For Steve Sipek, who grew up in Eastern Europe and immigrated to the United States, playing Tarzan on the big screen -- in films including 1972's "Tarzan and the Rainbow" -- was a dream come true. His acting career turned out to be short, but his love of big cats became a lifelong passion. 

For nearly 40 years, Steve Sipek has shared his Florida home with tigers, lions and other big cats. Here he cavorts in a pool with one of his pets. "In the pool ... they think they're in a river attacking a crocodile," Sipek said. "They see me as an object -- 'Oh I can get this object' -- because their mind locks up. And when it locks up, you don't want to be there."

Photos show Steve Sipek with a big cat named Bobo, which escaped the compound and was shot dead by authorities in 2004.

Photo shows Steve Sipek's son, Steve Jr., in bed with big cats at Sipek's Florida home in the 1970s. He often takes walks with the lion. Today Steve Jr. lives in the western U.S.

Steve Sipek is pictured dozing with his big cats. "If you let them know that you love them, they will accept you into their lives and they'll push that killer instinct away," Sipek said. 

"I have this sixth sense that always works for me," Sipek said. "No tiger can come with the intent to hurt me without waking me up before that happens.

Like father, like son: Steve Sipek Jr. often dozes with the tiger.

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Real-Life Tarzan Shares Home With Big Cats
Former 'Tarzan' Actor Says Spiritual Connection to Lions, Tigers Protects Him and Family
ABC News ~ March 24, 2010 

There is no welcome mat at the front door, but the sign on the electronic front gate offers a greeting just as clear: "Trespassers will be eaten." Driving past the slowly withdrawing gate, even invited guests can feel some unease. And the tension only increases upon first sight of the yard. A gravestone is flanked by tusks protruding from the ground. Sculptures of menacing beasts are mixed with nudes of the human form, all showing the wear of wind and rain. It's an atmosphere of a carnival halted by grief. Somehow the place is both wondrous and a monument to the dead. One isn't sure initially who, or what, is buried here. 

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