Gordon Scott, 11th Tarzan, Passes Away

Here's a story that started in Vegas, played out in Hollywood, and ended in a rowhouse in Baltimore. Gordon Scott, a former lifeguard at the Sahara Casino, who beat out dozens of body-builders from around the globe to be the 11th screen version of Tarzan the Apeman, has died.

For me, Johnny Weissmuller will always be the definitive Tarzan, especially in those pre-Hays code romps with Jane and Cheetah. But Scott, who played the Lord of the Jungle in six Tarzan movies during the 50s and 60s, will be remembered by plenty of folks, folks who were kids back in the day when Saturday movie matinees were the norm.

It's a sad-but-familiar story. Scott's Hollywood "discovery" brought him sudden wealth and fame, a short-lived marriage to costar Vera Miles, and self-exile to Italy, where he played strongmen in spaghetti westerns. Then, the world and his family lost track of him, until he turned up one day visiting a fan in Baltimore -- and somehow, never left. Here's the Baltimore Sun's goodbye.

Tarzan book cover - Dell Paperbacks