A century of Tarzan

Readers should take note of an interesting hundredth anniversary coming in 2018. In 1918, the first Tarzan film was made, starring Elmo Lincoln, a former Arkansas peace officer, in the title role. While the original print version of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs was published in 1912, the first celluloid Tarzan appeared six years later.

Born Otto Elmo Linkenhelt in 1889 in Rochester, Ind., the barrel-chested actor was noticed by Burroughs when his shirt was torn open in a fight scene. Burroughs is said to have commented, “That’s some chest you have there.” Lincoln appeared in Birth of a Nation, 1915, and later as the ape-man in Tarzan of the Apes.

In 2012 celebrations marking 100 years of Tarzan were held, and perhaps there will be similar events noting 100 years of Tarzan films. The jungle icon has become so popular— copied so often—it’s difficult, perhaps impossible, to count the total number of Tarzan films made worldwide, but at least 43 films were made featuring 24 different actors playing the Lord of the Jungle.

In addition to the films, Tarzan appeared on television for 57 episodes from 1966 to 1968 as well as other TV versions later. Bill and Sue-On Hillman have created an extremely detailed website with a wealth of Tarzan information (see ERBzine).

Though elements of the storyline have varied over the century, the basic plot has endured—boy raised in the jungle by apes. As an adult he protects humankind from greedy, unscrupulous villains. JOHN C. JARBOE North Little Rock