Johnny Weissmuller
Channel: 宇宙のすべての知識 プリンシピア
Date: 2019-01-03

Johnny Weissmuller, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16558 / CC BY SA 3.0

Johnny Weissmuller

Johnny Weissmuller (2 June 190420 January 1984) was an Austro-Hungarian-born American competition swimmer and actor, best known for playing Edgar Rice Burroughs's ape man Tarzan in films of the 1930s and 1940s and for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century.

Weissmuller was one of the world's fastest swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals for swimming and one bronze medal for water polo. He was the first to break the one minute barrier for 100-meter freestyle, and the first to swim 440-yard freestyle under five minutes. He won fifty-two U.S. national championships, set more than 50 world records (spread over both freestyle and backstroke), and was purportedly undefeated in official competition for the entirety of his competitive career. After retiring from competitions, he became the sixth actor to portray Tarzan, a role he played in twelve feature films. Dozens of other actors have also played Tarzan, but Weissmuller is by far the best known. Weissmuller's distinctive Tarzan yell is still often used in films in his legacy.

Johann Weißmüller was an ethnic German, the elder son of Peter Weißmüller and his wife Elisabeth (née Kersch), both Banat Swabians, an ethnic German population in south eastern part of Kingdom of Hungary. Johann had one sibling, a younger brother, Peter. His generally accepted birthplace was in Szabadfalva (Freidorf), Austro-Hungarian Empire (today part of Timișoara (Temeschwar), Romania). The records of St. Rochus Church in Freidorf show that Johann, son of Peter and Elisabeth (née Kersch) Weissmüller, was baptized there on 5 June 1904, three days after his birth. According to the contemporary laws, his name was recorded as János Weissmüller. However, the ship's roster from his family's arrival at Ellis Island lists his birthplace as Párdány, Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Međa, Žitišt...