Bruce Bennett

About Bruce Bennett

Who is it?: Actor, Writer
Birth Day: May 19, 1906
Birth Place:  Tacoma, Washington, United States
Cause of death: Hip fracture
Occupation: Actor
Years active: 1931–1973; 1980
Height: 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight: 100 kg (220 lb)
Spouse(s): Jeannette C. Braddock (1933–2000) (her death) 2 children
Children: Christopher Brix Christina Katich

Bruce Bennett

Bruce Bennett was born on May 19, 1906 in  Tacoma, Washington, United States, is Actor, Writer. Herman Brix was a star shot-putter in the 1928 Olympics. After losing the lead in MGM's Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) due to a shoulder injury, he was contracted by Ashton Dearholt for his independent production of The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935), a serial and the only Tarzan film between the silents and the 1960s to present the character accurately, as a sophisticated, educated English nobleman who preferred living in the jungle and was able to speak directly with animals in their own language. He subsequently found himself typecast and confined to starring roles in other serials and character and even bit parts in poverty row features and two-reeler comedies. After starring in the Republic Pictures serial Hawk of the Wilderness (1938) as the Tarzan-like Kioga, he dropped out of films for a few years, took acting lessons, and changed his name to Bruce Bennett. He made many movies after that, gaining fame as a leading man in many Warners products. In 1960, he retired from acting and went into business, becoming sales manager of a major vending machine company, making only occasional TV guest appearances. A reclusive man, he eschewed interviews, although he did appear at one Burroughs-oriented convention in the 1970s and discussed some of his experiences during the making of his Tarzan serial. In 2001, he allowed himself to be interviewed for a slender biography by a Mike Chapman, and held signings at local bookstores, enjoying his "rediscovery" by the general public in the few years remaining before his death.
Bruce Bennett is a member of Actor

Does Bruce Bennett Dead or Alive?

As per our current Database, Bruce Bennett has been died on February 24, 2007(2007-02-24) (aged 100)\nSanta Monica, California, U.S..

🎂 Bruce Bennett - Age, Bio, Faces and Birthday

When Bruce Bennett die, Bruce Bennett was 100 years old.

Popular As Bruce Bennett
Occupation Actor
Age 100 years old
Zodiac Sign Gemini
Born May 19, 1906 ( Tacoma, Washington, United States)
Birthday May 19
Town/City  Tacoma, Washington, United States
Nationality United States

🌙 Zodiac

Bruce Bennett’s zodiac sign is Gemini. According to astrologers, Gemini is expressive and quick-witted, it represents two different personalities in one and you will never be sure which one you will face. They are sociable, communicative and ready for fun, with a tendency to suddenly get serious, thoughtful and restless. They are fascinated with the world itself, extremely curious, with a constant feeling that there is not enough time to experience everything they want to see.

🌙 Chinese Zodiac Signs

Bruce Bennett was born in the Year of the Horse. Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Horse love to roam free. They’re energetic, self-reliant, money-wise, and they enjoy traveling, love and intimacy. They’re great at seducing, sharp-witted, impatient and sometimes seen as a drifter. Compatible with Dog or Tiger.

Some Bruce Bennett images

Biography/Timeline

1926

Brix was the fourth child in a family of five of an immigrant couple from Germany. His eldest brother, and their father's favored son, Herman, died before Harold's birth; and he was given his middle name in this child's memory. To please his father, by high school, he had discontinued using his own first name in favor of his middle name. His father was a lumber man who owned a couple of logging camps. 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. He also won four consecutive AAU shot put titles (1928–31), the NCAA title in 1927, and the AAU indoor titles in 1930 and 1932. In 1930 he set a world indoor record at 15.61 m (51 ft 3 in). In 1932 he set his personal best at 16.07 m (52 ft 9 in), but did worse at the Olympic trials and failed to qualify for the Los Angeles Games.

1929

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.

1931

In 1931, MGM, adapting author Edgar Rice Burroughs's popular Tarzan adventures for the screen, selected Brix to play the title character. But Brix 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."

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. He also portrayed the titular hero in Republic's serial Hawk of the Wilderness.

1939

Brix continued to work in serials and action features for low-budget studios until 1939. Finding himself still typecast as Tarzan in the minds of major producers, Brix changed his name to "Bruce Bennett" and became a member of Columbia Pictures' stock company. During the next few years he would be seen playing minor roles in many Columbia films, from expensive dramas to B mysteries to Three Stooges short subjects (including How High Is Up?). His screen career was interrupted by World War II, when he served in the United States Navy.

1940

The Washington Post noted, "Bennett moved into grittier roles in the late 1940s and early 1950s, playing a detective in william Castle's Undertow and a forensic scientist who helps solve a crime in John Sturges' Mystery Street. He also portrayed an ageing baseball player in Angels in the Outfield (1951).

1950

From the mid-1950s on, Bennett mainly appeared in B-films, such as The Alligator People (1959), and in the title role of the Fiend of Dope Island (filmed 1959, released 1961) that he co-wrote, and on television in guest starring roles. He was a very successful businessman during the 1960s.

1954

In 1954, Bennett played william Quantrill, the Confederate guerrilla figure, in an episode of the syndicated television series Stories of the Century, starring and narrated by Jim Davis. Bennett made five guest appearances on Perry Mason, including his role as murder victim Lawrence Balfour in the 1958 episode, "The Case of the Lucky Loser," and murderer Dan Morgan in the 1961 episode, "The Case of the Misguided Missile." He was also in 5 episodes of Science Fiction Theatre.

2000

Bennett had two children, Christopher Brix and Christina Katich, by longtime wife Jeannette, who died in 2000. They named their children after his parents. They had three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His great-niece is named Brix Hahn in his honor.

2006

Bennett turned 100 on May 19, 2006, and died less than a year later in February 2007 of complications from a broken hip.

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