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Bruce Bennett

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected fromHerman Brix)
For the American player of Canadian football, seeBruce Bennett (Canadian football).For the Australian academic, seeBruce Bennett (academic).

Bruce Bennett (Herman Brix)
Bennett, 1940s
Born
Harold Herman Brix

(1906-05-19)May 19, 1906
Tacoma, Washington,U.S.
DiedFebruary 24, 2007(2007-02-24)(aged 100)
Santa Monica, California,U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • athlete
  • businessman
Years active1931–1973; 1980
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Spouse
Jeannette C. Braddock
​
​
(m.1933; died 2000)​
Children2
Signature

Bruce Bennett(bornHarold Herman Brix,also creditedHerman Brix;May 19, 1906 – February 24, 2007) was an American film and television actor who was a college athlete infootballand in intercollegiate and internationaltrack-and-fieldcompetitions.[1]In 1928, he won the silver medal for theshot putat theOlympic GamesinAmsterdam.Bennett's acting career in film and television spanned more than 40 years.

Early life and Olympics

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Herman Brix at the 1928 Olympics

Harold Herman Brix was born and raised inTacoma, Washington,where he attendedStadium High Schoolfrom which he graduated in 1924.[2]He was the fourth of five children born to an immigrant couple fromGermany.[citation needed]

Bennett playedcollege footballat theUniversity of Washington,where he majored in economics. He played in the1926 Rose Bowland was a track-and-field star. Bennett won theSilver medalfor theshot putin the1928 Olympic Games.[3]He won four consecutiveAAUshot put titles (1928–31), theNCAAtitle 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 theLos Angeles Games.[4]

Early film career as Tarzan

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

Bennett moved toLos Angelesin 1929 after being invited to compete for theLos Angeles Athletic Cluband befriended actorDouglas Fairbanks Jr., who arranged a screen test for him atParamount.[citation needed]

In 1931,MGM,in adapting authorEdgar Rice Burroughs'sTarzanadventures for the screen, selected Bennett to play the title character. Bennett broke his shoulder filming the 1931 football filmTouchdown,so swimming championJohnny Weissmullerreplaced Bennett.Ashton Dearholtcast Bennett in the lead of a Tarzan serial film. The film began production on location inGuatemala.[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 inRepublic's serialHawk of the Wilderness.

Name change and film career

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Bennett worked in serials and action features for low-budget studios until 1939. Finding himselftypecastas Tarzan, Bennett changed his name and became a member ofColumbia Pictures' stock company. He appeared inHow High Is Up?withThe Three StoogesandThe Spook Speaks.His screen career was interrupted byWorld War II,when he served in theUnited States Navy.

Bennett andHumphrey BogartinThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre(1948)

In the 1940s and 1950s, Bennett appeared inSahara(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), andStrategic Air Command(1955),The Alligator People(1959).[5][3]

In 1954, Bennett playedWilliam Quantrill,theConfederateguerrilla figure, in an episode of thesyndicatedtelevision seriesStories of the Century.Bennett made five guest appearances onPerry Masonand five episodes ofScience Fiction Theatre.

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

Personal life

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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 pursuedparasailingandskydiving.He last skydived at the age of 96, descending from an altitude of 10,000 feet nearLake Tahoe.[citation needed]

Bennett died at 100 on February 24, 2007 from complications from a broken hip.[6][7]

Selected filmography

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See also

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References

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Notes

  1. ^McLellan, Dennis (February 28, 2007)."Herman Brix, 100; Olympian became actor known as Bruce Bennett".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedAugust 2,2024.
  2. ^Merryman, Kathleen (September 9, 2006)."From Stadium's halls to the silver screen".The News Tribune.Tacoma, Washington.RetrievedSeptember 12,2020.
  3. ^abBernstein, Adam (February 27, 2007)."Film Star and Olympian Herman Brix".The Washington Post.
  4. ^Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen;Mallon, Bill;et al."Herman Brix".Olympics at Sports-Reference.com.Sports Reference LLC.Archived fromthe originalon April 17, 2020.
  5. ^ab"Bruce Bennett Filmography"Turner Classic Movies(TCM). Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  6. ^"Olympian and actor Herman Brix dies".Yahoo! News.Associated Press. March 1, 2007. Archived fromthe originalon March 7, 2007.RetrievedMarch 3,2007.
  7. ^WHITE, RUSTY (March 8, 2007)."OBITUARY – HERMAN BRIX aka BRUCE BENNETT - Entertainment Today".entertainmenttoday.net.RetrievedAugust 2,2024.

Bibliography

Further reading

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