Bruce Bennett

For the American player of Canadian football, see Bruce Bennett (Canadian football). For the Australian academic, see Bruce Bennett (academic).

Bruce Bennett (born Harold Herman Brix, also credited Herman Brix; May 19, 1906 – February 24, 2007) was an American film and television actor who was a college athlete in football and in intercollegiate and international track-and-field competitions.^[1] In 1928, he won the silver medal for the shot put at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam. Bennett's acting career in film and television spanned more than 40 years.

Bruce Bennett (Herman Brix)
Bennett, 1940s
Born	Harold Herman Brix (1906-05-19)May 19, 1906 Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
Died	February 24, 2007(2007-02-24) (aged 100) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupations	Actor athlete businessman
Years active	1931–1973; 1980
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Spouse	Jeannette C. Braddock ​ ​ (m. 1933; died 2000)​
Children	2
Signature

Early life and Olympics

Herman Brix at the 1928 Olympics

Harold Herman Brix was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, where he attended Stadium High School from which he graduated in 1924.^[2] He was the fourth of five children born to an immigrant couple from Germany.^{[citation needed]}

Bennett played college football at the University of Washington, where he majored in economics. He played in the 1926 Rose Bowl and was a track-and-field star. Bennett won the Silver medal for the shot put in the 1928 Olympic Games.^[3] He won four consecutive AAU shot put titles (1928–31), the NCAA title in 1927, and the AAU indoor titles in 1930 and 1932. In 1930, Bennett set a world indoor record at 15.61 m (51 ft 3 in). In 1932, he set his personal best at 16.07 m (52 ft 9 in), but failed at the Olympic trials to qualify for the Los Angeles Games.^[4]

Early film career as Tarzan

Brix in the opening credits of the serial The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935)

Bennett moved to Los Angeles in 1929 after being invited to compete for the Los Angeles Athletic Club and befriended actor Douglas Fairbanks, who arranged a screen test for him at Paramount.^{[citation needed]}

In 1931, MGM, in adapting author Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan adventures for the screen, selected Bennett to play the title character. Bennett broke his shoulder filming the 1931 football film Touchdown, so swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller replaced Bennett. Ashton Dearholt cast Bennett in the lead of a Tarzan serial film. The film began production on location in Guatemala.^{[citation needed]}

The film, The New Adventures of Tarzan, was released in 1935 by Burroughs-Tarzan, and offered to theaters as a 12-chapter serial or a seven-reel feature. A second feature, Tarzan and the Green Goddess, was culled from the footage in 1938.

Bennett portrayed the titular hero in Republic's serial Hawk of the Wilderness.

Name change and film career

Bennett worked in serials and action features for low-budget studios until 1939. Finding himself typecast as Tarzan, Bennett changed his name and became a member of Columbia Pictures' stock company. He appeared in How High Is Up? with The Three Stooges and The Spook Speaks. His screen career was interrupted by World War II, when he served in the United States Navy.

Bennett and Humphrey Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

In the 1940s and 1950s, Bennett appeared in Sahara (1943), Mildred Pierce (1945), Nora Prentiss (1947), Dark Passage (1947), The Man I Love (1947), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Undertow (1949), Mystery Street (1950), Angels in the Outfield (1951), Sudden Fear (1952), and Strategic Air Command (1955), The Alligator People (1959).^[5][3]

In 1954, Bennett played William Quantrill, the Confederate guerrilla figure, in an episode of the syndicated television series Stories of the Century. Bennett made five guest appearances on Perry Mason and five episodes of Science Fiction Theatre.

Bennett co-wrote and starred in Fiend of Dope Island (filmed 1959, released 1961).^[5]

Personal life

Bennett and his wife Jeanette, 1936

Bennett had two children, Christopher and Christina, by wife Jeannette, who died in 2000. They named their children after his parents.^{[citation needed]}

Bennett became a businessman during the 1960s. He pursued parasailing and skydiving. He last skydived at the age of 96, descending from an altitude of 10,000 feet near Lake Tahoe.^{[citation needed]}

Bennett died at 100 on February 24, 2007 from complications of a broken hip, just 3 months before his 101st birthday. ^[6][7]

Selected filmography

• Touchdown (1931) as Football Player (uncredited)
• Million Dollar Legs (1932) as Klopstokian Athlete (uncredited)
• Movie Crazy (1932) as Dinner Guest (uncredited)
• Madison Square Garden (1932) as Wrestler (uncredited)
• College Humor (1933) as Student (uncredited) (as Herman Brix)
• Meet the Baron (1933) as Train Passenger (uncredited)
• You Can't Buy Everything (1934) as Bank Clerk (uncredited)
• Lazy River (1934) as Sailor (uncredited)
• Riptide (1934) as Man at Cannes Bar (uncredited)
• Treasure Island (1934) as Man at Tavern (uncredited)
• Death on the Diamond (1934) as Man on Ticket Line (uncredited)
• Student Tour (1934) as Hercules – Crewman (uncredited)
• The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935) as Tarzan (as Bruce Bennett)
• Shadow of Chinatown (1936) as Martin Andrews (as Herman Brix)
• Two Minutes to Play (1936) as Martin Granville (as Herman Brix)
• Silk and Saddles (1936) as Jimmy Shay (as Herman Brix)
• Blake of Scotland Yard (1937) as Adolph – Henchman (uncredited)
• A Million to One (1937) as Johnny Kent (as Herman Brix)
• Fighting Fists (1937) as Hal "Chopper' Donovan, aka Hal Smith (as Herman Brix)
• Sky Racket (1937) as Eric Lane – Agent 17 (as Herman Brix)
• Million Dollar Racket (1937) as Lawrence 'Larry' Duane (as Herman Brix)
• Danger Patrol (1937) as Joe (as Herman Brix)
• Amateur Crook (1937) as Jimmy Baxter (as Herman Brix)
• The Lone Ranger (1938, Serial) as Bert Rogers (as Herman Brix)
• Land of Fighting Men (1938) as Fred Mitchell (as Herman Brix)
• Fighting Devil Dogs (1938, Serial) as Lieutenant Frank Corby (as Herman Brix)
• Hawk of the Wilderness (1938, Serial) as Lincoln Rand Jr / Kioga (as Herman Brix)
• Tarzan and the Green Goddess (1938) as Tarzan (archive footage)
• Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939, Short) as Tiny Dawson (as Herman Brix)
• Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (1939) as Tom – King's Chauffeur (uncredited)
• Blondie Brings Up Baby (1939) as Mason's Chauffeur (uncredited)
• My Son Is Guilty (1939) as Lefty (first film credited as Bruce Bennett)
• Invisible Stripes (1939) as Rich Man (uncredited)
• Cafe Hostess (1940) as Budge
• Convicted Woman (1940) as Reporter (uncredited)
• Five Little Peppers at Home (1940) as Jim – King's Chauffeur (uncredited)
• Blazing Six Shooters (1940) as Geologist Winthrop
• The Man with Nine Lives (1940) as State Trooper (uncredited)
• The Man from Tumbleweeds (1940) as Prison Warden (uncredited)
• Escape to Glory (1940) as Ship's gunnery officer
• Island of Doomed Men (1940) as Hazen – Guard (uncredited)
• The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady (1940) as McManus – Motorcycle Cop
• Babies for Sale (1940) as Policeman (uncredited)
• Girls of the Road (1940) as Officer Sullavan
• The Secret Seven (1940) as Pat Norris
• Before I Hang (1940) as Dr. Paul Ames
• Hi-Yo Silver (1940) as Bert Rogers (archive footage)
• Glamour for Sale (1940) as Minor Role (uncredited)
• No Census, No Feeling (1940) as football player (uncredited role in this Three Stooges short)
• So You Won't Talk (1940) as Reporter (uncredited)
• West of Abilene (1940) as Frank Garfield
• The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date (1940) as Scotty
• Phantom Submarine (1940) as Paul Sinclair
• Two Latins from Manhattan (1941) as Federal Agent
• The Officer and the Lady (1941) as Bob Conlon
• Three Girls About Town (1941) as Reporter (uncredited)
• So Long Mr. Chumps (1941) as Prison Guard (uncredited role in this Three Stooges short)
• Honolulu Lu (1941) as Skelly
• Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1942) as Tommy Lydel
• Submarine Raider (1942) as 1st Officer Russell
• Atlantic Convoy (1942) as Capt. Morgan
• Sabotage Squad (1942) as Lieutenant John Cronin
• Underground Agent (1942) as Lee Graham
• Murder in Times Square (1943) as Supai George
• The More the Merrier (1943) as FBI Agent Evans
• Frontier Fury (1943) as Clem Hawkins (uncredited)
• Sahara (1943) as Waco Hoyt
• There's Something About a Soldier (1943) as Frank Molloy
• U-Boat Prisoner (1944) as Archie Gibbs
• I'm from Arkansas (1944) as Bob Hamline
• Mildred Pierce (1945) as Bert Pierce
• Danger Signal (1945) as Dr. Andrew Lang
• Shadows of Chinatown (1946) (uncredited)
• A Stolen Life (1946) as Jack R. Talbot
• The Man I Love (1947) as San Thomas
• Nora Prentiss (1947) as Dr. Joel Merriam
• Cheyenne (1947) as Ed Landers
• Dark Passage (1947) as Bob
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) as James Cody
• To the Victor (1948) as Henderson
• Silver River (1948) as Stanley Moore
• Smart Girls Don't Talk (1948) as Marty Fain
• The Younger Brothers (1949) as Jim Younger
• Task Force (1949) as McCluskey
• The House Across the Street (1949) as Matthew J. Keever
• The Doctor and the Girl (1949) as Dr. Alfred Norton
• Without Honor (1949) as Fred Bandle
• Undertow (1949) as Det. Charles Reckling
• Mystery Street (1950) as Dr. McAdoo
• Shakedown (1950) as David Glover
• The Second Face (1950) as Paul Curtis
• The Great Missouri Raid (1951) as Cole Younger / Steve Brill
• The Last Outpost (1951) as Col. Jeb Britton
• Angels in the Outfield (1951) as Saul Hellman
• Sudden Fear (1952) as Steve Kearney
• Dream Wife (1953) as Charlie Elkwood
• Dragonfly Squadron (1954) as Dr. Stephen Cottrell
• The Big Tip Off (1955) as Bob Gilmore
• Strategic Air Command (1955) as Col. Espy
• Robbers' Roost (1955) as 'Bull' Herrick
• Survival in Box Canyon (1955–1957, TV Series) as Dr. Sheldon Thorpe / General Frank Terrance / Major Sorenson / Dr. Hugh Bentley / Gen. Troy
• Hidden Guns (1956) as Stragg
• The Bottom of the Bottle (1956) as Brand
• The Three Outlaws (1956) as Charlie Trenton
• Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer (1956) as Daniel Boone
• Love Me Tender (1956) as Maj. Kincaid
• Three Violent People (1956) as Commissioner Harrison
• Flaming Frontier (1958) as Capt. Jim Hewson
• Perry Mason (1958) as Lawrence Balfour
• The Cosmic Man (1959) as Dr. Karl Sorenson
• The Alligator People (1959) as Dr. Eric Lorimer
• The Outsider (1961) as Gen. Bridges
• Fiend of Dope Island (1961) as Charlie Davis
• Lost Island of Kioga (1966) as Lincoln Rand Jr., aka Kioga (TV feature version of the 1938 serial "Hawk of the Wilderness", q.v.)
• The Clones  [cy; fi] (1973) as Clone Lab Assistant
• Deadhead Miles (1973) as Johnny Mesquitero
• Let the Doctor Shove (1980) as John Vandenberk (final film role)

See also

• List of centenarians (actors, filmmakers and entertainers)