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Gordon Scott

Actor

Gordon Scott

Born August 3, 1926 in Portland, Oregon, USADied April 30, 200726 films

Gordon Scott was an American film and television actor known for his portrayal of the fictional character Tarzan in five films (and one compilation of three made-as-a-pilot television episodes) of the Tarzan film series from 1955 to 1960. Gordon Scott was the eleventh Tarzan, starting with Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle. He was "discovered" poolside, and offered "a seven-year contract, a loin cloth, and a new last name."

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"Due in part to his muscular frame and 6-foot-3-inch [1.91-metre] height, he was quickly signed to replace Lex Barker as Tarzan" by producer Sol Lesser. Lesser had Gordon change his name because "Werschkul" sounded too much like "Weismueller".

Scott's Tarzan movies ranged from rather cheap re-edited television pilots to large-scale action films with high-production values shot on location in Africa. In his early Tarzan films, he played the character as unworldly and inarticulate, in the mold of Johnny Weissmuller, an earlier Tarzan portrayer. In Scott's later films, after a change in producers, he played a Tarzan who was educated and spoke perfect English, as in the original Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. Scott was the only actor to play Tarzan in both styles.

Fearing he would become typecast as Tarzan, Scott moved to Italy and became a popular star in epics of the péplum genre (known in the United States as sword-and-sandal), featuring handsome bodybuilders as various characters from Greek and Roman myth. Scott was a friend of Steve Reeves, and collaborated with him as Remus to Reeves's Romulus in Duel of the Titans. Scott also played Hercules in a couple of international co-productions during the mid-1960s. As the péplum genre faded, Scott starred in spaghetti westerns and Eurospy films. His final film appearance was in The Tramplers (filmed in 1966; released in the United States in 1968).

Filmography

26 films as actor
  1. 1967Top SecretJohn Sutton
  2. 1967Danger!! Death RayBart Fargo
  3. 1965The TramplersLon Cordeen
  4. 1965Hercules and the Princess of TroyHercules
  5. 1965L'Attaque de Fort Adams (Une aventure de Buffalo Bill)Buffalo Bill
  6. 1964Buffalo Bill, Hero of the Far WestBuffalo Bill
  7. 1964Thunder of BattleCoriolanus
  8. 1964Hero of RomeMucius
  9. 1963The Lion of St. MarkManrico Venier
  10. 1963The Tyrant of Lydia Against the Son of HerculesGoliath / Gordian
  11. 1963The Beast of Babylon Against the Son of HerculesNippur
  12. 1963The Conquest of MycenaeGlauco / Hercules
  13. 1963Zorro and the Three MusketeersZorro
  14. 1963The Shortest DaySoldato (uncredited)
  15. 1962A Queen for CaesarJulius Caesar
  16. 1962Gladiator of RomeMarcus
  17. 1962Kerim, Son of the SheikKerim
  18. 1961Romulus and RemusRemus
  19. 1961Samson and the 7 Miracles of the WorldMaciste / Samson
  20. 1961Goliath and the VampiresMaciste (Goliath)
  21. 1960Tarzan the MagnificentTarzan
  22. 1960Tarzan and the TrappersTarzan
  23. 1959Tarzan's Greatest AdventureTarzan
  24. 1958Tarzan's Fight for LifeTarzan
  25. 1957Tarzan and the Lost SafariTarzan
  26. 1955Tarzan's Hidden JungleTarzan