Please Don't Call Me Tarzan [Hardcover]

Mike Chapman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2001

"Please Don't Call Me Tarzan" is the story of the fascinating life of Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett --- from the lumber camps of Washington to the Olympic Games to the Hollywood scene of the 1930s, '40s, '50s and '60s.

The book takes the reader through Herman's exciting life...and to Guatemala, where he struggles not only to become the screen's eighth Tarzan, but to stay alive in primitive conditions.

Herman Brix is considered by many Tarzan fans to be the best film apeman ever, due to the great physical presence and dignity he brought to the role. There are over 90 photos in the book, many of them never seen before by the general public, and behind-the-scenes stories of working with stars like Humphrey Bogart ("Sahara" and "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre").

The book also includes a foreword by Danton Burroughs, the grandson of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs.

This book "enthusiastialy endorses Brix as the ultimate Tarzan, but also details his subsequent -- and important -- film career as well," says Jack Bender, nationally-known artist who draws the syndicated Alley Oop comic strip. "This makes a really good read, and is supplemented by many rarely-seen photos. The beautiful dust jacket is bound to become a collector's item."

Editorial Reviews

Review

Chapman did a magnificent job of compiling the pictorial biography of BRUCE BENNETT, a highly accomplished actor and athlete. --George McWhorter, Curator, Burroughs Memorial Collection, Editor: The Burroughs Bulletin

From the Publisher

This book is a great addition to the library of any fan of film history, or anyone who loves the action-hero genre. Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett was a great Tarzan, and made nearly 120 films. We are proud to publish his story. ---CULTURE HOUSE BOOKS

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 150 pages
• Publisher: Culture House Books; 1 edition (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967608023
• ISBN-13: 978-0967608020
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,771,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood Survivor, August 5, 2001

By 

D. Peter Ogden (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Please Don't Call Me Tarzan (Hardcover)

Please Don't Call Me Tarzan is the story of Bruce Bennett a Hollywood survivor for forty years. He starred in several major Hollywood films, but somehow that elusive goal of super stardom stayed out of his reach. He was a handsome, versatile actor and why he didn't obtain his goal his anyone's guess. This book finds some of the answers. Bruce Bennett was born Herman Brix in Tacoma, Washington in 1906 and we follow his teenage life in the rugged lumber camps of that state, where he developed his work ethic along with a well built physique. To the University of Washington where he excelled in track and football, culminating in the Rose Ball in 1926 and the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam where he won the silver medal in the Shot Put. You will feel his anguish, in the many disappointments that lay in store for him, until he landed his first major film role in The New Adventures of Tarzan. Which in itself was a more grueling experience than any that had gone before, and you will read many of the misadventures of the Tarzan crew. But his performance in this film has become legend, it was heralded as the only time in the sound era when Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan was brought to film exactly as Burroughs created him. He still receives fan mail from this film sixty-five years later. Typecasting was to rear it's ugly head, but he survived the next five years making quickie films for Sam Katzman and serials for Republic, until he reinvented himself as Bruce Bennett and signed a contract with Columbia and later, Warner Brothers. The rest of the story is as engrossing, his friendship with Doug Fairbanks, Harold Lloyd, Humphrey Bogart and others and you will get a look at Hollywood from the Depression to the Golden Age. Included is a filmography of the actor's 113 films and several are covered in detail in the main text. Also of interest is a sample of fan letters from various corners of the world. It is a well written book, illustrated with over 90 stills from Bruce Bennett's personal files. Highly recommended. A must for anyone interested in Bruce Bennett, the history of Hollywood, serials, or Tarzan films.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lacks depth, September 12, 2005

By 

Howard E. Watson "film buff" (Suburban Philly) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Please Don't Call Me Tarzan (Hardcover)

Book contains very little description of Bennett's quality films or analysis of them - concentrating only on the Tarzan films and serials. Much of the bio is written like a fanclub puffery piece - painting Bennett as a superhero. Numerous photos sections, from private holdings, are excellent and worth the price of the book - if not the main reason to do so.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting to know Herman Brix aka Bruce Bennett, September 12, 2001

By 

Beverly Chapman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Please Don't Call Me Tarzan (Hardcover)

Michael Chapman has done a magnificent job of compiling the pictorial biography of BRUCE BENNETT, a highly accomplished actor and athlete, whose life spans nearly a century. We can all learn from such a man, and I salute Mr. Chapman for giving us this chance to explore the life and times of a hitherto unrecognized American superstar.

George McWhorter, Curator, Burroughs Memorial Collection; Editor: BURROUGHS BULLETIN