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.
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as James Cody (archive footage)
1973
as Clone Lab Assistant
1972
as Johnny Mesquitero
1970
as Bert Daniels
1966
as Lt. Frank Corley
1965
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1962
as Silas Graham
1961
as Gen. Bridges
1961
as Charlie Davis
1959
as Dr. Eric Lorimer
1959
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as Capt. Jim Hewson
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as Lawrence Balfour
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as Dan Morgan
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as Matt Lambert
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as Malone
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as Charlie Trenton
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as Brand
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as William Clark Charles Quantrill
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as Seth Ranson
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as Charlie Elkwood
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as Abe Lincoln
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as Steve Kearney
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as Saul Hellman
1951
as Judge Paul Maston
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as Col. Jeb Britton
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as Cole Younger
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as Paul Curtis
1950
as Dr. Grant
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as Ben Archer
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as David Glover
1950
as Dr. McAdoo
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as Reckling
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as Fred Bandle
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as Dr. Alfred Norton
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as Matthew J. Keever
1949
as Jim Younger
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as Henderson
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as Marty Fain
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as Stanley Moore
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as James Cody
1947
as Bob
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as Ed Landers
1947
as Dr. Joel Merriam
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as Jack R. Talbot
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as Prison Guard (archive footage)
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as Dr. Andrew Lang
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as Albert 'Bert' Pierce
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1943
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1943
as FBI Agent Evans
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as Lee Graham
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as Tommy Lydel
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as Skelly
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as Bob Conlon
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as Federal Agent
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as Vulgarian Soldier in General's Office (uncredited)
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as Prison Guard / Truck Driver (uncredited)
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as Paul Sinclair
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as Scotty
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as Frank Garfield
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as Football Player #20 (uncredited)
1940
as Cop (uncredited)
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as Mordini's former assistant
1940
as Dr. Paul Ames
1940
as Patrick Norris
1940
as Workman with Leaky Lunchpail (uncredited)
1940
as Officer Sullavan
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as Detective
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as Park Ranger (uncredited)
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as McManus
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as Hazen - Guard (uncredited)
1940
as Ship's gunnery officer
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as Prison Warden
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1940
as Bert Rogers
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1940
as Ole Margarine
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as Jim - King's Chauffeur
1940
as Reporter (uncredited)
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as Rich Man (uncredited)
1939
as Lefty
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as Mason's Chauffeur (uncredited)
1939
as Tom - King's Chauffeur
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as Tiny Dawson
1938
as Lincoln Rand Jr / Kioga
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as Fred Mitchell
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as Lieutenant Frank Corby
1938
as Tarzan
1938
as Bert Rogers
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as Jimmy Baxter
1937
as Joe
1937
as Eric Lane - Agent 17
1937
as Larry Duane
1937
as Hal "Chopper' Donovan, aka Hal Smith
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as Johnny Kent
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as Jimmy Shay
1936
as Martin Granville
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as Martin Andrews
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as Martin Andrews
1935
as Tarzan
1935
as Tarzan
1934
as Hercules
1934
as Man on Ticket Line (uncredited)
1934
as Man at Tavern (uncredited)
1934
as Man at Cannes Bar (uncredited)
1933
as Train Passenger (uncredited)
1933
as Student
1932
as Dinner Guest (Uncredited)
1932
as Klopstokian Athlete (uncredited)