Gordon Scott
| Gordon Scott | |
|---|---|
As Hercules for a 1965 ABC Television special.
|
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| Born |
Gordon Merrill Werschkul August 3, 1926 Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Died | April 30, 2007 (aged 80) Baltimore, Maryland, USA |
| Cause of death | Cardiovascular disease |
| Resting place |
Kensico Cemetery Valhalla, New York, United States |
| Alma mater | University of Oregon |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1955–1967 |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Spouse(s) | • Janice Mae Wynkoop (1948–1949) – 1 child • Vera Miles (1956– 1960; divorced) – 1 child |
Gordon Scott (August 3, 1926 – April 30, 2007) was an American film and television actor known for his portrayal of the fictional character Tarzan in five films (and one compilation of three made-as-a-pilot television episodes) of the Tarzan film series from 1955 to 1960. Gordon Scott was the eleventh Tarzan, starting with Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle (1955). He was "discovered" poolside, and offered "a 7 year contract, a loin cloth, and a new last name."
He was born Gordon Merrill Werschkul in Portland, Oregon, one of nine children of advertising man Stanley Werschkul and his wife Alice. Scott was raised in Oregon and attended the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, for one semester.
Upon leaving school, he was drafted into the United States Army in 1944. He served as a drill sergeant and military policeman until he was honorably discharged in 1947. He then worked at a variety of jobs until 1953, when he was spotted by a talent agent while working as a lifeguard at the Sahara Hotel and Casino, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada.
"Due in part to his muscular frame and 6-foot-3-inch (1.91-metre) height, he was quickly signed to replace Lex Barker as Tarzan" by producer Sol Lesser. Lesser had Gordon change his name because "Werschkul" sounded too much like "Weismueller".
Scott's Tarzan movies ranged from rather cheap re-edited television pilots to large-scale action films with high-production values shot on actual African locations. In his early Tarzan films, he played the character as unworldly and inarticulate, in the mold of Johnny Weissmuller, an earlier Tarzan portrayer. In Scott's later films, after a change in producers, he played a Tarzan who was educated and spoke perfect English, as in the original Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. Scott was the only actor to play Tarzan in both styles.
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