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Johnny Weissmüller
Article from the 1983
Volkskalender
Neue Banater Zeitung
by Ludwig Klein
Newspaper article - by Ludwig Klein
Neue Banater Zeitung*, 1983, pp. 46-48
English translation by
Hyde Flippo
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TARZAN COMES FROM FREIDORF
Johnny Weissmuller -- son of a brickworks employee**
Four brothers came from Warjasch
by Ludwig Klein
[photo - See all photo captions at the end of the text.]
Johnny Weissmüller, the athlete who stands 1.95 meters tall, brought
home five swimming gold medals with the U.S. Olympic team in 1924
and 1928. Over the course of his career he broke 67 world records
and won 52 U.S. championships. Beginning in 1932 the giant swung his
way to fame as the "ape man." His famous yell -- a mixture of five
different tape recordings, by the way -- went around the world.
Tarzan-Johnny swung from branch to branch in a total of 19 films. In
every film he dived headfirst into raging waters and -- with the
help of his animal friends -- saved the good guys. "I never had a
double," he used to say proudly. In 1950 he appeared in a slightly
modified TV series as "Jungle Jim." But the show was not that well
received. Johnny withdrew from show business. The money he had
earned during his glory days ran through his fingers like water. His
five divorces cost him vast sums of money. The former star was going
downhill. His last job was as a greeter at Caesar's Palace Hotel in
Las Vegas. He fell ill and was then forgotten.
It wasn't until the late 1970s that he again made headlines with the
news that he was being admitted to a Los Angeles nursing home -- an
event that corresponded with his 75th birthday. But soon came the
news that the jungle man was being kicked out of the hospital
because he often went down the halls at night in a state of mental
confusion, yelling out his distinctive jungle cry. That's when his
wife Maria moved to Mexico, to Acapulco, with her seriously ill
husband. (Physician Dr. Ricardo Figueroa: "Anyone else would have
never survived all these strokes, but his
heart is strong.") There, according to the latest reports prior to
press time, the 77-year-old former muscleman has been reduced almost
to a skeleton. But with all the reports there are also
different accounts as to the birthplace, name, and age of the
world-famous movie star.
Among other things, Windber in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania is
also given as his birthplace, while it is claimed that his parents
immigrated from Austria. The accounts of his age vary by author,
while lately a minor alteration of the name has also been seen.
Johnny Weissmüller is said to have changed his name to the more
English-sounding Weissmuller. Magazines in western Europe sometimes
write Weissmueller. It is well known that the film star
himself -- for publicity purposes, of course -- gave varying
accounts about himself, including that he was a U.S.-born citizen,
the son of a high-ranking officer who had immigrated from Austria.
Nikolaus Berwanger -- in his book DER SONNE NACH ("Following the
sun" - Kriterion Publishing, Bucharest, 1974) and in two reports
broadcast in German and Romanian by our TV, based on documents and
accounts from relatives and countrymen of the Weissmuller family,
has already proven that the famous king of the jungle Johnny
Weissmüller was born on June 2, 1904 in Freidorf. To be sure, in
accordance with the requirements of the time, he is registered as
János. (See entry in the birth registry of the Freidorf Roman
Catholic parish, Vol. VII, No. 39: János Weiszmüller, boy,
legitimate child of Peter Weiszmüller, worker, [town of] Warjasch,
and Elisabeth née Kersch, Freidorf. Godparents: János Borstner,
cobbler, and Katharina Zerbesz.) Regarding the entry for the parents
of Johnny Weissmuller, the NBZ* [newspaper] has discovered the
marriage [record] in the Temeswar State Archive in the marriage
registry of the Freidorf parish for the year 1903, page 31, No. 10:
Peter Weiszmüller of Warjasch, residing at No. 192 Freidorf,
widower, 26 years of age, with Elisabeth Kersch, daughter of Konrad
Kersch and Elisabeth
Bücher, residing at No. 81 Freidorf, 23 years of age, single.
We still find the name Weissmuller in Freidorf today, where Johnny
Weissmuller's closest relatives live: Hans and Werner, the two sons
of Johnny's cousin, Jakob Weissmüller, who only recently passed
away. Cousin Jakob knew many a story, and he merely smiled
when we asked about his famous cousin: "Tarzan came from Freidorf.
My father, his name was Wilhelm, had three brothers, Michael, Peter,
and Jakob. Peter was Tarzan's father. From my father I know that the
family went to the U.S. in 1907."
Jakob himself had a photo -- unfortunately now lost -- that
showed Uncle Peter and Aunt Elisabeth "with little Hansi [Johnny]" Jakob Weissmüller still remembers the exchange of letters
between his parents and Uncle Peter very well. Tarzan's father was
said to have been the tallest and strongest of the Weissmüller
brothers, who had come to Freidorf from Warjasch as brick-factory
workers.**
"After the First World War my Uncle Michael was in the USA himself
for a few years, where his son Adam became a wrestler," cousin Jakob
told us. The two brothers spent time together there, according to
Michael Weissmüller after his return. Two other people from Freidorf
-- Karl Kersch and a locksmith named Pappert -- also were in contact
with their compatriot Peter Weissmüller during a brief stay in the
U.S. "Unfortunately, the family never came home for a visit,"
so Jakob Weissmüller never met his cousin, who had in the meantime
become famous, in person. With the outbreak of World War II the
postal correspondence was also interrupted. For over 30 years the
Weissmüllers in Freidorf have heard no news from their relatives
overseas. The fact that Johnny is still remembered is no doubt due
to his fame as the movie Tarzan; as a champion swimmer he has
probably been long forgotten.
(For the information of some authors, including some here in
Romania, who keep casting doubt on Johnny Weissmuller's birthplace,
[you will find] here facsimiles as verifiable proof.)
------------------------------------
*Translator's note: NBZ = Neue Banater Zeitung = "New Banat
Newspaper"
**Translator's note: The word used in the original German is "Ziegeleiarbeiter,"
which can mean either a worker in a (roof) tile-making plant or in a
brickworks.
------------------------------------
PHOTO captions:
1. [photo of Weissmuller as Tarzan] Broad shoulders, bare chest;
that's the way people know Johnny Weissmuller -- as the man of the
jungle.
2. [photo of marriage record] On June 7, 1903 Peter Weiszmüller,
widower of Margit Müller, born in Warjasch, residing in Freidorf,
married the single [woman] Elisabeth Kersch, daughter of the cobbler
Konrad and Elisabeth née Bücher.
3. [photo of baptismal/birth record] In entry No. 39 for the year
1904, dated June 5, the birth of János Weiszmüller (on June 2) is
listed in the Freidorf baptismal register.
4. [photo of Weissmuller in nursing
home] Johnny Weissmuller was victorious in several Olympic
breaststroke swimming events. He earned millions as the world's most
successful man of the jungle. On his 75th birthday he was declared
legally incompetent and admitted to a nursing home -- broke and
seriously ill.
5. [photo of godparents entry] Godparents of the first son of the
Weiszmüller family, Freidorf No. 84, were Borstner, János (cobbler)
and Zerbesz, Katalin.
------------------------------------
- English translation: Hyde Flippo, who has been researching
Weissmuller's European roots for some time now. Recently he
interviewed Johnny Weissmuller's son, Johnny Jr. View at:
www.germanhollywood.com/tarzan_myfather1.html
www.germanhollywood.com - Hyde Flippo - Webmaster:
Thank you Mr.
Hyde Flippo for voluntarily translating this
article. Now our English readers can join this most
interesting story.
* * * * *
[Published at www.dvhh.org,
07 Feb 2005]
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