Johnny Weissmuller

Here's a guy who genuinely did it twice — and not in some modest, journeyman way. Johnny Weissmuller was the fastest swimmer on the planet in the 1920s, five Olympic gold medals and dozens of world records, a body built like a mythological figure. Then Hollywood looked at him and basically said, well obviously, and handed him the loincloth. His Tarzan across twelve films from 1932 onward wasn't just a role — it was a cultural fixture, that yell instantly recognizable to anyone alive in the 20th century. Born in Romania, raised in Chicago, he became the all-American jungle hero. That combination of genuine athletic greatness and effortless screen charisma is almost absurdly rare, and Weissmuller wore it without apparent effort. A legend in two completely different fields. You don't get that twice in one lifetime.

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Name (English)

Johnny Weissmuller

Name (Japanese)

ジョニー・ワイズミュラー

Reading

じょにー・わいずみゅらー

Born

June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Dragon

Origin

Freidorf, Kingdom of Romania

Height

191 cm

Occupation

film actor / swimmer / actor / water polo player / television actor

High school

Lane Technical College Prep High School

University

Lane Technical College Prep High School

Awards & achievements

• honorary citizen of Timișoara
• International Swimming Hall of Fame
• star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

• Official sitehttps://johnnyweissmuller.com
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny%20Weissmuller
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%8B%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%83%AF%E3%82%A4%E3%82%BA%E3%83%9F%E3%83%A5%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q151284

Tags

• film actor
• swimmer
• actor

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.