Elmo Lincoln was the first adult screen Tarzan, in the 1918 film Tarzan of the Apes. Since then, the character has been played by actors in silent films, serials, theatrical features and television, as well as voiced in animation. This guide follows major screen portrayals, distinguishing adult leads from younger Tarzan roles and voice performances; it is not a complete worldwide cast list.
Silent films and early serials
The earliest screen portrayals came during the silent era, when Tarzan appeared in both feature films and serials. In the 1918 Tarzan of the Apes, Elmo Lincoln played the adult Tarzan, while Gordon Griffith portrayed him as a boy. Those are separate roles in the same film, not competing claims about who played the character first. The American Film Institute (AFI) catalog identifies Lincoln and Enid Markey in the 1918 picture.
- Elmo Lincoln: adult Tarzan in Tarzan of the Apes (1918).
- Gordon Griffith: the younger Tarzan in the same film.
- P. Dempsey Tabler: Tarzan in the 1920 serial The Son of Tarzan.
- Gene Pollar: Tarzan in The Revenge of Tarzan (1920).
- James Pierce: Tarzan in Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927).
- Frank Merrill: Tarzan in late-1920s serials.
These credits span different productions and formats, so a list of “Tarzan actors” can vary depending on whether it includes serials and younger portrayals as well as feature-film leads.
Sound-era serials and Johnny Weissmuller’s MGM films
Two early sound serials
Buster Crabbe starred in the independent 1933 serial Tarzan the Fearless. Herman Brix, later known as Bruce Bennett, played Tarzan in the 1935 serial The New Adventures of Tarzan, a production associated with author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The story presented Tarzan as more educated than the character in some earlier screen versions. These serials were separate from MGM’s feature-film cycle.
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Johnny Weissmuller, 1932–1948
Johnny Weissmuller began the best-known studio-era run in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), the first film in MGM’s Tarzan series, according to AFI. He remained the defining performer of that cycle through Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948). The films made his screen interpretation especially familiar, though later productions would take the character in different directions.
After Weissmuller: theatrical Tarzans
Several actors succeeded Weissmuller in theatrical films. Their credits belong to successive productions rather than a single continuous studio series.
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| Actor | Screen Tarzan credits |
|---|---|
| Lex Barker | Began with Tarzan’s Magic Fountain (1949); starred in a run of films through 1953. |
| Gordon Scott | Made his feature debut as Tarzan in Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955), followed by later color films. |
| Jock Mahoney | Tarzan Goes to India (1962) and Tarzan’s Three Challenges (1963). |
| Mike Henry | Starred in 1960s theatrical films, including Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966). |
The broad contrast is between the Weissmuller-era jungle hero and later versions that more often depicted Tarzan as an educated adventurer. The character’s portrayal depends on the particular film and production, rather than following one unchanging screen template.
Tarzan on television
Television added performers whose credits are distinct from the theatrical film cycles.
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- Gordon Scott: filmed three episodes for a proposed 1958 series that did not sell. A re-edited version of its pilot was later released theatrically and eventually aired.
- Ron Ely: led NBC’s live-action Tarzan series from 1966 to 1968. The Associated Press obituary provides a dated account of Ely’s role and death: AP News.
- Wolf Larson: starred in the syndicated series Tarzán (1991–94).
- Joe Lara: starred in the 1989 television film Tarzan in Manhattan and the 1996 series Tarzan: The Epic Adventures.
The proposed Scott series is easy to overlook if a list counts only shows that aired as regular series. It belongs in the history of television portrayals, but it is not equivalent to Ely’s broadcast run.
Later theatrical films
Later feature adaptations brought new actors to the role, including Miles O’Keeffe in Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981) and Christopher Lambert in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984). The screen history continued with Tarzan and the Lost City (1998) and The Legend of Tarzan (2016). The available cited records here do not establish a detailed performer roster for those latter titles, so they are included as adaptations rather than assigned an unverified cast list.
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Animated Tarzan: voice performers
Animation adds another category: actors who perform Tarzan vocally, rather than appearing as the live-action character.
- Tony Goldwyn voiced Tarzan in Disney’s 1999 animated feature.
- Robert Ridgely and Danton Burroughs voiced Tarzan in Filmation’s Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle and related animated programs.
Keeping voice roles separate from screen appearances makes the answer to “Who played Tarzan?” clearer: the performer may have embodied the character on camera, portrayed him as a child, or supplied his animated voice.
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Why lists of Tarzan actors differ
Different counts can be accurate under different definitions. One list may focus on adult leads in theatrical features; another may include serials, television pilots, younger portrayals or animation. The productions also came from different eras and companies, not from one uninterrupted franchise.
- Medium: silent serial, sound serial, theatrical feature, live-action series, animated film or animated series.
- Performance type: adult lead, younger Tarzan or voice actor.
- Production period: silent-era films, the MGM cycle and later independent or television adaptations.
- Characterization: the portrayal ranges from the jungle hero associated with Weissmuller’s films to later versions of an educated adventurer.
AFI’s catalog is useful for checking specific film credits, while broad filmography and overview pages can help locate less familiar adaptations. No single roster cited here establishes every international screen production, much less radio, stage or fan productions.
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