Elmo Lincoln(1889-1952)
- Actor
He was the first Tarzan. A former Arkansas peace officer, Elmo
Linkenhelt worked in D.W. Griffith's "The Battle of Elderbush Gulch"
(1912). In a fight scene his shirt was partially torn off, displaying
his powerful chest. Griffith noticed, called him over, and told him
"That's quite a chest you have there". Griffith changed the name to
Elmo Lincoln and featured him in several of his films. He got the role in
"Tarzan of the Apes" when, a few days after production began, World War
I broke out an the man originally contracted to play Tarzan (Stellan Windrow), a Naval Reserve officer, was recalled to active duty. The film was a box office smash, one of the first to earn
over a million dollars. It's sequel, "Romance of Tarzan" just broke
even. He did three successful serials and a feature for Universal Film
Manufacturing before returning in "The Adventures of Tarzan" in 1921,
his last Apeman performance. His final silent performance was in a
cheap Rayart serial "King of the Jungle" (1927) after which he moved to
Mexico and invested in mining. He came back to play a number of bit
parts and appeared briefly in the Seal Brothers Circus as "The Original
Tarzan in Person". In 1949 he had a part as a fisherman in "Tarzan's
Magic Fountain". Just before his death he had a bit part in "Carrie"
which starred one of his heroes, Lawrence Olivier.
