Saturday, February 23, 2008

Tarzan was born in Romania

Johnny Weissmuller (1904-1984) was an American swimmer and actor who was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s. He set 67 world records. After his swimming career, he became the 6th actor to portray Tarzan in films, a role he played in 12 motion pictures. Dozens of other actors also played Tarzan, but Weissmuller was by far the best known. His character's distinctive, ululating Tarzan yell is still often used in films. He was registered as Peter John Weissmüller, baptized as János Weißmüller. Some sources cite his birthplace as Freidorf, now a district of Timisoara, Romania, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the son of German-speaking parents of Roman Catholic and Jewish background. He was actually named Peter by his parents, but when he arrived in the US he used his brother's name, Johnny, because it was more American. When Johnny was 7 months old, the family emigrated to the United States.

Source: Wikipedia

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