Frank Merrill (born Otto Adolph Stephan Poll; March 21, 1893 – February 12, 1966) was an American national title-winning gymnast (with over 58 titles to his credit), police officer, stuntman, and actor, most famous for being the fifth actor to portray

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

on film.

Tarzan Films

Merrill had doubled for the screen's first Tarzan,

Elmo Lincoln Elmo Lincoln (born Otto Elmo Linkenhelt; February 6, 1889June 27, 1952) was an American stage and film actor whose career in motion pictures spanned the silent and sound eras. He performed in over 100 screen productions between 1913 and 1952, a ...

, in the 1921

movie serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, ge ...

'' The Adventures of Tarzan'', and was cast in the role himself in the 1928 movie serial '' Tarzan the Mighty''. A year later, he starred in the

Tarzan the Tiger ''Tarzan the Tiger'' (1929) is a Universal movie serial based on the novel '' Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar'' by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It stars Frank Merrill as Tarzan, Natalie Kingston as Jane, and Al Ferguson. It was directed by Henry Mac ...

'', which, though shot as a silent feature, was partially dubbed into sound. Merrill was thus the first actor to voice Tarzan's " victory cry" on film.

Later life

With the coming of sound films, it was decided that Merrill's voice was unsuitable for the "talkies," and he was not asked back in the role. This suited Merrill fine, as he had so enjoyed meeting youngsters via his tenure as Tarzan that he devoted the rest of his life to working with children in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

city administration, the Los Angeles Parks Commission, as a recreation director and as a volunteer gymnastics instructor with the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

Death

Merrill died on February 12, 1966, in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, California at age 72. His mausoleum is in

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a full-service cemetery, funeral home, crematorium, crematory, and cultural events center which regularly hosts community events such as live music and summer movie screenings. It is one of the oldest cemeteries ...

Selected filmography

* '' Battling Mason'' (1924) * '' Reckless Speed'' (1924) * '' A Fighting Heart'' (1924) * '' Savages of the Sea'' (1925) * '' Speed Madness'' (1925) * '' A Gentleman Roughneck'' (1925) * '' Cupid's Knockout'' (1926) * '' The Fighting Doctor'' (1926) * '' Unknown Dangers'' (1926) * ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' (1926) * '' The Little Wild Girl'' (1928) * '' Tarzan the Mighty'' (1928) * ''

'' (1929)

References

*Essoe, Gabe, ''Tarzan of the Movies'', 1968, Citadel Press *Griffin, Scott Tracy, ''Tarzan on Film'', 2016, Titan Books

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrill, Frank 1893 births 1966 deaths American male silent film actors Male actors from Newark, New Jersey American male film actors 20th-century American male actors