Bruce Bennett
Known for Acting · 137 credits
- Born
- 1906-05-19
- Died
- 2007-02-24
- Place of birth
- Tacoma, Washington, USA
- Also known as
- Harold Herman Brix · Herman Brix
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.
Known For
TV Shows (15)
Perry Mason
1957
as Lawrence Balfour / Dan Morgan / Matt Lambert / Malone / Reve Watson
Lassie
1954
The Virginian
1962
as Silas Graham
77 Sunset Strip
1958
Kraft Suspense Theatre
1963
as Gen. Adams
The Texan
1958
Branded
1965
Cavalcade of America
1952
as Abe Lincoln
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Dr. Grant / Ben Archer
Letter to Loretta
1953
as Seth Ranson
Panic!
1957
Stories of the Century
1954
as William Clark Charles Quantrill
West Point
1956
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
as Judge Paul Maston
Damon Runyon Theater
1955
as Professor Woodhead
Movies (122)
Sahara
1943
as Waco Hoyt
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
1948
as James Cody
Mildred Pierce
1945
as Albert 'Bert' Pierce
Angels in the Outfield
1951
as Saul Hellman
Dark Passage
1947
as Bob
The Outsider
1961
as Gen. Bridges
Deadhead Miles
1972
as Johnny Mesquitero
Love Me Tender
1956
as Maj. Kincaid
Sabotage Squad
1942
as Lieutenant John Cronin
Treasure Island
1934
as Man at Tavern (uncredited)
Sudden Fear
1952
as Steve Kearney
The Alligator People
1959
as Dr. Eric Lorimer
Mystery Street
1950
as Dr. McAdoo
Strategic Air Command
1955
as Gen. Espy
The More the Merrier
1943
as FBI Agent Evans
Three Violent People
1956
as Commissioner Harrison
Silver River
1948
as Stanley Moore
Hidden Guns
1956
as Stragg
Three Girls About Town
1941
as Reporter
The Man with Nine Lives
1940
as State Trooper (uncredited)
A Stolen Life
1946
as Jack R. Talbot
Student Tour
1934
as Hercules
Nora Prentiss
1947
as Dr. Joel Merriam
Honolulu Lu
1941
as Skelly
There's Something About a Soldier
1943
as Frank Molloy
Cheyenne
1947
as Ed Landers
Without Honor
1949
as Fred Bandle
Movie Crazy
1932
as Dinner Guest (Uncredited)
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
1942
as Tommy Lydel
Shakedown
1950
as David Glover
Dream Wife
1953
as Charlie Elkwood
Daredevils of the Red Circle
1939
as Tiny Dawson
Flying Fists
1937
as Hal "Chopper' Donovan, aka Hal Smith
Invisible Stripes
1939
as Rich Man (uncredited)
The Man I Love
1946
as San Thomas
Hi-Yo Silver
1940
as Bert Rogers
The Last Outpost
1951
as Col. Jeb Britton
The Big Tip Off
1955
as Bob Gilmore
Robbers' Roost
1955
as 'Bull' Herrick
The New Adventures of Tarzan
1935
as Tarzan
Riptide
1934
as Man at Cannes Bar (uncredited)
Dragonfly Squadron
1954
as Dr. Stephen Cottrell
Island of Doomed Men
1940
as Hazen - Guard (uncredited)
Convicted Woman
1940
as Reporter (uncredited)
The Cosmic Man
1959
as Dr. Karl Sorenson
Atlantic Convoy
1942
as Capt. Morgan
College Humor
1933
as Student
The Clones
1973
as Clone Lab Assistant
Tarzan: Lord of the Movies
2017
as Tarzan (Archive Footage)
The Bottom of the Bottle
1956
as Brand
The Lone Ranger
1938
as Bert Rogers
Girls of the Road
1940
as Officer Sullavan
Tarzan and the Green Goddess
1938
as Tarzan
Cafe Hostess
1940
as Budge
Five Little Peppers And How They Grew
1939
as Tom - King's Chauffeur
Before I Hang
1940
as Dr. Paul Ames
Danger Signal
1945
as Dr. Andrew Lang
The Second Face
1950
as Paul Curtis
To the Victor
1948
as Henderson
Blondie Brings Up Baby
1939
as Mason's Chauffeur (uncredited)
A Million to One
1936
as Johnny Kent
The Doctor and the Girl
1949
as Dr. Alfred Norton
Two Minutes to Play
1936
as Martin Granville
How High Is Up?
1940
as Workman with Leaky Lunchpail (uncredited)
Underground Agent
1942
as Lee Graham
Five Little Peppers at Home
1940
as Jim - King's Chauffeur
The Younger Brothers
1949
as Jim Younger
Million Dollar Legs
1932
as Klopstokian Athlete (uncredited)
Discovering Treasure: The Story of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'
2003
as James Cody (archive footage)
Babies for Sale
1940
as Policeman
Death on the Diamond
1934
as Man on Ticket Line (uncredited)
Sky Racket
1937
as Eric Lane - Agent 17
The Phantom Submarine
1940
as Paul Sinclair
The Fighting Devil Dogs
1938
as Lieutenant Frank Corby
Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer
1956
as Daniel Boone
Amateur Crook
1937
as Jimmy Baxter
The Great Missouri Raid
1951
as Cole Younger
Submarine Raider
1942
as 1st Office Russell
The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date
1940
as Scotty
Silks and Saddles
1936
as Jimmy Shay
Boobs in the Woods
1940
as Park Ranger (uncredited)
Million Dollar Racket
1937
as Larry Duane
Blazing Six Shooters
1940
as Geologist Winthrop
The Secret Seven
1940
as Patrick Norris
Meet the Baron
1933
as Train Passenger (uncredited)
West of Abilene
1940
as Frank Garfield
The New Adventures of Tarzan
1935
as Tarzan
The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady
1940
as McManus
The House Across the Street
1949
as Matthew J. Keever
Tarzan at the Movies, Part 2: The Many Faces of Tarzan
1996
as Tarzan (archive footage)
Undertow
1949
as Reckling
Hawk of the Wilderness
1938
as Lincoln Rand Jr / Kioga
Escape to Glory
1940
as Ship's gunnery officer
I'm from Arkansas
1944
as Bob Hamlin
Danger Patrol
1937
as Joe
Fiend of Dope Island
1960
as Charlie Davis
The Three Outlaws
1956
as Charlie Trenton
Two Latins from Manhattan
1941
as Federal Agent
My Son Is Guilty
1939
as Lefty
The Taming of the Snood
1940
as Detective
Flaming Frontier
1958
as Capt. Jim Hewson
The Man from Tumbleweeds
1940
as Prison Warden
Lassie: Well of Love
1970
as Bert Daniels
Laat de dokter maar schuiven
1980
as John
The Spook Speaks
1940
as Mordini's former assistant
Dutiful But Dumb
1941
as Vulgarian Soldier in General's Office (uncredited)
Smart Girls Don't Talk
1948
as Marty Fain
The Heckler
1940
as Ole Margarine
The Officer and the Lady
1941
as Bob Conlon
Shadow of Chinatown
1936
as Martin Andrews
With This Ring
1954
as Frederick C. Miller
Land of Fighting Men
1938
as Fred Mitchell
Glamour for Sale
1940
as Cop (uncredited)
Frontier Fury
1943
as Clem Hawkins (uncredited)
No Census, No Feeling
1940
as Football Player #20 (uncredited)
U-Boat Prisoner
1944
as Archie Gibbs
So Long Mr. Chumps
1941
as Prison Guard / Truck Driver (uncredited)
Torpedo of Doom
1966
as Lt. Frank Corley
Murder in Times Square
1943
as Supai George
Ain't No Time for Glory
1957
as Lt. Col. Steven Granville
About Bruce Bennett
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 a… With 137 credits spanning from 1932 to 2017, Bruce Bennett has appeared in 122 films and 15 TV shows.
Fans searching for Bruce Bennett movies, Bruce Bennett filmography, or the latest projects starring Bruce Bennett can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Bruce Bennett Movies
- Sahara (1943) — as Waco Hoyt
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) — as James Cody
- Mildred Pierce (1945) — as Albert 'Bert' Pierce
- Angels in the Outfield (1951) — as Saul Hellman
- Dark Passage (1947) — as Bob
Where to Watch Bruce Bennett Films
Most Bruce Bennett movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Bruce Bennett, check our movies catalogue and browse page.