce

  • Escape to Glory

    Escape to Glory

  • A Stolen Life

    A Stolen Life

  • Before I Hang

    Before I Hang

  • To the Victor

    To the Victor

  • Dark Passage

    Dark Passage

  • Strategic Air Command

    Strategic Air Command

  • Three Violent People

    Three Violent People

  • Sudden Fear

    Sudden Fear

  • Silver River

    Silver River

  • Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

    Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

  • The More the Merrier

    The More the Merrier

  • The Phantom Submarine

    The Phantom Submarine

  • Damon Runyon Theater

    Damon Runyon Theater

  • Amateur Crook

    Amateur Crook

  • Convicted Woman

    Convicted Woman

  • Million Dollar Legs

    Million Dollar Legs

  • No Census, No Feeling

    No Census, No Feeling

  • The New Adventures of Tarzan

    The New Adventures of Tarzan

  • The Man with Nine Lives

    The Man with Nine Lives

  • Hawk of the Wilderness

    Hawk of the Wilderness

  • Sky Racket

    Sky Racket

  • Student Tour

    Student Tour

  • Underground Agent

    Underground Agent

  • The Second Face

    The Second Face

  • The Last Outpost

    The Last Outpost

  • The Man I Love

    The Man I Love

  • Mystery Street

    Mystery Street

  • Five Little Peppers And How They Grew

    Five Little Peppers And How They Grew

  • Honolulu Lu

    Honolulu Lu

  • Death on the Diamond

    Death on the Diamond

  • My Son Is Guilty

    My Son Is Guilty

  • Danger Patrol

    Danger Patrol

  • The Lone Ranger

    The Lone Ranger

  • Daredevils of the Red Circle

    Daredevils of the Red Circle

  • The Taming of the Snood

    The Taming of the Snood

  • The Man from Tumbleweeds

    The Man from Tumbleweeds

  • The Outsider

    The Outsider

  • Lassie: Well of Love

    Lassie: Well of Love

  • Boobs in the Woods

    Boobs in the Woods

  • Deadhead Miles

    Deadhead Miles

  • Submarine Raider

    Submarine Raider

  • The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady

    The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady

  • The House Across the Street

    The House Across the Street

  • Sabotage Squad

    Sabotage Squad

  • Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer

    Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer

  • There's Something About a Soldier

    There's Something About a Soldier

  • Hidden Guns

    Hidden Guns

  • Murder in Times Square

    Murder in Times Square

  • The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date

    The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date

  • Blazing Six Shooters

    Blazing Six Shooters

  • Silks and Saddles

    Silks and Saddles

  • Danger Signal

    Danger Signal

  • Tarzan and the Green Goddess

    Tarzan and the Green Goddess

  • The Bottom of the Bottle

    The Bottom of the Bottle

  • Blondie Brings Up Baby

    Blondie Brings Up Baby

  • Five Little Peppers at Home

    Five Little Peppers at Home

  • Island of Doomed Men

    Island of Doomed Men

  • Flaming Frontier

    Flaming Frontier

  • Ain't No Time for Glory

    Ain't No Time for Glory

  • Meet the Baron

    Meet the Baron

  • The Cosmic Man

    The Cosmic Man

  • Two Latins from Manhattan

    Two Latins from Manhattan

  • Dragonfly Squadron

    Dragonfly Squadron

  • The Clones

    The Clones

  • Shadow of Chinatown

    Shadow of Chinatown

  • The Fighting Devil Dogs

    The Fighting Devil Dogs

  • The Spook Speaks

    The Spook Speaks

  • Million Dollar Racket

    Million Dollar Racket

  • The Younger Brothers

    The Younger Brothers

  • Robbers' Roost

    Robbers' Roost

  • Girls of the Road

    Girls of the Road

  • The Doctor and the Girl

    The Doctor and the Girl

  • The New Adventures of Tarzan

    The New Adventures of Tarzan

  • Dutiful But Dumb

    Dutiful But Dumb

  • I'm from Arkansas

    I'm from Arkansas

  • The Three Outlaws

    The Three Outlaws

  • Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!

    Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!

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

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

  • Land of Fighting Men

    Land of Fighting Men

  • Two Minutes to Play

    Two Minutes to Play

  • The Secret Seven

    The Secret Seven

  • Fiend of Dope Island

    Fiend of Dope Island

  • A Million to One

    A Million to One

  • The Heckler

    The Heckler

  • The Officer and the Lady

    The Officer and the Lady

  • Frontier Fury

    Frontier Fury

  • How High Is Up?

    How High Is Up?

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

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

  • Shadow of Chinatown

    Shadow of Chinatown

  • The Great Missouri Raid

    The Great Missouri Raid

  • Laat de dokter maar schuiven

    Laat de dokter maar schuiven