Tarzan from Serbia: The famous Johnny Weissmiller was born in Banat

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Avatar for BaldurThorLoki
3 years ago

The famous Johnny Weissmiller, an actor who became famous as Tarzan and a swimmer who won five gold medals at the Olympics and set dozens of world records in swimming, actually comes from Serbia. Johnny, whose real name is Johan, was born in the Banat village of Medja, near the Serbian-Romanian border, and when he was seven months old, he moved to America with his family.


Although one version states that Weissmiller was born in Freidorf, today's suburb of Timisoara, there is numerous evidence that the real birthplace of the famous actor is, in fact, the Banat village of Medja. Parents Peter and Elizabeth gave their son the name Johan, but the boy was entered in the books as Janos due to the violent Hungarianization of the population.

Seven months after Johan's birth, the Weissmiller family boarded a ship in Rotterdam and emigrated to America, and in their immigration documents, Pardanj, today's Međa, is mentioned as the place of Johnny's birth!


After he became seriously ill as a nine-year-old, doctors advised little Johnny to go swimming, and in 1921 he became the champion of America in the disciplines of 45 and 200 meters. In order to obtain an American passport, he falsified his biography and cited the data of his younger brother Peter, who was born in America.

The rest is history - Johnny broke the world record in the 100 meters in 1922, and then won five gold medals at the Olympics in Paris in 1924 and Amsterdam in 1928. It remains to be noted that during his incredible career, Weissmiller set 67 world records and that he retired as a man who did not lose a single race in which he participated!

At the beginning of 1929, he started working as a model, and two years later he signed a contract with the film company MGM. He made his film debut in 1932 in "Tarzan the Monkey Man" and became a big star overnight.

In the first six films in this series, his partner was Maureen O’Sullivan and the famous chimpanzee Chita. Weissmiller starred Tarzan in 12 productions, and appeared in about twenty other films.

Johnny Weissmiller, who married five times (he had three children from those marriages), died on January 20, 1984, and was buried near Acapulco. Johnny's last wish was for Tarzan's famous cry to be heard three times during the funeral.

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Comments

Great article, my friend ... I'm from Serbia and it's a shame that I have to admit that I didn't know that this actor is from Serbia ...

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3 years ago

It's all right.. And even he wasn't, his great talent is what make him a man full of pride and confidence...

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3 years ago

So Tarzan is us :)

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3 years ago

nicely written, every cast

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3 years ago

Thank you!!!

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3 years ago

My childhood was marked by that old movie, so a cartoon series was made later.

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3 years ago

So and I remember...

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3 years ago

So and I remember...

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3 years ago

I'm a tarzan.. 😪

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3 years ago

Good to you...

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3 years ago

I didn't know that the actor known as Tarzan comes from Serbia.

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3 years ago

It looks like.. Thank you!

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3 years ago

Thanks for reminding me of the famous Tarzan!

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3 years ago

You are welcome. I was little when I watched...

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3 years ago

I didn't know that detail about the famous tarzan. thank you for the information

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3 years ago

You are welcome! Thank you too!

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3 years ago

I knew nothing about this, good article

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3 years ago

Thank you! Have a nice day!

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3 years ago

Johnny Weissmuller (born Peter Johann Weissmüller), American film actor and swimmer, * June 2, 1904, Freidorf, Austria-Hungary (now Romania), † January 20, 1984, Acapulco, Mexico. This was thrown out to me by Wiki

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3 years ago

Yes, that stands there, but we no how they were unfriendly with Serbs and violently reacted to register child Johnny by their national possession.. That village was on border..

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3 years ago

I didn't know all this, even if he was from Banat.

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3 years ago

Everything is interesting! Thank you!

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3 years ago

Very attractive post dear as like usual. Keep it up and always inspiring me.

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3 years ago

Thank you so much!

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3 years ago

💝💝

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3 years ago

Why two, and not three hearts?😁

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3 years ago

He he😂

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3 years ago

Three is sacret number for Serbs

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3 years ago

Yes

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3 years ago