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Average customer rating:
- A great tribute by a son about his famous father.
- Tarza, My Father
- Cheetah could've written a better story
- A must get for all Johnny Weissmuller fans
- MGM -You made a Big Mistake !
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Tarzan, My Father
Jr., Johnny Weissmuller , William Reed , and W. Craig Reed
Manufacturer: Ecw Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Similar Items:
- The Tarzan Collection Starring Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan the Ape Man / Escapes / and His Mate / Finds a Son / Secret Treasure / New York Adventure)
- The Tarzan Collection Starring Johnny Weissmuller, Vol. 2 (Tarzan Triumphs / Tarzan's Desert Mystery / Tarzan and the Amazons / and the Leopard Woman / and the Huntress / and the Mermaids)
- I Was That Masked Man
- Please Don't Call Me Tarzan
- Kings of the Jungle: An Illustrated Reference to Tarzan on Screen and Television
ASIN: 1550225227 |
Book Description
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.
Customer Reviews:
A great tribute by a son about his famous father........2007-01-28
In the thirties and forties there was something big film wise to look forward to nearly every year, bigger than the anticipation of the next Star Wars, Bond or Potter film. It was Tarzan and most of those years there was only one Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller. To many today he is still the only Tarzan.
Tarzan fans in our generation actually embraced a parallel universe in the jungle man's world. There was the long time favorite given us by author Edgar Rice Burroughs, an articulate educated Lord Greystoke who could stow away his tux, put on a loin cloth to lead Tantor and his herd of elephants. Then there was the bigger than life Johnny Weissmuller on the screen who portrayed a Tarzan of few words, gave a battle cry that is more familiar today than most any other sound byte and whose biggest vocabulary word was "Umgawa!" Whether we were first introduced to the book Tarzan or film Tarzan, we could love both. Weissmuller himself was familiar with the concern Burroughs had about the portrayal that first MGM and then RKO required and wished also that he could have a bigger speaking role. However, the money was good and he couldn't object too much. When Burroughs himself made Tarzan films and hand picked Bill Brix with his well spoken vocabulary the films bombed.
In "Tarzan My Father" the author Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. gives a portrayal unlike others in the past. It is not an apology or a "daddy dearest". Johnny Jr. loved his father and admits there were both good and bad things that can be related. However, even in the bad, Johnny Weissmuller is more the innocent taken in by business managers, partying big name friends and two of his five wives, especially the last one who did all she could to trash his name and memorial while making money off of interviews. There is also a rebuttal against Esther Williams's recent book with interviews that reveal she has lied about Johnny Weissmuller as she did other legendary Hollywood heroes.
Johnny Jr. covers the myths behind the legend and uses documentation when needed. When stories conflict he gives both sides as would a true historian. I found myself looking at older books I have on the father and find that in general the son has been forthright in his handling of events. There is also detailed information about his father's sports career which makes him also legendary in that world as well. I had an opportunity to meet Johnny Weismuller briefly in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia and the man I saw was the man described by his son. It was a moment I will always remember. He was both generous and kind.
The book covers the father's friends and cronies, people like Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Red Skelton and others who are icons today. In his own case the author knew well Robert Mitchum, Ricky Nelson, Burt Reynolds and Elvis. There are great pictures in the book that will delight any and all film fans.
Yes, the book is very personal and unlike some, the author does it not to exploit his name but to give honor to one of the great film heroes of the 20th century. The book itself is endorsed by Danton Burroughs, secretary of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. This is a tribute and it shows us a man bigger than life who greatly influenced more than one generation.
Johnny Weissmuller had what some might call a simplistic philosophy that his son paraphrases as "A man should stand where God places him-jungle trails or Hollywood streets-and fight for those things he believes."
Tarza, My Father.......2006-06-25
Excellent book, told me more about the man than i ever knew. my own father is a johnny fan of his era, a swimmer too. I grew up to know the legend of what he was. After reading the book he is more of a man then i could of imagined. What a great read.
Cheetah could've written a better story.......2006-05-23
I have gone about 1/3 of the way through this book and have been very disappointed. The events are told unevenly and there is little insight to this potentially great story or stories behind the man. I thought I would get greater insight from his son but so far very little is revealed. The writing is very choppy and I am surprised that the professional writers helping JR couldn't write more fluently. It is like they took all the notes and forgot how to put them into words. the book is extremely short and is more like a magazine article. There seemed to be so much waiting to be told. Amazon should send half my money back because all I got was half a story.
A must get for all Johnny Weissmuller fans.......2006-02-23
It was a very fascinating read and gave a great insight to the life of Johnny Weissmuller and how the studios treated stars then.
I would recommend it to anybody that liked the Tarzan movies.
A Great Read
MGM -You made a Big Mistake !.......2004-06-29
My daughter gave me a copy of this book for Father's Day this year along with the last MGM Tarzan movie that I was missing " Tarzan Escapes". This book is loaded with all kinds of good stuff written by Weissmullers son, Johnny Jr..It has some great pictures in it too. For Folks like myself who grew up watching (or just wanting to watch) Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan and knowing that nothing either before or after his movies was worth it's weight in Dog Dung then you also will really enjoy this book! My kids were raised hearing phrases like "That used to be a full grown man" or "Ma-ha-wani Sleep,Ma-ha-wani Sleep" or better yet "That was a close one, we almost lost the rifles". Yes there was only one REAL Tarzan and folks from my generation know that his name was Johnny Weissmuller. Boy did MGM screw up when they stopped making Tarzan Movies and let Johnny go to RKO, If only they knew how big his movies would become in the future! When Tarzan answered Jane as he was feeding a bottle to Boy and said "Him no choke",I'm certain MGM did a lot of choking in years to come. It was kind-a like SUN RECORDS selling Elvis Presly's contract to RCA for 50 grand a real no-brainer. This book tells the whole Hollywood story and how so many stars of that day really turned Hollywood into "SIN CITY" but Johnny was one of very few who kept to clean living and avoided all the garbage! This book is a real good deal! "ENJOY"
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