Bruce Bennett
122 movies · 15 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- May 19, 1906
- Died
- Feb 24, 2007 (age 100)
- Place of birth
- Tacoma, Washington, USA
- Also known as
- Harold Herman Brix · Herman Brix
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]
Read the full biography
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.
Profiles IMDb
Known for
Bruce Bennett: movies and TV shows
Acting (137)
- 2017 Tarzan: Lord of the Movies
as Tarzan (Archive Footage)
- 2003 Discovering Treasure: The Story of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'
as James Cody (archive footage)
- 1996 Tarzan at the Movies, Part 2: The Many Faces of Tarzan
as Tarzan (archive footage)
- 1980 Laat de dokter maar schuiven
as John
- 1973 The Clones
as Clone Lab Assistant
- 1972 Deadhead Miles
as Johnny Mesquitero
- 1970 Lassie: Well of Love
as Bert Daniels
- 1966 Torpedo of Doom
as Lt. Frank Corley
- 1965
- 1963
- 1962
- 1961 The Outsider
as Gen. Bridges
- 1960 Fiend of Dope Island
as Charlie Davis
- 1959 The Alligator People
as Dr. Eric Lorimer
- 1959 The Cosmic Man
as Dr. Karl Sorenson
- 1958
- 1958
- 1958 Flaming Frontier
as Capt. Jim Hewson
- 1957 Perry Mason · TV
as Lawrence Balfour / Dan Morgan / Matt Lambert / Malone / Reve Watson · 5 episodes
- 1957 Ain't No Time for Glory
as Lt. Col. Steven Granville
- 1957
- 1956 Three Violent People
as Commissioner Harrison
- 1956 Love Me Tender
as Maj. Kincaid
- 1956 Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer
as Daniel Boone
- 1956
- 1956 The Three Outlaws
as Charlie Trenton
- 1956 The Bottom of the Bottle
as Brand
- 1956 Hidden Guns
as Stragg
- 1955 Robbers' Roost
as 'Bull' Herrick
- 1955
- 1955 Strategic Air Command
as Gen. Espy
- 1955 The Big Tip Off
as Bob Gilmore
- 1954
- 1954 Dragonfly Squadron
as Dr. Stephen Cottrell
- 1954
- 1954 With This Ring
as Frederick C. Miller
- 1953
- 1953 Dream Wife
as Charlie Elkwood
- 1952
- 1952 Sudden Fear
as Steve Kearney
- 1951 Angels in the Outfield
as Saul Hellman
- 1951
- 1951 The Last Outpost
as Col. Jeb Britton
- 1951 The Great Missouri Raid
as Cole Younger
- 1950 The Second Face
as Paul Curtis
- 1950
- 1950 Shakedown
as David Glover
- 1950 Mystery Street
as Dr. McAdoo
- 1949 Undertow
as Reckling
- 1949 Without Honor
as Fred Bandle
- 1949 The Doctor and the Girl
as Dr. Alfred Norton
- 1949 The House Across the Street
as Matthew J. Keever
- 1949 The Younger Brothers
as Jim Younger
- 1948 To the Victor
as Henderson
- 1948 Smart Girls Don't Talk
as Marty Fain
- 1948 Silver River
as Stanley Moore
- 1948 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
as James Cody
- 1947 Dark Passage
as Bob
- 1947 Cheyenne
as Ed Landers
- 1947 Nora Prentiss
as Dr. Joel Merriam
- 1946 The Man I Love
as San Thomas
- 1946 A Stolen Life
as Jack R. Talbot
- 1946 Beer Barrel Polecats
as Prison Guard (archive footage)
- 1945 Danger Signal
as Dr. Andrew Lang
- 1945 Mildred Pierce
as Albert 'Bert' Pierce
- 1944 I'm from Arkansas
as Bob Hamlin
- 1944 U-Boat Prisoner
as Archie Gibbs
- 1943 There's Something About a Soldier
as Frank Molloy
- 1943 Sahara
as Waco Hoyt
- 1943 Frontier Fury
as Clem Hawkins (uncredited)
- 1943 The More the Merrier
as FBI Agent Evans
- 1943 Murder in Times Square
as Supai George
- 1942 Underground Agent
as Lee Graham
- 1942 Sabotage Squad
as Lieutenant John Cronin
- 1942 Atlantic Convoy
as Capt. Morgan
- 1942 Submarine Raider
as 1st Office Russell
- 1942 Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
as Tommy Lydel
- 1941 Honolulu Lu
as Skelly
- 1941 Three Girls About Town
as Reporter
- 1941 The Officer and the Lady
as Bob Conlon
- 1941 Two Latins from Manhattan
as Federal Agent
- 1941 Dutiful But Dumb
as Vulgarian Soldier in General's Office (uncredited)
- 1941 So Long Mr. Chumps
as Prison Guard / Truck Driver (uncredited)
- 1940 The Phantom Submarine
as Paul Sinclair
- 1940 The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date
as Scotty
- 1940 West of Abilene
as Frank Garfield
- 1940 No Census, No Feeling
as Football Player #20 (uncredited)
- 1940 Glamour for Sale
as Cop (uncredited)
- 1940 The Spook Speaks
as Mordini's former assistant
- 1940 Before I Hang
as Dr. Paul Ames
- 1940 The Secret Seven
as Patrick Norris
- 1940 How High Is Up?
as Workman with Leaky Lunchpail (uncredited)
- 1940 Girls of the Road
as Officer Sullavan
- 1940 The Taming of the Snood
as Detective
- 1940 Babies for Sale
as Policeman
- 1940 Boobs in the Woods
as Park Ranger (uncredited)
- 1940 The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady
as McManus
- 1940 Island of Doomed Men
as Hazen - Guard (uncredited)
- 1940 Escape to Glory
as Ship's gunnery officer
- 1940 The Man from Tumbleweeds
as Prison Warden
- 1940 The Man with Nine Lives
as State Trooper (uncredited)
- 1940 Hi-Yo Silver
as Bert Rogers
- 1940 Blazing Six Shooters
as Geologist Winthrop
- 1940 The Heckler
as Ole Margarine
- 1940 Five Little Peppers at Home
as Jim - King's Chauffeur
- 1940 Convicted Woman
as Reporter (uncredited)
- 1940 Cafe Hostess
as Budge
- 1939 Invisible Stripes
as Rich Man (uncredited)
- 1939 My Son Is Guilty
as Lefty
- 1939 Blondie Brings Up Baby
as Mason's Chauffeur (uncredited)
- 1939 Five Little Peppers And How They Grew
as Tom - King's Chauffeur
- 1939 Daredevils of the Red Circle
as Tiny Dawson
- 1938 Hawk of the Wilderness
as Lincoln Rand Jr / Kioga
- 1938 Land of Fighting Men
as Fred Mitchell
- 1938 The Fighting Devil Dogs
as Lieutenant Frank Corby
- 1938 Tarzan and the Green Goddess
as Tarzan
- 1938 The Lone Ranger
as Bert Rogers
- 1937 Amateur Crook
as Jimmy Baxter
- 1937 Danger Patrol
as Joe
- 1937 Sky Racket
as Eric Lane - Agent 17
- 1937 Million Dollar Racket
as Larry Duane
- 1937 Flying Fists
as Hal "Chopper' Donovan, aka Hal Smith
- 1936 A Million to One
as Johnny Kent
- 1936 Silks and Saddles
as Jimmy Shay
- 1936 Two Minutes to Play
as Martin Granville
- 1936 Shadow of Chinatown
as Martin Andrews
- 1936 Shadow of Chinatown
as Martin Andrews
- 1935 The New Adventures of Tarzan
as Tarzan
- 1935 The New Adventures of Tarzan
as Tarzan
- 1934 Student Tour
as Hercules
- 1934 Death on the Diamond
as Man on Ticket Line (uncredited)
- 1934 Treasure Island
as Man at Tavern (uncredited)
- 1934 Riptide
as Man at Cannes Bar (uncredited)
- 1933 Meet the Baron
as Train Passenger (uncredited)
- 1933 College Humor
as Student
- 1932 Movie Crazy
as Dinner Guest (Uncredited)
- 1932 Million Dollar Legs
as Klopstokian Athlete (uncredited)
Behind the camera (1)
- 1960 Fiend of Dope Island
Writer