Quantcast
Home manage Las Vegas Review-Journal
  Jobs Cars Homes Shopping Travel Weddings Golf Best of Las Vegas Photo   Search:

RECENT EDITIONS
Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri

sponsored by
News


1950s-era Tarzan Gordon Scott dies at age 80

He was lifeguard at Sahara when he was discovered

BALTIMORE -- Gordon Scott, a handsome, muscular actor who portrayed an "intelligent and nice" Tarzan in 1950s movies after being discovered in Las Vegas, has died. He was 80.

Scott, who was living in a working-class section of south Baltimore, died Monday at Johns Hopkins Hospital of post-heart surgery complications, a hospital spokesman said.


Most Popular Stories
  • NORM: Terry Fator, wife ending marriage
  • NORM: Blaze breaks out during magic act
  • NORM: Jackson worked on album at Palms
  • Ex-Ensign aide details wife's affair
  • NORM: Jacksons set up LV memorial area
  • SENATOR'S AFFAIR: Hamptons given $96,000 in gifts
  • LV area residential real estate sales reach record in June
  • Ensign wrote lover a letter, saying their affair was a 'sin'
  • Coroner says sexual assault suspect killed by police was shot in back
  • Official: Fatal gunshot in back




  • Scott made 24 movies, including "Tarzan and the Lost Safari" (1957), "Tarzan's Fight for Life" (1958), "Tarzan and the Trappers" (1958), "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" (1959) and "Tarzan the Magnificent" (1960).

    The cast in the 1959 movie included Sean Connery and Anthony Quayle.

    Tarzan, the vine-swinging hero of the jungle, was created by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. Scott was among a long line of actors, including Johnny Weissmuller, Elmo Lincoln and Larry "Buster" Crabbe, who portrayed him.

    "He was an absolutely wonderful Tarzan who played the character as an intelligent and nice man who carried himself well, much as my grandfather had originally written it," Danton Burroughs told The (Baltimore) Sun.

    Scott was a lifeguard at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas when he was discovered by Hollywood producer Sol Lesser, said Scott's brother Rayfield Werschkull of Portland, Ore.

    He was signed to a seven-year contract after he outperformed 200 other international candidates.

    During the 1954 production of his first film, "Tarzan's Hidden Jungle," he fell in love with co-star Vera Miles. The couple married that year and divorced four years later.

    After the Tarzan movies, Scott appeared in Westerns and gladiator films.

    He spent his later years in Baltimore, in the row house of Roger and Betty Thomas, who had befriended him.

    "My husband has been a fan of his since he was a child. When we were in Hollywood about eight years ago, we looked him up," said Betty Thomas. "We invited him for a visit. He came and never left."

    Thomas said she last saw Scott in the hospital Saturday. She said she told him, "'Gordon, we love you, and so does the dog and the bird.' He opened one eye for a moment and gave me a wink."

    Although some sources said Scott was born in August 1927, his brother told The Sun he was born a year earlier.

    Newsvine Digg Fark Technorati reddit StumbleUpon del.icio.us Slashdot Propeller Mixx Furl Twitter MySpace Facebook Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Bookmarks Windows Live Favorites Ask MyStuff myAOL Favorites

    Leave Your Comment 0 Reader Comments
    Terms & Conditions
    The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor.

    Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
    Current Word Count:

    Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.