Title Thumbnail

Tarzan, My Father

Johnny Weissmuller Jr. William Reed W. Craig Reed Danton Burroughs

9781550228342
232 pages
Ecw Press
Overview

A portrait of the most beloved Tarzan and a tale of Hollywood at its legendary peak. An authoritative insight into the life of the man most film fans consider the “one and only” Tarzan — Olympic swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller —this book offers an intimate look at Weissmuller’s early life, middle years, and later decline, through swimming training, Olympic triumphs, failed marriages, a Hollywood life as Tarzan of the Apes, and subsequent career as Jungle Jim.

Written by his only son, this biography is a sensitive yet unsentimental portrayal of the man who was Tarzan to movie fans around the world. Johnny Junior’s inside perspective on his father’s life and career includes interviews with his father’s celebrity friends and former wives, recollections of conversations with his father over the years, and family stories involving international icons such as Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, Robert Mitchum, Joe Louis, and many others. There are “surprises” in the text and many photos from private collections that have never before been printed or seen by the general public.

Author Bio
Actor/Longshoreman Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. lives in San Francisco, California, where he has spent most of his adult life. Historian William Reed — who resides in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico — is  a retired Naval-Intelligence officer and author of the award-winning biography, Olaf Wieghorst. He and his son, W. Craig Reed — a former nuclear submariner — are also coauthors of the book Crazy Ivan: Based on a True Story of Submarine Espionage.