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Bruce Bennett

Bruce Bennett

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.

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

2003

as James Cody (archive footage)

The Clones

1973

as Clone Lab Assistant

Deadhead Miles

1972

as Johnny Mesquitero

Lassie: Well of Love

1970

as Bert Daniels

Torpedo of Doom

1966

as Lt. Frank Corley

Branded

1965

Kraft Suspense Theatre

1963

as Gen. Adams

The Virginian

1962

as Silas Graham

The Outsider

1961

as Gen. Bridges

Fiend of Dope Island

1961

as Charlie Davis

The Alligator People

1959

as Dr. Eric Lorimer

The Cosmic Man

1959

as Dr. Karl Sorenson

77 Sunset Strip

1958

The Texan

1958

Flaming Frontier

1958

as Capt. Jim Hewson

Perry Mason

1957

as Lawrence Balfour

Perry Mason

1957

as Dan Morgan

Perry Mason

1957

as Matt Lambert

Perry Mason

1957

as Malone

Perry Mason

1957

as Reve Watson

Panic!

1957

Three Violent People

1956

as Commissioner Harrison

Love Me Tender

1956

as Maj. Kincaid

Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer

1956

as Daniel Boone

West Point

1956

The Three Outlaws

1956

as Charlie Trenton

The Bottom of the Bottle

1956

as Brand

Hidden Guns

1956

as Stragg

Strategic Air Command

1955

as Gen. Espy

Robbers' Roost

1955

as 'Bull' Herrick

The Big Tip Off

1955

as Bob Gilmore

Lassie

1954

Dragonfly Squadron

1954

as Dr. Stephen Cottrell

Stories of the Century

1954

as William Clark Charles Quantrill

With This Ring

1954

Letter to Loretta

1953

as Seth Ranson

Dream Wife

1953

as Charlie Elkwood

Cavalcade of America

1952

as Abe Lincoln

Sudden Fear

1952

as Steve Kearney

Angels in the Outfield

1951

as Saul Hellman

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

1951

as Judge Paul Maston

The Last Outpost

1951

as Col. Jeb Britton

The Great Missouri Raid

1951

as Cole Younger

The Second Face

1950

as Paul Curtis

Lux Video Theatre

1950

as Dr. Grant

Lux Video Theatre

1950

as Ben Archer

Shakedown

1950

as David Glover

Mystery Street

1950

as Dr. McAdoo

Undertow

1949

as Reckling

Without Honor

1949

as Fred Bandle

The Doctor and the Girl

1949

as Dr. Alfred Norton

The House Across the Street

1949

as Matthew J. Keever

The Younger Brothers

1949

as Jim Younger

To the Victor

1948

as Henderson

Smart Girls Don't Talk

1948

as Marty Fain

Silver River

1948

as Stanley Moore

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

1948

as James Cody

Dark Passage

1947

as Bob

Cheyenne

1947

as Ed Landers

Nora Prentiss

1947

as Dr. Joel Merriam

The Man I Love

1946

as San Thomas

A Stolen Life

1946

as Jack R. Talbot

Beer Barrel Polecats

1946

as Prison Guard (archive footage)

Danger Signal

1945

as Dr. Andrew Lang

Mildred Pierce

1945

as Albert 'Bert' Pierce

I'm from Arkansas

1944

as Bob Hamlin

U-Boat Prisoner

1944

as Archie Gibbs

There's Something About a Soldier

1943

as Frank Molloy

Sahara

1943

as "Waco" Hoyt

Frontier Fury

1943

as Clem Hawkins (uncredited)

The More the Merrier

1943

as FBI Agent Evans

Murder in Times Square

1943

as Supai George

Underground Agent

1942

as Lee Graham

Sabotage Squad

1942

as Lieutenant John Cronin

Atlantic Convoy

1942

as Capt. Morgan

Submarine Raider

1942

as 1st Office Russell

Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!

1942

as Tommy Lydel

Honolulu Lu

1941

as Skelly

Three Girls About Town

1941

as Reporter

The Officer and the Lady

1941

as Bob Conlon

Two Latins from Manhattan

1941

as Federal Agent

Dutiful But Dumb

1941

as Vulgarian Soldier in General's Office (uncredited)

So Long Mr. Chumps

1941

as Prison Guard / Truck Driver (uncredited)

The Phantom Submarine

1940

as Paul Sinclair

The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date

1940

as Scotty

West of Abilene

1940

as Frank Garfield

No Census, No Feeling

1940

as Football Player #20 (uncredited)

Glamour for Sale

1940

as Cop (uncredited)

The Spook Speaks

1940

as Mordini's former assistant

Before I Hang

1940

as Dr. Paul Ames

The Secret Seven

1940

as Patrick Norris

How High Is Up?

1940

as Workman with Leaky Lunchpail (uncredited)

Girls of the Road

1940

as Officer Sullavan

The Taming of the Snood

1940

as Detective

Babies for Sale

1940

as Policeman

Boobs in the Woods

1940

as Park Ranger (uncredited)

The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady

1940

as McManus

Escape to Glory

1940

as Ship's gunnery officer

Island of Doomed Men

1940

as Hazen - Guard (uncredited)

The Man from Tumbleweeds

1940

as Prison Warden

The Man with Nine Lives

1940

as State Trooper (uncredited)

Hi-Yo Silver

1940

as Bert Rogers

Blazing Six Shooters

1940

as Geologist Winthrop

The Heckler

1940

as Ole Margarine

Five Little Peppers at Home

1940

as Jim - King's Chauffeur

Convicted Woman

1940

as Reporter (uncredited)

Cafe Hostess

1940

as Budge

Invisible Stripes

1939

as Rich Man (uncredited)

My Son is Guilty

1939

as Lefty

Blondie Brings Up Baby

1939

as Mason's Chauffeur (uncredited)

Five Little Peppers And How They Grew

1939

as Tom - King's Chauffeur

Daredevils of the Red Circle

1939

as Tiny Dawson

Hawk of the Wilderness

1938

as Lincoln Rand Jr / Kioga

Land of Fighting Men

1938

as Fred Mitchell

The Fighting Devil Dogs

1938

as Lieutenant Frank Corby

Tarzan and the Green Goddess

1938

as Tarzan

The Lone Ranger

1938

as Bert Rogers

Amateur Crook

1937

as Jimmy Baxter

Danger Patrol

1937

as Joe

Sky Racket

1937

as Eric Lane - Agent 17

Million Dollar Racket

1937

as Larry Duane

Flying Fists

1937

as Hal "Chopper' Donovan, aka Hal Smith

A Million to One

1936

as Johnny Kent

Silks and Saddles

1936

as Jimmy Shay

Two Minutes to Play

1936

as Martin Granville

Shadow of Chinatown

1936

as Martin Andrews

Shadow of Chinatown

1936

as Martin Andrews

The New Adventures of Tarzan

1935

as Tarzan

The New Adventures of Tarzan

1935

as Tarzan

Student Tour

1934

as Hercules

Death on the Diamond

1934

as Man on Ticket Line (uncredited)

Treasure Island

1934

as Man at Tavern (uncredited)

Riptide

1934

as Man at Cannes Bar (uncredited)

Meet the Baron

1933

as Train Passenger (uncredited)

College Humor

1933

as Student

Movie Crazy

1932

as Dinner Guest (Uncredited)

Million Dollar Legs

1932

as Klopstokian Athlete (uncredited)