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