HERMAN BRIX BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Born May 19th, 1906 with the birth name, Harold Herman Brix in Tacoma, Washington, USA. His father was a lumber man and owned various logging camps. Here, Bruce worked with his dad and built up quite a physique. He was very athletic and was a track star at the university of Washington, where he earned a degree in Economics. He also played in the 1926 Rose Bowl. He first found fame at the 1928 Olympics where he won a silver medal for the shot-put in Amsterdam.
In the 1930's he relocated to Hollywood and was cast in a couple small roles. In 1931, MGM selected Herman to play the main character in "Tarzan Adventures", however Herman had been recently injured filming "Touchdown" (1931) which also kept him from entering the 1932 Olympics. The role of MGM's Tarzan, went to Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller. However, by 1934, the author of the, "Tarzan Adventures" Edgar Rice Burroughs had become dissatisfied with the Tarzan character portrayal, but he had no control over the way Tarzan was bring portrayed because he had leased the rights to the character to MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), so he decided to film his own Tarzan movie titled, "The New Adventures Of Tarzan" (1935). He had not forgotten about Herman Brix, and selected Herman to play the Tarzan character, but he chose a different location and a different way for the character to be portrayed.
MGM had a strong hold on the American Film Industry and therefore, Burroughs film was not widely seen by the American public, it did however become quite popular in Europe and Asia. On January 21st, 1933 he married Jeannette C. Braddock and together they had two children Christopher and Christina.
During the late 1930's, Herman decided it was time to lose his identity as a former athlete and the well known Tarzan character. He changed his name to Bruce Bennett and then signed with Columbia Studios. He began by appearing in small roles and un credited parts in comedy films like, "Blondie Brings Up Baby" (1939), "The Spook Speaks" (1940), and the Three Stooges short, "No Census, No Feeling" (1940). His career was beginning to improve with roles in various genres.
His next career step took place in 1944 with a move from Columbia to Warner Brothers.
His first film under his new contract was, "Mildred Pierce" (1945) followed by, "A Stolen Life" (1946). In 1948 he followed with a role in, "The Treasure of Sierra Madre" starring Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt and Walter Huston. He was making a career move taking on some tenacious roles such as in "Mystery Street" (1950) and "Sudden Fear" (1952).
In 1960, he retired from acting and went into business, becoming sales manager of a major vending machine company, making only occasional TV guest appearances. For 1961's low-budget, "Fiend of Dope Island" he did return to the entertainment industry one more time, Bruce himself wrote the screenplay and played the title role, a marijuana farmer and brutal gun smuggler. He also became quite successful in real-estate later on in life.
On February 24th, 2007, Bruce passed away in Santa Monica, California, USA from complications due to a broken hip.
FILMOGRAPHY
1973 The Clones
1972 Deadhead Miles
1961 The Outsider
1959 The Alligator People
1959 The Cosmic Man
1956 Three Violent People
1956 Love Me Tender
1956 Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer
1956 The Three Outlaws
1956 The Bottom of the Bottle
1955 Robbers' Roost
1955 Strategic Air Command
1955 The Big Tip Off
1953 Dream Wife
1952 Sudden Fear
1951 Angels in the Outfield
1951 Cavalry Charge
1950 Mystery Street
1949 Undertow
1949 Without Honor
1949 The Doctor and the Girl
1949 Task Force
1949 The Younger Brothers
1948 Silver River
1948 To the Victor
1948 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
1947 Dark Passage
1947 Cheyenne
1947 Nora Prentiss
1947 The Man I Love
1946 A Stolen Life
1945 Danger Signal
1945 Mildred Pierce
1943 Sahara
1943 The More the Merrier
1940 Before I Hang
1940 The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady
1939 Daredevils of the Red Circle
1938 Hawk of the Wilderness
1938 Tarzan and the Green Goddess
1935 The New Adventures of Tarzan
