Since I was a teenager, I've been a fan of Tarzan in comic books and Edgar Rice-Burroughs novels. I remember watching Ron Ely on television in the 1970s. But I recently discovered who preceded Ely. An actor named Mike Henry came before and he more closely resembled the character of Tarzan with his jet-black hair and rippling muscles, and he's incredibly handsome. I learned he made three Tarzan movies shown in theaters and they are all on DVD now. So, in today's blog, you'll learn about Mike Henry (who passed in 2021). In tomorrow's Blog you'll read about one of the films we just enjoyed called "Tarzan and the Great River."
WHO IS MIKE HENRY? Michael Dennis Henry was born August 15th, 1936. He was an athletic professional football player at the time he entered the movies. He played for the Pittsburgh Steelers (1958-61) and the Los Angeles Rams (1962-64). During part of that time (1961-64) he was under contract with Warner Brothers and played a variety of bit parts (TV's Surfside 6 (1960), Hawaiian Eye (1959), Cheyenne (1955) & the movie, Spencer's Mountain (1963)).
HOW DID HE BECOME TARZAN? He earned the role of Tarzan when series producer, Sy Weintraub began looking for a "younger Burt Lancaster" type, anticipating not only more Tarzan movies but a TV series as well. Weintraub was a Rams fan and had seen a TV documentary about them called Men from the Boys, produced by and featuring Mike Henry. Mike only made three Tarzan movies.
WHAT DID HE DEAL WITH MAKING TARZAN FILMS? He suffered animal bites, food poisoning, infections, and impossible work schedules in Mexico and especially Brazil. During his short tenure as Tarzan, Mike was bitten in the face by a chimp and had to have his chin sewn up with twenty stitches. Just before his second Tarzan release in 1967 he was signed as Sgt. Kowalski in John Wayne's The Green Berets (1968).
(Photo: Mike Henry as Tarzan, 1967 in Tarzan and the Great River. Cr: Paramount Pictures).
TURNED DOWN THE TARZAN TV SERIES: After completing his third Tarzan film, Mike Henry turned down the TV series and sued the producer for maltreatment, abuse, and working conditions detrimental to his health and welfare. Ron Ely starred in the subsequent series.
OTHER THINGS HE'S KNOWN FOR: Mike started acting in 1957, and his last known project was in 1988 in television's "The New Gidget." In addition to 3 Tarzan movies, he appeared in well-known films like Smokey and the Bandit 1, 2 and 3, Outrageous Fortune, and the Longest Yard. He also appeared in many hit television shows like "The Bob Newhart Show," "The New Dick Van Dyke Show," "Ozzie and Harriet," "General Hospital," "Daniel Boone," "Fantasy Island," "M*A*S*H" and many others.
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