Glenn Edgar Morris (June 18, 1912 – January 31, 1974) was a

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

. He won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the Olympic

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

, setting new world and Olympic records. He attended Colorado A&M — now known as

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

— and played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

as well as

. He was also an occasional actor, he portrayed

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 ...

in ''

Tarzan's Revenge ''Tarzan's Revenge'' is a 1938 American adventure film starring Glenn Morris in his only outing as Tarzan. Eleanor Holm, a popular swimming star, co-starred as Eleanor Reed. The film was produced by Sol Lesser, written by Robert Lee Johnson and ...

''.

Biography

Born on his family's homestead farm near

Simla, Colorado Simla is a statutory town in Elbert County, Colorado, United States. It is northeast of Colorado Springs. The population was 601 at the time of the 2020 United States census. History Simla was founded in 1909 by a man with the name of Altman ...

, Morris was the second of seven children. A natural athlete whose record in the hurdles stood for forty years at his high school, Morris entered Colorado Agricultural College (now

) at

Fort Collins A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

in 1930, and became a star athlete, excelling in several sports and being named

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n in track and field. Working as an assistant coach and automobile salesman after graduation in 1934 (with degrees in economics and sociology),''Do You Know About—Former Athlete Glenn Morris'', Colorado State University Athletics News, February 4, 2009 Morris began training as a decathlon athlete in hopes of competing in the 1936 Olympics. In the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in

, Morris scored a new world record of 7,880 points, earning him

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

's sobriquet "the nation's new Iron Man." Morris broke his own world record, and the Olympic record, in the Berlin games, with a decathlon score of 7,900 points. It was said that

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

never left his seat while Morris was competing, and that the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

thereafter offered Morris $50,000 to stay in Germany and appear in sports films, an offer Morris refused. German

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

and

documentarian A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill N ...

Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, Film producer, producer, screenwriter, Film editing, editor, photographer, and actress. She is considered one of the most controversial ...

claimed in her memoirs that during and after the 1936 Olympics, she had an affair with Morris, which she ended because of a very disparaging report about him that was given to her by a

graphologist Graphology is the analysis of handwriting in an attempt to determine the writer's personality traits. Its methods and conclusions are not supported by scientific evidence, and as such it is considered to be a pseudoscience. Graphology has been ...

. Riefenstahl also claimed that the affair began when, after winning the

, he tore off her blouse and kissed her breasts, in front of the audience of 100,000 people. In reality, Morris merely received his medal and laurel from Hitler's mistress

Eva Braun Eva Anna Paula Hitler (; 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich in 1929 (aged 17) when she was an assistant and model ...

in an otherwise standard ceremony.Chapman, Mike (2003) ''The Gold and the Glory: The Amazing True Story of Glenn Morris, Olympic Champion and Movie Tarzan''. Culture House Books Part two of Riefenstahl's film '' Olympia'' included a segment documenting Morris's decathlon triumph. Morris' success at the 1936 Olympics resulted in a brief flurry of fame, including a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

ticker-tape parade and a statewide Colorado celebration. He received the 1936 James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States, and he had a short stint as an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

radio commentator.Doria, Richard Paul Jr. (1980) ''A Brief History of the American Olympic Decathlon Gold Medalists—Traits and Characteristics: 1912–1976'', Western Illinois University. In November 1937,

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

released the ten-minute short film ''Decathlon Champion: The Story of Glenn Morris'', depicting how he trained for and won the decathlon event. Morris portrayed himself in the film, before becoming the fourth Olympic athlete to play

. He appeared in only one Tarzan film, ''

'' (1938), an inexpensive independent film produced by

Sol Lesser Sol Lesser (February 17, 1890 – September 19, 1980) was an American film producer. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1961. Biography In 1913, while living in San ...

and released by

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

. Reviews for the film cited both the silliness of the production and the exaggerated acting of the theatrically untrained Morris (though Variety called him "a highly acceptable Tarzan"). After only one minor additional film role, in the 1938 comedy '' Hold That Co-Ed'', Morris left the movie business forever. Morris played four games with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) in

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

before injury curtailed this new career, then worked as an insurance agent. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served as an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

and was stationed in

the Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, commanding amphibious-assault

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...

. Reportedly wounded, Morris was treated for psychological-trauma issues and spent several months in a naval hospital.

Later life

Following his release from duty, Morris worked for a dozen years in construction and as a steel rigger for the

Atomic Energy Commission Many countries have or have had an Atomic Energy Commission. These include: * National Atomic Energy Commission, Argentina (1950–present) * Australian Atomic Energy Commission (1952–1987) * Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (1973–present) * ...

. Subsequently, he may have worked off and on as a parking lot attendant, and he was rumored to have been an alcoholic. He lived out his last years mostly in

Menlo Park, California Menlo Park ( ) is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, California, Eas ...

, and as a patient in veterans hospitals. Too ill to attend his induction into the

Colorado Sports Hall of Fame The Colorado Sports Hall of Fame (CSHoF) is a hall of fame and museum that honors—by public acknowledgment or commemoration—individuals who merit recognition and distinction for their exploits, accomplishments, and leadership in sports ...

in 1967, where he was proclaimed "the world's greatest athlete," Morris nevertheless donated his Olympic gold medal to the Hall. The medal was subsequently given, along with Morris's other memorabilia, to Simla High School, which gives an annual Glenn Morris Award for athletic and academic excellence; the school, in turn, donated the medal in April 2011 to Colorado State University, the successor to Morris' college alma mater, where it is displayed in the Iris and Michael Smith Alumni Building. At age 61 in 1974, Morris died of congestive heart failure "and other complications" at the veterans' hospital in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, and was buried in Skylawn Memorial Park in nearby San Mateo.Douglas County (Colorado) News-Register, February 3, 1974 He was married from 1937 to 1940 to Charlotte Edwards, whom he had met in college.

Books

* In 2003, author Mike Chapman wrote “The Gold and The Glory: The Amazing True Story of Glenn Morris, Olympic Champion and Movie Tarzan”. The foreword was written by Bob Mathias, Olympic decathlon champion in 1948 and 1952, and the book has over 120 photos, ranging from Morris's high school days up through college, the Olympics, Hollywood, and his service as a Naval officer in

. * A 2013 novel ''Olympic Affair'' was published by Terry Frei in which he depicts the life of Morris, and Frei imagines what the affair with

was like.

References

Bibliography

* Riefenstahl, Leni (1995), ''Leni Riefenstahl'', Picador

External links

Glenn Morris
at the

Colorado Encyclopedia All except one (New York) are free and deal with a state of the United States. See also

* List of online encyclopedias {{Lists of encyclopedias American online encyclopedias, Encyclopedias of U.S. states, American encyclopedias, Li ...

Glenn Morris
at the

Athletics Hall of Fame * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Glenn 1912 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male decathletes American male film actors Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Colorado State Rams football players Colorado State Rams men's track and field athletes Detroit Lions players James E. Sullivan Award recipients Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Military personnel from California Military personnel from Colorado Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field People from Elbert County, Colorado People from Menlo Park, California Players of American football from San Mateo County, California Track and field athletes from California United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American sportsmen