Actors Who Have Played Tarzan

Actors Who Wore Tarzan's Loincloth

Edgar Rice Burroughs first introduced the world to Tarzan in a 1912 issue of The All Story Magazine.

It wasn't long until Hollywood took notice of this popular literary character and decided that he should become a movie character, too. The 1918 silent film Tarzan of the Apes starred Elmo Lincoln in the title role. It was a hit, and Hollywood had a new hero, one that continues to enthrall moviegoers to this day.

This guide to the actors who have played Tarzan is as complete as I could put together. If you know of any omissions, let me know in the comments section.

Please note that all photos used on this page, if not otherwise indicated, were sourced from Amazon or eBay.

Who Played Tarzan, and When

Elmo Lincoln

Big, barrel-chested Elmo Lincoln was the first actor to bring Tarzan to the big screen, in the 1918 silent film, Tarzan of The Apes. Edgar Rice Burroughs wasn't impressed with Lincoln and didn't want him to play the role. Rice preferred actor Stellen Windrow, who had given up acting at the outbreak of World War I. This left the role available for Lincoln.

A second film, Romance of Tarzan, was released in 1918 and also starred Lincoln.

In 1921 Lincoln starred again as the famous ape man, in the 15-part movie serial The Adventures of Tarzan.

Lincoln died of a heart attack in 1952. He was 63.

Gordon Griffith

Griffith's got his first acting role when he was seven, playing a regular part in the four Little Billy short movies in 1914 and 1915.

Mack Sennett of Keystone Studios cast Griffith in several of his slapstick comedy movies and Griffith played opposite Charlie Chaplin, playing a paperboy in Tillie's Punctured Romance. Milton Berle often took credit for playing this role, but it was Griffith's work. In 1918 he played the boy Tarzan in the silent Tarzan of the Apes.

Griffith's career made the transition from silent films to talkies, but he got smaller roles. His last role was in the 1936 film Outlaws of the Range. After that, Griffith moved into other areas of the movie industry and got his first job as assistant director at 23. He continued to work as an assistant director until 1940, and had over 20 films to his credit.

Griffith produced five films between 1937 and 1956 and worked as an associate producer under Robert E. Sherwood. In 1941 he worked as a director and associate producer with Gregory Ratoff Productions. That same year he was named production manager at Columbia Studios but he eventually moved on to RKO to work as an associate producer.

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Griffith died of a heart attack in 1958 at age 51.

P. Dempsey Tebler

Born in 1876, Perce Dempsey Tabler had a varied career: opera singer, businessman, founding member of Paramount Pictures, athlete, and wearer of Tarzan's loincloth.

Beginning in the summer of 1920, Tabler starred in a 15-chapter movie serial, The Son of Tarzan, based on a Edgar Rice Burroughs story of the same title. The series tells the story of Korak, son of Tarzan and Jane, who is kidnapped and taken to Africa.

Gordon Griffith played the role of of Korak as a child and Kamuela C. Searle as an adult. The role was Tabler's first acting role and he did act in one more film, Spawn of the Desert in 1923. He went on to become successful in advertising.

Kamuela Cooper Searle

Samuel Cooper Searle was born in Hawaii in 1890. Around 1915 he met director Cecil B. Demille on the beach at Waikiki. DeMille was so taken with Searle that he encouraged him to pursue a career in film. It has been said that Searle acted in small parts in a few early DeMille films, though he is not credited for any acting work during this time.

During World War I, Searle enlisted in the U.S. Army and was wounded in France. When he was discharged, he changed his first name to Kamuela, the Hawaiian spelling of Samuel.

In 1919 he appeared, uncredited, in DeMille's Male and Female. In 1920, Searle took the role of a young Tarzan in the 15-part movie serial The Son of Tarzan. There is a myth that Searle died during the filming when an elephant slammed him to the ground. Though he was injured badly, and a double had to complete some remaining shots, Searle survived and went on to complete Fool's Paradise in 1921. After that he retired from the film industry and devoted his time to painting and sculpting.

Searle died of cancer in 1924 at age 33.

Gene Pollar

When producers at Numa Pictures wanted to make another Tarzan film, they approached Elmo Lincoln to reprise his role, but he refused. At 28, New York City firefighter Joseph C. Pohler stood 6' 2" and weighed 215 pounds. He was the perfect choice.

Pohler changed his name to Gene Pollar (some sources show his name spelled as "Polar") and earned $100 a week. The Revenge of Tarzan turned out to be a big hit and he was offered a contract with Universal. Numa wouldn't release him from his contract, so Pollar went back to being Joseph Pohler and fighting fires in New York.

He eventually retired to Florida, where he died in 1971 at the age of 79.

James Pierce

James Pierce was a football player at Indiana University. After graduating in 1921, he moved to Arizona where he coached football and worked as an actor on the side. Pierce moved to California and in 1924 he got his first movie role, in the film Leatherstocking. He continued to coach football, at Glendale High School, and some of the student players on his team would eventually take up acting, men like John Wayne and Robert Livingston.

Pierce's career and life took a major turn when he was invited to a party given by Edgar Rice Burroughs. At the party he met Burroughs' daughter Joan. The couple fell in love and married in 1928. Also, Edgar Burroughs thought Pierce was the perfect shape and size to play Tarzan. Right there at the party he offered Pierce the lead role in Tarzan and the Golden Lion. Pierce earned $75 a week while working on the film, which was released in 1927. While it was popular with audiences, the movie was panned by critics. It was Pierce's first and last role as the famed ape man.

However, Pierce and his wife Joan were the voices of Tarzan and Jane on national radio between 1932-34. They remained married until Joan's death in 1973 and James Pierce passed away in 1983.

Frank Merrill

Frank Merrill held many jobs during his lifetime: gymnast, police officer, stuntman, and actor.

Merrill was Elmo Lincoln's stunt double in the 1921 movie serial, The Adventures of Tarzan. In 1928 he wore the loincloth again in Tarzan the Mighty, replacing actor/stuntman Joe Bonomo.

In 1929, Merrill was Tarzan in Tarzan the Tiger. While this film was mostly silent, there were a few parts that had sound and unfortunately Merrill's voice didn't make the cut for "talkies." His career was over after just two outings on the big screen.

This suited Merrill fine. He found a new career he liked better—working with children. He got a job at the Los Angeles Parks Commission as a recreation director and volunteer gymnastics instructor. Merrill passed away in 1955 at the age of 62.

Johnny Weissmuller

Weissmuller was a swimmer in the 1920s and considered one of the best in the world, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze for the United States during his athletic career.

His success as an athlete made him somewhat famous and in 1929 he signed a contract to be a model for BVD, a men's underwear company. This brought him even greater attention and that same year he made his first movie appearance, in Glorifying the American Girl as an Adonis wearing just a fig leaf.