Chimpanzee baby name series#

This Cheeta's last film was presumably Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943), as the first film of its successor was Tarzan and the Amazons (1945). Unknown 2 was a chimpanzee stated to have portrayed Cheeta for 10 years from around 1933 until retirement in 1943, possibly the same as the above.Skippy was a chimpanzee that reportedly 'took over when Jiggs died in the late 1930s.'.Unknown 1 was a chimpanzee stated to have been a juvenile understudy to Jiggs in one of the Weissmuller Tarzan films, that on one occasion accompanied Weissmuller and a 14-foot boa constrictor on a visit to newspaper columnist Nelson B.He was stated to have gone to the Baltimore Zoo when Gentry went into the service in World War II. (also known as Jiggs II) was a male chimpanzee born about 1935 owned and trained by Tony and Jacqueline Gentry, alleged to have appeared in a number of Tarzan films and possibly other movies. He died in Palm Harbor, Florida, of kidney failure on December 24, 2011. According to journalist Andrew Woods, this Cheeta was also known as Org. Alleged to have been born about 1931 (claimed age in February 2008 was 77), to have been acquired from the estate of Johnny Weissmuller in 1957, and to have been 'one of the original 'Cheetahs' from Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan movies.' It has been speculated that this chimpanzee, if he indeed has any connection to Weissmuller, may actually have come from a Florida tourist attraction the actor once launched that included chimpanzees, rather than having appeared in any of his Tarzan films. Cheetah-Mike (also known as Org) was a male chimpanzee owned by Suncoast Primate Sanctuary after being donated from Noell's Chimp Farm in Palm Harbor, Florida.David Holt, who as a six-year-old child actor appeared uncredited as a human double for the role in Tarzan the Fearless (1933).Jacky I, a male chimpanzee owned by Gertrude Davies Lintz for two years before appearing with Johnny Weissmuller in the latter's first Tarzan film.Jiggs, an orangutan who appeared in The Jungle Book (1942) and numerous other films, that was retired in May, 1943. Not to be confused with Captain Jiggs, a well-known contemporary chimpanzee owned by Gertrude Davies Lintz, or with Mr. Jiggs died on Febru or Maat age 9, of pneumonia, and was buried March 2, 1938, in the Los Angeles Pet Cemetery. He also appeared in the Laurel and Hardy film Dirty Work (1933), and Her Jungle Love (1938), starring Dorothy Lamour, his last film. In the Brix films, which were more faithful to Edgar Rice Burroughs' original stories than the Weissmuller ones, Jiggs was cast as Nkima, not Cheeta. Jiggs, a male chimpanzee born about 1929 owned and trained by Tony and Jacqueline Gentry, originated the role and appeared in the first two Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films, Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) and Tarzan and His Mate (1934), as well as the Tarzan serials Tarzan the Fearless (1933), starring Buster Crabbe, and The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935), starring Herman Brix, which was also released in feature-film form as Tarzan and the Green Goddess (1938).Rosen, 'In each Tarzan movie, the Cheeta role played by more than one chimp, depending on what talents the scene called for.' Known and alleged performers of the role are given in the following table (see the comments following the table for the sources of the data). The character of Cheeta was a composite role created through the use of numerous animal actors, over a dozen according to one source.

Chimpanzee baby name series#

The closest analog to Cheeta in the Burroughs novels is Tarzan's monkey companion Nkima, who appears in several of the later books in the series.Ĭheeta's role in the Tarzan films and TV series is to provide comic relief, convey messages between Tarzan and his allies, and occasionally lead Tarzan's other animal friends to the ape-man's rescue. While the character of Cheeta is inextricably associated in the public mind with Tarzan, no chimpanzees appear in the original Tarzan novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs that inspired the films. Cheeta has usually been characterized as male, but sometimes as female, and has been portrayed by chimpanzees of both sexes. Portrait of 'Cheeta' (Jiggs IV), long alleged to be the principal animal performer of the Cheeta roleĬheeta (sometimes billed as Cheetah, Cheta, and Chita) is a chimpanzee character that appeared in numerous Hollywood Tarzan films of the 1930s–1960s, as well as the 1966–1968 television series, as the ape sidekick of the title character, Tarzan.