Bruce Bennett
Age: 100 | From: Tacoma, Washington, USA
Person Details
Birthday: 1906-05-19 04:11:00
Death: 2007-02-24 04:11:00
Aliases: Harold Herman Brix , Herman Brix
Gender: Male
Place of birth: Tacoma, Washington, USA
Homepage:
Movie Involvements: 88
TV Involvements: 12
Most Famous Work
Biography
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.
Most Famous Work
Perry Mason
(1957) Reve Watson
The Virginian
(1962) Silas Graham
Lux Video Theatre
(1950) Ben Archer
Cavalcade of America
(1952) Abe Lincoln
Kraft Suspense Theatre
(1963) Gen. Adams
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
(1948) James Cody
Dark Passage
(1947) Bob
Mildred Pierce
(1945) Albert 'Bert' PierceActing
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | James Cody (archive footage) | |
| 1973 | Clone Lab Assistant | |
| 1972 | Johnny Mesquitero | |
| 1970 | Bert Daniels | |
| 1966 | Lt. Frank Corley | |
| 1965 | N/A | |
| 1963 | Gen. Adams | |
| 1962 | Silas Graham | |
| 1961 | Gen. Bridges | |
| Charlie Davis | ||
| 1959 | Dr. Eric Lorimer | |
| Dr. Karl Sorenson | ||
| 1958 | N/A | |
| N/A | ||
| Capt. Jim Hewson | ||
| 1957 | Reve Watson | |
| Lawrence Balfour | ||
| Matt Lambert | ||
| Dan Morgan | ||
| Malone | ||
| N/A | ||
| 1956 | Commissioner Harrison | |
| Maj. Kincaid | ||
| Daniel Boone | ||
| N/A | ||
| Charlie Trenton | ||
| Brand | ||
| Stragg | ||
| 1955 | Gen. Espy | |
| 'Bull' Herrick | ||
| Bob Gilmore | ||
| 1954 | N/A | |
| Dr. Stephen Cottrell | ||
| William Clark Charles Quantrill | ||
| N/A | ||
| 1953 | Seth Ranson | |
| Charlie Elkwood | ||
| 1952 | Abe Lincoln | |
| Steve Kearney | ||
| 1951 | Saul Hellman | |
| Judge Paul Maston | ||
| Col. Jeb Britton | ||
| Cole Younger | ||
| 1950 | Paul Curtis | |
| Dr. Grant | ||
| Ben Archer | ||
| David Glover | ||
| Dr. McAdoo | ||
| 1949 | Reckling | |
| Fred Bandle | ||
| Dr. Alfred Norton | ||
| Matthew J. Keever | ||
| Jim Younger | ||
| 1948 | Henderson | |
| Marty Fain | ||
| Stanley Moore | ||
| James Cody | ||
| 1947 | Bob | |
| Ed Landers | ||
| Dr. Joel Merriam | ||
| 1946 | San Thomas | |
| Jack R. Talbot | ||
| Prison Guard (archive footage) | ||
| 1945 | Dr. Andrew Lang | |
| Albert 'Bert' Pierce | ||
| 1944 | Bob Hamlin | |
| Archie Gibbs | ||
| 1943 | Frank Molloy | |
| "Waco" Hoyt | ||
| Clem Hawkins (uncredited) | ||
| FBI Agent Evans | ||
| Supai George | ||
| 1942 | Lee Graham | |
| Lieutenant John Cronin | ||
| Capt. Morgan | ||
| 1st Office Russell | ||
| Tommy Lydel | ||
| 1941 | Skelly | |
| Reporter | ||
| Bob Conlon | ||
| Federal Agent | ||
| Vulgarian Soldier in General's Office (uncredited) | ||
| Prison Guard / Truck Driver (uncredited) | ||
| 1940 | Paul Sinclair | |
| Scotty | ||
| Frank Garfield | ||
| Football Player #20 (uncredited) | ||
| Cop (uncredited) | ||
| Mordini's former assistant | ||
| Dr. Paul Ames | ||
| Patrick Norris | ||
| Workman with Leaky Lunchpail (uncredited) | ||
| Officer Sullavan | ||
| Detective | ||
| Policeman | ||
| Park Ranger (uncredited) | ||
| McManus | ||
| Hazen - Guard (uncredited) | ||
| Ship's gunnery officer | ||
| Prison Warden | ||
| State Trooper (uncredited) | ||
| Geologist Winthrop | ||
| Bert Rogers | ||
| Ole Margarine | ||
| Jim - King's Chauffeur | ||
| Reporter (uncredited) | ||
| Budge | ||
| 1939 | Rich Man (uncredited) | |
| Lefty | ||
| Mason's Chauffeur (uncredited) | ||
| Tom - King's Chauffeur | ||
| Tiny Dawson | ||
| 1938 | Lincoln Rand Jr / Kioga | |
| Fred Mitchell | ||
| Lieutenant Frank Corby | ||
| Tarzan | ||
| Bert Rogers | ||
| 1937 | Jimmy Baxter | |
| Joe | ||
| Eric Lane - Agent 17 | ||
| Larry Duane | ||
| Hal "Chopper' Donovan, aka Hal Smith | ||
| 1936 | Johnny Kent | |
| Jimmy Shay | ||
| Martin Granville | ||
| Martin Andrews | ||
| Martin Andrews | ||
| 1935 | Tarzan | |
| Tarzan | ||
| 1934 | Hercules | |
| Man on Ticket Line (uncredited) | ||
| Man at Tavern (uncredited) | ||
| Man at Cannes Bar (uncredited) | ||
| 1933 | Train Passenger (uncredited) | |
| Student | ||
| 1932 | Dinner Guest (Uncredited) | |
| Klopstokian Athlete (uncredited) | ||
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
Writing
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Writer | |
| Year | Role | Movie/Tv |