Official
Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site
Since
1996 ~ Over 15,000 Webpages in Archive
Volume
6329
ERB'S LIFE and LEGACY :: DAILY
EVENTS
A COLLATION OF THE DAILY
EVENTS IN ERB-WORLD
FROM THE PAGES OF ERBzine
CREATED BY BILL HILLMAN
Collated by John Martin and
Bill Hillman
With Web Design, Added Events,
Links,
Illustrations and Photo Collages
by Bill Hillman
BACK TO DAILY
EVENTS INTRO
MAY CONTENTS WEEK THREE
May 15 ~ May
16 ~ May 17 ~ May 18
May 19 ~ May
20 ~ May 21
VISIT THE MAY WEEK III PHOTO ALBUM
http://www.ERBzine.com/mag63/6329pics.html
BACK TO MAY WEEK II
www.ERBzine.com/mag63/6328.html
Click for full-size images
MAY
15
Tarzan and the Mermaids: Johnny Weissmuller
& Brenda Joyce: Poster and COOP Chocolate Trading Cards
Fighting Man of Mars: Cover art: Hutton, Blaine,
Frazetta and Interior by Crandall
*** 1931: "A Fighting Man of Mars," published on this
date, ended ERB's brief, four-book association with Metropolitan
as publisher of his first editions. The next books would bear ERB's own
imprint at the bottom of the spine.
Perhaps it was Hugh Hutton's sub-par wraparound
cover for the book that was the last straw. More interesting cover art
has been featured in editions from later years: Canaveral ~ Doubleday ~
Charlie Madison's ERBgraphics alternate ~ and a host of paperback releases.
Hutton recalled the effort
of completing the painting for the dust jacket. "All I can remember was
working against a deadline," he says. "I caught a 'bug' and had a temperature
of 103 degrees. The only way I could keep going was to alternately paint
and lie flat on the floor under the drawing board. Mrs. Feg Murray walked
in once and let out a shriek that cracked the door glass -- she though
I had dropped dead at work."
ERB had actually commenced writing this seventh Mars
novel on February 28, 1929.
A Fighting Man of Mars: Full ERB C.H.A.S.E.R.
coverage
http://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0735.html
A Fighting Man of Mars: Read the entire book
in e-Text
http://www.erbzine.com/craft/m7fmm.html
More about Burroughs artist Hugh Hutton
http://www.erbzine.com/mag20/2035.html
https://www.erbzine.com/cards/art8/juskofightingmanofmarsall.jpg
Off-Site Reference
ERBlist
Book Summary
*** 1948: "Tarzan
and the Mermaids," starring Johnny Weissmuller and Brenda Joyce
was released released on this date.
Among the many Trivia bits featured
in our Silver Screen series:
* Weissmuller's last appearance
as Tarzan ~ he started to show his age and went on to make several Jungle
Jim films.
* Problems during the shoot: Sol
Lesser suffered a heart attack and had to return to Los Angeles ~
Weissmuller's stunt double Angel Garcia was killed. After diving from a
cliff at Acapulco ~ an inexperienced Mexican crew ~ bad weather,
including a hurricane that destroyed the sets
* Johnny Sheffield, 'Boy', had
grown to manhood, so he was written out of the script, under the pretext
of being 'away at school' ~ he then made a series of Bomba movies
* Linda Christian played Mara in
this film. She also played James Bond's love interest in the Climax TV
series early rendition of "Casino Royale."
* This was the first Tarzan film
to make extensive use of singing and dancing. It features a musical score
by the brilliant film composer, Dimitri Tiomkin.
More Trivia at ERBzine
0628
Tarzan and the Mermaids: ERBzine
Silver Screen
http://www.erbzine.com/mag6/0628.html
Tarzan and the Mermaids: Lobby
Display
http://www.erbzine.com/mag6/0628a.html
COOP chocolate card set
http://www.erbzine.com/mag31/3143.html
Off-Site Reference:
Mermaids
at IMDB
*** "The Prisoner of the Cadi"
was a short story, running for only 18 days starting May 15 in 1944. Rex
Maxon did the drawing and the writing. The title reads "Cadi" but the
strip itself has Tarzan battling the "Caid." Tarzan gets bonked on his
head a couple of times in this short story.
The Prisoner of the Cadi: 18 Maxon Tarzan Strips
http://www.erbzine.com/mag54/5447.html
*** 1921: "Angel's Serenade"
a story outline, was sent to the Century Film Corporation in Hollywood.
It was rejected. Ed reworked the story in 1936 and three years later expanded
it into a 24,000-word story. Its main character, Dick Crode, grows up in
the tenement streets of a large city and progresses through early years
of petty thievery to become head of a crime syndicate. The title "Angel's
Serenade" refers to the song his mother had played on a violin — a
song Crode could never forget. Burroughs had originally conceived the story,
in outline form, as the basis for a motion picture with the main role assigned
to Lon Chaney. On May 15, 1921, he sent two copies of "Angel's Serenade,"
described as a "rough draft," to Lewis Jacobs of the Century
Film Corporation in Hollywood. A month before, Burroughs had contracted
with Jacobs for the production of ten stories, five Tarzan and five non-Tarzan,
to be filmed within six years. In offering "Angel's Serenade," Burroughs
explained the title:
"If you do not happen to recall
Angel's Serenade, I may say that it is one of the beautiful old compositions
that has survived the ravages of time and the onslaught of many years of
popular songs and modern jazz. It was suggested by Mrs. Burroughs, who
says that it makes an especially beautiful violin solo." The story
was rejected by Jacobs.
*** 1939: Ed sent a warning letter to a wrestler who
was making unauthorized use of the name, Tarzan. Ed later expressed
his concern to MGM over the bad publicity surrounding a Wyoming murderer
called "Tarzan."
*** 1943: In a letter home to Joan ERB wrote of
going to battery dances and problems in getting his stories run in mainland
papers -- they were too often bumped by the flood of war news.
ERB Bio Timeline
http://www.ERBzine.com/bio
MAY
16
Beasts of Tarzan: All-Story 1 of 5 Installments:
F.W. Small Art ~ Lynn Collins: Privitera Art and Film Poster
Hogarth's Tarzan Sunday Reprints in Flying Buttress'
Tarzan
in Color Reprint
*** 1977: Viola Lynn Collins was born on this date
in Houston, Texas. Lynn has had a successful film career and played many
fantasy roles, including
Dejah Thoris in "John Carter" and
Kayla Silverfox in X-Men movies.
Lynn's thoughts
on the John Carter film and her Dejah Thoris role: " The most extraordinary
thing about this film to me is that it is such a milestone in science fiction.
The books, and even the script, work with ideas that are so far reaching
and the visual is so huge. The book it’s based on was published in 1917.
Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote the series of books and my grandfather’s generation
grew up with these stories. Many films have taken themes from them
and even visual ideas. It’s been sort of the backbone of a very archetypal
story that I think we really want to see in films. It’s so amazing to be
part of a project that is so broad and that is creating a world that no
one has ever seen before."
"You really don’t know exactly
where they are history-wise on Mars in the film, but you do know that females
are considered equals and that there are men and women fighting together.
I found it so wonderfully modern and so exciting to be part of. I
think Dejah’s in touch with both sides of her persona, the feminine and
the masculine, and that’s so powerful. And as an actor it is so rewarding
to play somebody who is actually so well-balanced in that masculine and
feminine to where the part about being a princess in a classic sense really
just kind of comes in ever so slightly. It’s so exciting to be working
on a character like this because she’s such a strong feminine force with
also all the vulnerabilities that come with being a female but with strength
as well." ~ Lynn Collins
Lynn Collins Stats: Viola Lynn
Collins ~ Date of birth: 16th May 1977 ~ Place of birth:
Houston, Texas, USA ~ Zodiac sign: Taurus ~ Nationality: American
~ Ethnicity: English, Scottish, Irish, and Cherokee ~ Spouse: Matthew Boyle
~ Height: 1.73 m ~ Weight: 62 kgs ~ Eye colour: Green ~ Hair colour: Brown
~ Profession: Actress ~ Net worth: $3 million ~ Parents: Patricia
Lynn and Phillip Dean Collins. Her parents were both martial art experts,
and they enrolled their daughter to learn the practice when she was just
four years old.
TRIVIA:
-
Throughout the movie, Dejah Thoris's name is pronounced Deh-jah.
According to Edgar Rice Burroughs's own notes, the name is supposed to
be pronounced Dee-jah.
-
Dejah's wedding dress, cuffs and crown had 120,000 Swarovski
crystals attached by hand.
-
She was four years old when her family moved to Singapore
and lived there for six years before moving back to Houston
-
Lynn is a trained martial artist ~ she even started doing
karate at the age of 4 in Singapore and has practised the martial arts
ever since.
-
HIDDEN MICKEY: One of Dejah's red tattoos on her right arm.
It is plainly visible as she takes Sab Than's hand before the wedding,
and as she is about to drink from the cup of water.
Conversation with Lynn Collins about "John Carter"
https://www.cartermovie.com/news/collins.html
ERBzine's John Carter (of Mars) film site:
https://www.cartermovie.com
Lynn Collins as Dejah (art by Paul Privitera)
https://www.erbzine.com/mag58/dejahpromo.jpg
https://www.ERBzine.com/cards/film3/lynncollinsdejah.jpg
Off-Site References:
Collins
in Wikipedia
*** 1914: If you want pure jungle
adventure with good guys, bad guys, and lots of animal action, "The
Beasts of Tarzan" has it all. It even has Tarzan fighting a crocodile,
something which was in just about every Tarzan movie, but not something
that ERB normally dealt with in his books.
The first of five parts of "Beasts"
appeared in the All-Story Cavalier Weekly dated May 16, 1914. F.
W. Small did the cover with a b/w copy of the cover used as a headpiece
for each issue. A. C. McClurg published the first edition on March
4, 1916. It had 336 pages ~ 1st Ed. Print Run: 19,500 ~ Total: 502,200
~ Heins word count: 70,000. J. Allen St. John did the wrap-around dust
jacket.
The Beasts of Tarzan: ERBzine C.H.A.S.E.R. Coverage
http://www.erbzine.com/mag4/0485.html
http://www.erbzine.com/mag4/0486.html
*** "Tarzan on the Island of
Mua-Ao," by Burne Hogarth and Rob Thompson, began May 16, 1948,
and ran for almost a year, concluding May 1, 1949. The story has also been
reprinted in "Tarzan in Color" Vols. 16-17 "Tarzan and the Lost Tribes."
Hogarth in the Tarzan in Color Series
http://www.erbzine.com/mag45/4564.html
Off-Site Reference
Lost
Tribes: Amazon Purchase
*** "The High Priestess of Zimba" ran for 74 days,
starting in daily newspapers May 16, 1952. It was the work of Bob Lubbers
and Dick Van Buren.
High Priestess of Zimba: 74 Tarzan strips by Lubbers
http://www.erbzine.com/mag53/5306.html
Bob Lubbers Strips in ERBzine
http://www.erbzine.com/mag48/4855.html
The ERB Comics Files
http://www.ERBzine.com/comics
*** 1927: Ed became a member of
the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment, Inc., Washington,
D.C. Ed had numerous problems and experienced many different attitudes
toward alcohol over the years.
ERB Bio Timeline
http://www.ERBzine.com/bio
Off-Site Reference
Prohibition
Amendment in Wikipedia
MAY
17
Danton Burroughs: Celebration of Life at Tarzana Cultural
Centre and with dad and grandfather
Maureen O'Sullivan ~ Mahlon Blaine Art for three Canaveral
Releases ~ Darrell C. Richardson
.
.
*** 2008: Danton Burroughs' memorial service was on
this date. The Burroughs Family and ERB, Inc. requested that I fly down
from Canada to give the Eulogy at The Celebration of Danton's Life held
at the Tarzana Cultural Centre on Ventura Boulevard. My tribute
to Dan started with:
"I've worked
closely with Danton for many years to promote and preserve the Burroughs
Family legacy. I flew from Canada to be with you to remember and to celebrate
the life of this remarkable man. Danton’s world was full of wonder – he
found such joy in living . . . and giving. His excitement, enthusiasm .
. . his kindness . . . And his dream touched so many people. . . . . .
look around you.
"The times I
spent with Dan have given me a sense of how multi-faceted this man was.
I'd like to share some memories of events that showed these many sides
of Danton Burroughs:" The remainder of my tribute is featured at ERBzine
2189.
The following links begin a series of several pages of
remembrance of Danton, along with articles on the service.
Danton Burroughs Memorial in Tarzana
http://www.erbzine.com/dantonburroughs
Hillman Eulogy given at the Memorial Service
http://www.ERBzine.com/mag21/2189.html
My Friend Dan
http://www.erbzine.com/mag21/2180.html
*** Canaveral put three ERB
stories back into circulation in hardback form this date, May 17, in 1962,
and tinkered with the titles of two of them in the process. For "The
Moon Maid," they retitled it "The Moon Men." That was a lot
better than titling it "The Men in the Moon." For "A Fighting Man of
Mars," Canaveral worded the title correctly on the DJ front, but referred
to it as "The Fighting Men of Mars" on the spine. The Moon title change
was no doubt intentional; the Fighting Man/Men alteration was a goof.
The actual Fighting Man book uses
a unique typeface on the DJ spine. The same typeface is used on the spine
of the book itself, only there it is rendered correctly. One can imagine
the typesetter taking a quick glance at the book's spine before setting
the type for the dj. He (or she) obviously had a faulty memory and didn't
doublecheck the spelling!
"The Monster Men" was the third book and its title
made it through the Canaveral process just fine.
It was a big day for Mahlon Blaine as all three
of the books were illustrated by him.
Mahlon Blaine (1894-1969).The
artist's best work walked the razor's edge between the grotesque and beautiful.
Though few facts of his life are verifiable, insomuch as anyone can gather,
he lived in that no man’s land as well. A childhood accident left the artist
blind in his left eye, an accident that contributes to the flattened perspective
that marks his work. A well-documented chronic injury to his left
arm possibly was the result of a WWI war wound. The plate in his head of
which he boasted was probably fictional. Few photographs of the artist
survive, but there are numerous self-portraits.
In 2,000 drawings published
between 1917 and 1967, illustrator Mahlon Blaine revealed his subjects
– from Demons to Deities, Maylasians to Martians, Biology to Biography,
Lasciviousness to Literature. He painted, but he is best known for pen
and ink – an uncanny artistic master of Erotica and Exotica who lived for
decades in cheap hotels and borrowed rooms, acutely observing humanity
while wielding pens and brushes dipped in wit and wry.
With everything from children's classic
tales to cookbooks to treatises on witchcraft to mainstream fiction to
literature (including Steinbeck, Hemingway and Voltaire), the publishing
industry relied on Mahlon Blaine often. His best book productions feature
twenty to a hundred illustrations each, and he garnered several awards
for design and illustration. His personal life is obfuscated by a combination
of time's grime and his own desire for privacy and outlandish cover stories.
His last significant contract would
come in 1962, when the early fantasy and science fiction publishing house
Canaveral
Press hired Blaine to illustrate their reprints of the works of Edgar
Rice Burroughs. By the '60s, Blaine was in fact elderly and hough Blaine's
illustrations for the Burroughs's line are far from his most technically
proficient, the series represented a turning away from the heroic, literal-minded
approach to book illustration. The images were widely disparaged at the
time but they introduced a generation of artists and cartoonists to Blaine’s
genius. His influence on the underground cartoonists of the 1970s is powerful,
with visionaries like Robert Crumb and Art Spiegelman referencing his work.
Mahlon Blaine died in poverty and obscurity in 1969.
Canaveral covers and dates at:
http://www.erbzine.com/mag28/2805.html
Mahlon Blaine art for Canaveral
http://www.erbzine.com/blaine/
Blaine Bio and Bibliographic Info
http://www.erbzine.com/mag8/0880.html
Off-Site
Reference 1
Off-Site Reference
2
Off-Site Reference 3
Off-Site
Reference 4
*** 1911: Maureen Paula
"Jane" O'Sullivan (1911.05.17-1998.06.25) was born this date in Boyle,
County Roscommon, Ireland.
As a child, O'Sullivan attended the Convent of the Sacred
Heart at Roehampton, in London, where future screen legend Vivien Leigh
was a classmate. At age 18, O'Sullivan was discovered at a horse show in
Dublin by Hollywood director Frank Borzage. She moved to Hollywood and
started her film career dubiously with the 1930 musical flop Song O'
My Heart co-starring John McCormack. Her first real success
came in 1931 with Will Rogers in A Connecticut Yankee. Maureen
is often dubbed 'Ireland's first film star'.
Legendary producer Irving Thalberg
tapped
her for what became her most famous role, as Jane in the Tarzan series,
opposite Olympic swimmer-turned-actor Johnny Weissmuller.
Her career, spanning 64 years and
over 60 films, included Francis Ford Coppola's Peggy Sue Got
Married (1986) and Hannah and her Sisters (1986) with her daughter
Mia, and directed by Mia's then-boyfriend Woody Allen. O'Sullivan
died in 1998 at the age of 87.
TRIVIA
* Her oldest son, Michael, was killed in a plane
crash while taking flying lessons, in 1958.
* Despised working with the chimpanzee Cheetah
during the filming of the Tarzan movies at MGM and, according to daughter
Mia Farrow, privately referred to the primate as "that ape son of a bitch".
* Was a favorite of Irving Thalberg and Louis B.
Mayer at MGM and they had big plans for her as a big star. Thalberg's sudden
death at age 37 of pneumonia in 1936 put a big damper on the momentum in
her pursuit of stardom and was soon relegated to romantic interest roles.
* She was a very active member of both the Hollywood
Democratic Committee and The Hollywood Anti-Nazi League and donated her
time and money to many liberal causes (such as the creation of the United
Nations and the Civil Rights Movement) and political candidates (including
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Henry Wallace, Adlai Stevenson, John F. Kennedy,
Robert F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton) during her lifetime.
* Was a supporter of: UNICEF, The United Nations,
The Democratic National Committee, and the Habitat for Humanity.
* She was of Irish, with some English and Scottish,
ancestry.
* Irish-born O'Sullivan was sent by her father,
a British army major, to Roehampton, a convent school just outside of London,
because her brogue had become so thick. She was two years older than Vivien
Leigh, her best friend at the school. While Leigh was determined to be
an actress, O'Sullivan's ambition was to be an aviatrix.
* Is represented with an Audio Animatronic figure
in The Great Movie Ride in the Tarzan scene, at Disney's Hollywood Studios
at Walt Disney World.
* In May 1934, she received police protection after
reports surfaced that she was in danger of being kidnapped.
* She appeared in three films that have been selected
for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally,
historically or aesthetically" significant: Tarzan and His Mate (1934),
The Thin Man (1934) and The Tall T (1957).
* [on Johnny Weissmuller] "An amiable piece of
beefcake; a likeable, overgrown child."
* "I don't think I ever got parts that interested
me. Well, I did occasionally, but more often than not, they did not interest
me. I wasn't the standard beauty type--it was all marvelous-looking people
like Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford--and I didn't have the glamor or whatever
it is that was the style of those days, so consequently I got landed with
parts that were not terribly interesting to me, and it was rather hard
to be ambitious under those conditions. I probably would have fared better
nowadays when looks count less."
* "There was a period when I got so sick of all
they would ask me about Tarzan, as though I had done nothing else. I changed
my mind when my oldest son said to me he was very proud that I was Tarzan's
mate."
* [on meeting Edgar Rice Burroughs] "[He] was a
nice guy . . . He asked me if I had read any Tarzan books, and I had to
say no. I had barely heard of Tarzan. He sent me a copy of every one of
his books . . . He thought [Johnny Weissmuller] and I were the perfect
Tarzan and Jane, which is lovely."
Maureen O'Sullivan Tribute: 12 ERBzine pages
https://www.erbzine.com/mag45/4569.html
Maureen O'Sullivan's Tarzan Movies
https://www.erbzine.com/movies/
Off-Site Reference:
O'Sullivan
in IMDB
*** 1918: Well-known and longtime ERB
fan Darrell C. Richardson, "The Old Tiger," was born May 17, 1918.
He was a Baptist minister and author of 40-plus books and had a collection
of ERB which was legendary. All the major science fiction and fantasy
writers are represented, mostly in first editions. The collection contained
over 30,000 books, 20,000 pulp magazines and hundreds of related items,
in over twenty languages. Almost every major artist in the history of science
fiction is represented in the author's collection of original art. One
of his special interests over the years was the artist J. Allen St.
John.
He wrote and edited books, magazine stories, articles,
and newspaper columns. His travels and expeditions, archaeological digs,
research and adventures carried him into over forty countries of the globe.
"The Old Tiger" died in Memphis, Tennessee on September
19, 2006.
Our many ERBzine tribute pages contain photos, bios,
articles, special events, St. John art, etc.
Darrell Richardson
http://www.erbzine.com/darrell
*** "Tarzan in the City of Gold,"
began May 17, 1936, and continued for 51 Sundays. Hal Foster and Don
Garden did the artistry and writing. also reprinted in "Tarzan in Color,"
Vols. 5-7, and House of Greystoke's "Tarzan Folio #6."
Hal Foster Tarzan Contents:
1931
and 1932 1933
and 1934 and 1935
"Tarzan and the Lion Emperor"
1957, 68 days. By John Celardo and Dick Van Buren.
Tarzan and the Lion Emperor: Read all 68 Strips
http://www.erbzine.com/mag43/4302.html
*** 1888: A news story in Chicago
papers reports how the Burroughs family took in James M. Johnson,
an ailing Confederate negro after the war. He was given an education,
made practically one of the family and eventually became a prosperous businessman
in Chicago.
ERB Bio Timeline
http://www.ERBzine.com/bio
1945: Henry Herbert Knibbs died on this date.
Henry Herbert Knibbs Tributes in ERBzine:
http://www.erbzine.com/mag9/0950.html
http://www.erbzine.com/mag9/0951.html
Knibbs' Poem that inspired The Mucker
http://www.erbzine.com/mag9/0950.html#THE
POEM THAT INSPIRED THE
Knibbs' Out There Somewhere
http://www.erbzine.com/mag9/0950.html#OUT
THERE SOMEWHERE
MAY
18
Bruce Wood: Moon Maid Special ECOF edition
with Art: Dave Hoover, Jeff Doten, Thomas Yeates
Jim Thompson's 2000 ECOF Logo by Jeff Doten
~ Russ Manning Tarzan Strips ~ El Caballero
.
.
*** 2000: Bruce Wood's ultra-limited edition of ERB's
"The Moon Maid" was distributed at the 2000 ECOF, which began
on May 18 of that year. Jim Thompson hosted the event in Clarksville,
Tennessee, and the highlight for those in attendance was the acquisition
of a copy of this rarity, a project headed up by Bruce Wood, with
assistance from people whose names read like a Who's Who of ERB fandom.
Featured Artists:
Dave Hoover: Dust Jacket ~ Jeff Doten:
frontispiece for Moon Maid ~Tom Yeates: frontispiece for Moon Men
and Red Hawk.
Biographical information on the late Mr. Wood plus a
picture of and information about his Moon Maid book project are featured
in ERBzine.:
Bruce Wood or "Abner Perry"
(1947.09.21-2009.11.10) touched many people through his Internet presence
as well as during the many ERB conventions -- Dum-Dums
and ECOFs -- which he attended over the years. Bruce was an excellent
conversationalist and displayed a wide-ranging knowledge which made him
a very popular figure. His interest in ERB collecting and fandom dated
back almost 50 years. He shared some of the memories of this life-long
passion with us in my ERBzine feature: ERB
Fans on the Web,
I was honoured to receive his special
edition of The Moon Maid a few years back. This rare book
exemplifies so many of his talents: bookbinding, bibliographic knowledge,
collating and computer skills. Another of his skills was the creation of
repro dust jackets, which he lovingly and meticulously constructed. Most
have been featured at ERBzine over the years. Many ERB collections around
the world have been enhanced with this handiwork, as well as from his talents
in book repair.
Another of his major interests and
skills was cartography. "Abner" had designed ERB-related maps for fanzines
going back to the '60s. In recent years he put this knowledge to good use
in the creation of his online ERB Atlas. Unfortunately this Website
went black following Bruce's death. Luckily Bruce had sent me a back-up
disc of the project and I've been able to reformat and upload most of the
maps from that defunct site in tribute. Bruce's passing was a great loss
-- he is sadly missed.
Bruce Wood and his Moon Maid Edition
http://www.erbzine.com/mag30/3039.html
The Moon Maid: Art ~ History ~ e-Text ~ Lost
Text ~ Etc.
http://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0767.html
2000 Clarksville ECOF
http://www.erbzine.com/mag3/0371.html
*** ECOF 2000 Clarksville, TN hosted
by Jim Thompson; "The aim of ECOF ~ The ERB
Chain of Friendship ~ is to bring into contact with each other all
the devotees of EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS so that each one of us is known to
all others. ... to bond ourselves together with the one common denominator,
EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS, who holds us all, link by golden link, within the
ERB CHAIN OF FRIENDSHIP." ~ Frank Paul Shonfeld ~ 1980
ERBzine coverage in 20 illustrated Webpages starting
at:
http://www.erbzine.com/mag3/0371.html
ECOF 2000: Sue-On Hillman's Dejah's Diary ~
4 pages
http://www.erbzine.com/mag3/0385.html
*** 1915: Ula Holt (1915.05.18 - 1982.01.18) was
born on this date in Los Angeles, CA as Florence Eugene Watson. She is
best known for her role in The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935).
She was married to Ashton Dearholt. While filming the Burroughs-Tarzan
Enterprises production on location in Guatemala, ERB's business partner
Ashton Dearholt (producer/actor) fell in love with his leading lady, whom
he had named Ula Holt (he had previously used the name Holt himself). When
Dearholt returned to Hollywood with Miss Holt in tow, Mrs. Dearholt, silent
screen actress Florence Gilbert, was granted a divorce and eventually married
longtime family friend and Dearholt's business partner, Edgar Rice Burroughs.
The
New Adventures of Tarzan was one of the few Tarzan movies without a
"Jane" and Ula Holt came as close as anyone to being the female lead.
TRIVIA: This is Holt’s only known film role. She was
discovered by, and soon married, director Dearholt. In the original version,
the character was to be revealed as government agent Operator 17, but this
was changed during production.
I had correspondence with Ula Holt's
granddaughter, Joy Jones, a few years back, which unfortunately has since
been lost during a computer hard drive crash. Miss Jones wanted to correct
some inaccuracies that she had read in numerous places across the Internet.
She had stated:
"My grandmother, Florence Eugene Watson [Ula Holt), was
born here in the States in Los Angeles. She was in Guatamala playing a
Mayan princess in a movie called Adventure Girl with documentary filmmaker
Joan Lowell at the time that Ashton Dearholt "discovered" her. Although
Herman Brix did help her with her swimming and she was a very good swimmer
she was not an olympian as some sources claim. She changed her name to
Jewel Watson Gleason after Dearholt's death in 1942 when she married my
grandfather. They had two children, a daughter and a son. She died
in Clay County Florida on January 18, 1982, and was buried next to my grandfather
in Oakwood Cemetery in Charlottesville City, VA"
My full ERBzine feature on Ula Holt
is in preparation but meanwhile the following links and photo collages
should be of interest.
ERB: Film Producer
https://www.erbzine.com/mag2/0287.html
The New Adventures of Tarzan - ERBzine 9-page coverage
https://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0584.html
https://www.erbzine.com/cards/film2/ulaholtall.jpg
https://www.erbzine.com/cards/film4/ulaholt2all.jpg
Off-Site Reference:
View TARZAN AND THE GREEN GODDESS
Culled from the 12 part serial The New Adventures of Tarzan
N
*** 1969: Russ Manning's
Tarzan
and the Safari To Opar ran from May 18 to Nov. 30 in 1969 and is
presented by my ERBzine beginning at this ERBzine
1763
Tarzan and the Safari To Opar series of Manning
strips
http://www.erbzine.com/mag17/1763.html
*** 1932: "The
golf course (El Caballero) is open and we are losing only about
three grand per month. But everyone is having a good time." ~ ERB
ERB bought the sprawling Harrison
Gray Otis estate in 1919 which he named Tarzana Ranch. The years here were
happy ones but the operation ran into financial difficulties after a few
years. Ed's mounting debts from his unsuccessful farming and ranching
ventures resulted in the Tarzana Ranch livestock and equipment being auctioned
off on January 15, 1923. The Burroughs Tarzana Tract subdivision project
was very slow in getting off the ground. Book sales experienced a
bit of a slump. Income from all sources was not enough to balance the mounting
debts from bad investments, high overhead, and extravagant lifestyle. In
desperation, Burroughs sold 120 acres of the Tarzana Ranch in early 1924.
Investors turned the property into an exclusive country club called the
El Caballero. Ed, in his role as managing director of the Club, was very
involved in membership drives, building plans and the running of the Club.
El Caballero has survived to become a world
famous Golf and Country Club. In more recent times Ralph Herman treated
me to a fine meal in the Club's exclusive dining room after which we he
led me on a wonderful tour of the grounds -- once part of ERB's Tarzana
Ranch -- while riding in a golf car.
ERB's El Caballero Booklet: SOB Art
http://www.erbzine.com/mag10/1091.html
http://www.erbzine.com/mag10/1092.html
ERB Bio Timeline
http://www.ERBzine.com/bio
https://www.erbzine.com/cards/erb/tarzanaranchall.jpg
*** 1937: Ed suffered angina pains after the over-exertion
of rowing and playing tennis with his young family.
MAY
19
Apache Devil: Argosy 1st of 6 issues: Stahr
cover art ~ Natalie Kingson: Tarzan the Tiger and Tarzan the
Mighty
Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett: New Adventures of Tarzan
~ Polly Walker as Sola in John Carter of Mars
*** 1928: "Apache Devil," the serial, began in the
issue of Argosy All-Story Weekly dated May 19, 1928. It ran for
six installments, with a first-issue cover by Paul Stahr and illustrations
for each interior by Morrison: Burroughs drew upon his personal
experiences with the U.S. 7th Cavalry for inspiration and background when
writing his Apache novels. He also cited many reference books and periodicals.
SOURCES OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION IN ERB'S APACHE
NOVELS
Burroughs drew upon his personal experiences with the
U.S. 7th Cavalry
He also cited the following books and periodicals
as being among the reference materials he used:
The Marvellous Country: Three Years
in Arizona and New Mexico, the Apache's Home by Samuel Woodworth Cozzens
1873
Thrilling Days in Army Life
by General. George. A. Forthsyth 1900
Lives of Famous Indian Chiefs
by Norman B. Wood
The Frontier Trail by Colonel
Homer W. Wheeler
The Land of Poco Tiampo by
Charles. F. Lummis
Geronimo's Story of His Life
by S.M. Barrett, 1907
Trailing Geronimo: The Outbreak
of the White Mountain Apaches, 1881 - 1886 by Anton Mazzanovich
Life Among the Apaches by John
Carey Cremony
Apache Medicine-Men by John
G. Bourke
"Annual Report of the Smithsonian
Institution"
"Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology"
Apache Devil: ERBzine C.H.A.S.E.R. Biblio
http://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0775.html
Apache Devil: ERB Pulp Bibliography
http://www.erbzine.com/mag2/0226.html
Apache Devil: Read the e-Text Edition
http://www.erbzine.com/craft/apache.html
References for the ERB Apache
Novels
Influences on ERB's Apache Novels
http://www.erbzine.com/mag11/1153.html
Indian Wars and Apache Scrapbook
http://www.erbzine.com/mag34/3484.html
ERB's Personal Library Collection (1,100 volumes)
http://www.erbzine.com/dan/
Visit ERB's Other Apache Novel
THE WAR CHIEF
http://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0773.html
*** 1905: Natalie Kingston
(1905.05.19-1991.02.02) who starred as Jane in "Tarzan the Tiger (1929),"
was born on this date as Natalia Ringstrom in Sonoma County, California,
She also played Mary Trevor opposite
Frank Merrill in "Tarzan
the Mighty (1928)."
According to Wikipedia, Natalie was the granddaughter
of Gen. Mariano Vallejo. for whom the California city of her birth is named.
As a child in San Francisco, she learned to dance traditional Spanish dances.
She began law school but left to take a course in dancing and her first
professional career was as a dancer.
Starting her career as an actress
on Broadway, she moved into films in the early 1920s. Her first movie appearance
was in The Daredevil (1923). She joined the Mack Sennett studios in 1924,
and co-starred with Harry Langdon in a series of comedy films. She
signed with Paramount Pictures in 1926 and made three comedies in quick
succession: Miss Brewster's Millions (1926), The Cat's Pajamas
(1926) and Wet Paint (1926). Kingston's first dramatic role was
in Street Angel (1928) followed with the Tom Mix movie, Painted
Post and The Night of Love (1927) with Ronald Colman.
Natalie Kingston: Bio and Photo Gallery
http://www.erbzine.com/mag41/4174.html
Tarzan the Mighty: Film and Novelization
http://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0592.html
Tarzan the Tiger: Film and Photo Galleries
http://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0593.html
Off-Site Reference:
Kingston
in Wikipedia
*** 1906: Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett (1906.05.19-2007.02.24)
A star shot-putter in the 1928 Olympics and Tarzan actor was born on
this date. Brix, a tall, superbly muscled youth with ruggedly handsome
features and a low growl of a voice, was handpicked by the Ape Man's creator,
Edgar Rice Burroughs, to star in the 1935 Burroughs-financed serial, The
New Adventures of Tarzan following in the footsteps of fellow Olympic
stars Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe. The Brix vehicle, shot on location
in the wilds of Guatemala, was the only one between the silents and the
1960s to present the character accurately, as a sophisticated, polyglot
English nobleman. Metro blocked "Adventures" out of most theaters, but
it was very popular in the foreign markets, resulting in the Tarzan
and the Green Goddess (1938) sequel made essentially of reworked footage
from the earlier movie. After "Adventures" he made a number of serials
for Republic, including a Tarzan-like Kioga in Hawk of the Wilderness
(1938). After this he dropped out for a few years, took acting lessons,
and changed his name to Bruce Bennett, As the years passed, Bennett
got better and so did the pictures. Bennett got his best breaks at Warner
Bros. In 1960 he retired from movie making and went into business, becoming
sales manager of a multimillion dollar vending machine company. In 1967
he returned to acting in TV guest appearances.
We were looking forward to meeting him at a Tarzana
Dum-Dum but ill health forced him to cancel the appearance.
Herman Brix in The New Adventures of Tarzan
Tarzan and the Green Goddess
http://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0584.html
Off-Site Reference:
Bennett
in Wikipedia
*** 1966: Polly Walker, who played the mean Thark
woman
Sarkoja in Disney's "John Carter," was born May 19,
1966, in Warrington, Cheshire, England. She previously had roles in movies
such as "Clash of the Titans," when she played Cassiopeia and, since "John
Carter," has had on-going roles in several television mini series.
John Carter 2012 Film
http://www.cartermovie.com
Off-Site References
Walker
in IMDB
*** Jeffrey Catherine Jones
(1944.01.10-2011.05.19),
award-winning artist, died on this date. Jones' work is best known from
the late 1960s through the 2000s. Jones provided more than 150 covers for
many different types of books through 1976, as well as venturing into fine
art during and after this time. Fantasy artist Frank Frazetta called Jones
"the greatest living painter". Although Jones first achieved fame as simply
Jeff Jones and lived for a time as male, she later changed her name and
was legally recognized as female. Jones was nominated for the Hugo Award
for best fan artist in 1967, and for the best professional artist Hugo
in 1970, 1971, and 1972. In 1975 she was nominated for the World Fantasy
Award for best artist and won the award in 1986. Additionally, Jones was
nominated for the Chesley Award in 1999. ERB fans admire the wonderful
Tarzan art that she produced through the years.
The 1998 ERB Calendar by Jeff Jones
http://www.erbzine.com/mag3/0315.html
*** 1898: Teddy Roosevelt
rejected Ed's offer for enlistment in the Rough Riders preparing
to drive the Spanish out of Cuba. "I wish I
could take you in, but I am afraid that the chances of our bing over enlisted
forbid my bringing a man from such a distance." It is rumoured that
Ed received a commission in the Nicaraguan army but his family would not
let him go.
*** 1942: Oahu: Singapore or Wake? Ed's
article was printed in Honolulu Adviser. Ed expressed his impatience with
the limited participation of the BMTC and civilian apathy.
*** 1939: ERB wrote a letter to Joan at 5714 Bantage,
Studio City on this date, California. Joan had enquired about some missing
Tarzan Clan music by Schermer. Ed thought it might be in a cabinet at Emma's
Bel-Air place along with some photos he would like back.
*** 1944: George Luther? of Hawaii Magazine dropped
by to invite Ed to a friend's home.
ERB Bio Timeline
http://www.ERBzine.com/bio
*** 1944: Ed wrote "Uncle Bill" a short
story unpublished in his lifetime. He devised realistic background elements
for this horror story. It was a brief 1,787-word narrative written in only
two days, May 19 to 20, Ed chose a "Young Woman named Mary" to summarize
an event in Aunt Phoebe's life.
Read the Short Story: "Uncle Bill" by ERB ~ Transcribed
in ERBzine
https://www.erbzine.com/mag67/6726.html
Read Two ERB unique interpretations of "Uncle Bill"
by ERB Researchers Doug Denby and John Martin at
https://www.erbzine.com/mag67/6726a.html
See Part II of Doug Denby's Thoughts on "Uncle Bill"
at
https://www.erbzine.com/mag67/6726b.html
MAY
20
Estelle Taylor as Olga in Revenge of Tarzan ~ Lydie
Denier as Jane in TV Tarzan
Jim Sullos from ERB, Inc. ~ Disney Tarzan: Tony Goldwyn
the voice and Tarzan figure
*** 1960: Tony Goldwyn, the voice of the title character
of the Disney animated film Tarzan, was born on this date. He is
the son of actress Jennifer Howard and film producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr.
and his grandfather is film mogul Samuel Goldwyn. In the HBO miniseries
From the Earth to the Moon, Goldwyn played astronaut Neil Armstrong,
commander of Apollo 11 and reprised the Tarzan role in the video
games Disney's Tarzan Untamed and Kingdom Hearts. He has had a very successful
career as an actor, singer, producer, director and political activist.
Goldwyn has been married to production designer Jane Michelle Musky since
1987 and they have two daughters.
Hollywood has gone a long way from
Africa to cast Tarzan, and a long way from Paris to cast Olga de Coude.
Tony
Goldwyn was born in Los Angeles, California. Estelle Taylor,
who played Olga in "The Revenge of Tarzan," was born in 1894 in
Wilmington, Delaware. The movie makers did once cast the role of Olga with
a genuine French native, Lydie Denier, who was born April 15, 1964,
in Saint-Nazaire, Loire-Atlantique, France. She, of course, also played
Tarzan's true love, Jane, in the 1991-1995 syndicated series opposite Wolf
Larson's Tarzan.
Walt Disney Tarzan Review
http://www.erbzine.com/mag0/0099.html
Special Tarzan Screening on the Disney Lot
http://www.erbzine.com/mag1/0181.html
Revenge of Tarzan: Estelle Taylor Bio and Photos
http://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0588.html
Lydie Denier Autobiography and Photos in ERBzine
http://www.erbzine.com/mag33/3338.html
Off-Site References:
Goldwyn
at IMDB
Taylor
at IMDB
Denier
at IMDB
*** 1924: In a letter to the LA Times
Ed registered a protest against the "ruthless and inconsiderate methods
of the government Biological Department in placing of poison in the hills
without proper posting or other notification." As a result of this procedure
the Burroughs family's beloved Airedale, "Tarzan," had died.
"Tarzan" Died!: LA Times Letter from ERB
http://www.erbzine.com/mag13/1365.html#Tarzan
*** 1942: In a letter home to Joan
Ed sent photos of his friends taken by Hully: Cecile Burnside is
the wife of a submarine commander, Jean Armor's husband is a lieutenant
on a cruiser, "Duke" Willey, a BMTC major, is manager of the Remington-Rand
branch on the island.
Letter Excerpts: "Thinking that you
might like to see some of my playmates, I am enclosing prints of some shots
Hulbert made in January. Have been all this time trying to get the
negatives from him. When they came, they were marked 'Do not scratch,
mark, or fingerprint.' Jack will appreciate this."
"Cecil Burnside is the wife of a submarine commander.
She hasn't seen him since October or November. She has had a couple
of cables from him filed at 'Sansorigine'. The first one had everybody
in the hotel searching atlases to locate Sansorigine. One bright
guy said he knew just about where it was, but that it was not on his map.
Finally, some one realized that it was French for 'without origin'. The
location of his sub is, of course, a military secret."
"Jean Armor's husband is a lieutenant on a cruiser.
She has been evacuated. She has a son in that military academy which is,
I think, located at the old Whitley place near you.
"'Duke' Willey is manager of the Remington-Rand branch
here. He is a major in the BMTC. He has travelled the east
for some concern for many years, and he and his wife are very familiar
with Japan, Manila, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore. One meets
many interesting people at this 'Crossroads of the Pacific'."
Hully's photos of Ed from Hawaii
http://www.erbzine.com/mag41/4139.html
ERB's Letter to Joan
http://www.erbzine.com/mag4/0440.html
ERB Bio Timeline
http://www.ERBzine.com/bio
ERB: The Wartime Files
http://www.ERBzine.com/war
ERB Wartime Journals: 1942-43
Transcribed and Illustrated by Bill Hillman
https://www.erbzine.com/mag68/6800.html
MAY
21
Tarzan Sunday Pages by Hal Foster and Burne Hogarth
~ Herman Brix: New Adventures of Tarzan/
Tarzan and the Green Goddess ~ Tarzan Marquee
~ Vanessa Brown in Tarzan and the Slave Girl
*** 1935: The release date for "The New Adventures of
Tarzan" serial is listed as May 21, 1935, but an early poster near
the top of my ERBzine page shows an earlier release date of April 29. There
were a number of release dates for this film which was released as a serial
and then edited into a feature film and released later as: Tarzan
and the Green Goddess. Tarzan films were major money earners in
the world market in the thirties, with as much as 75 per cent of the total
gross from foreign box office. In fact, in many African and Asian countries
their premiers were black-tie affairs. In 1934, to cash in on this popularity
and the considerable profits to be made in production and distribution,
Burroughs
teamed with George W. Stout, Ben S. Cohen and Lee Ashton Dearholt
to
form a film company to promote ERB's works.
Their first Tarzan film was based
on an original story outlined by Burroughs called Tarzan and the
Green Goddess. For the first time ERB had some control over how
his hero would be portrayed on the screen. The actor he selected to play
Tarzan was American Olympic athlete Herman Brix who had been MGM's
second choice for Tarzan the Apeman. Brix, as well as being a silver medal
winner in the 1928 Olympics, was a former University of Washington football
and track star. Looking to achieve authenticity, Dearholt suggested that
the film be done on location in Guatemala.
The New Adventures of Tarzan: 9 Pages
http://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0584.html
https://www.erbzine.com/cards/film3/brixtarzanall.jpg
Off-Site Reference:
New Adventures
in IMDB
*** 1999: VANESSA BROWN: Elsewhere on the Hollywood
scene, Jane of "Tarzan and the Slave Girl," Vanessa Brown,
died this date in 1999 in Woodland Hills, Calif.
Read more about Vanessa in our Silver Screen Coverage
(below) and in the EVENTS for March 24th: https://www.erbzine.com/mag63/6322.html#MARCH24
Tarzan and the Slave Girl: ERBzine Silver Screen
http://www.erbzine.com/mag19/1950.html
Tarzan and the Slave Girl: Lobby Display
http://www.erbzine.com/mag19/1950a.html
ERB Heroines of Hearth ~ Stage ~ Screen ~ Radio
http://www.erbzine.com/mag6/0608.html
https://www.erbzine.com/cards/film4/vanessabrowntarzanslavegirlall.jpg
Off-Site Reference:
Brown in
IMD
*** "The Egyptian Saga III" by
Hal
Foster and George Carlin, began May 21 in 1933 and ran for 12 Sundays.
The May 21 episode was called:
The Death: Episode #1 of Egyptian Saga III
http://www.erbzine.com/mag59/5922.html
Story Summarized by Bill Hillman starts at:
http://www.erbzine.com/mag8/0811.html
The Egyptian Saga reprinted in a 64-page comic
http://www.erbzine.com/mag43/4396.html
HAL FOSTER TARZAN REPRINTS: ALL PAGES
https://www.erbzine.com/foster
*** "Tarzan and the Amazons"
started May 21 in 1939, with Strip #1: The Mysterious Spectator
by Burne Hogarth and Don Garden doing the honors, and ran for 10
Sundays.
The Mysterious Spectator
http://www.erbzine.com/mag66/tzbh19390521.jpg
ERB Comics Archive
http://www.erbzine.com/comics
HOGARTH TARZAN REPRINTS BEGIN
https://www.erbzine.com/mag72/7200.html
*** 1919: Ed Burroughs wrote
to the Jewish Congress stating that he was glad to lend his approval
to their cause and wished them all the success in their battle against
persecution. The discrimination they face had always aroused his disgust.
In fact, he had always been perplexed by the intolerance and inhumanity
that all religions -- Jews, Christians, Muslims, Pagans, etc. exhibit toward
each other. He finds Clause 6 unclear, however, as he always believed
that every alien should be expected to read and write in the language of
the country to which they are migrating.
Readers and fans of the works of Edgar
Rice Burroughs have been of every age and occupation, nationality and culture,
faith and belief. It is quite amazing how each one so uniquely interprets
ERB's themes and beliefs. He has been labelled as being ahead of his time
in his progressive ideas on conservation, feminism, animal rights, free-thinking,
reason vs. superstition, humanitarianism, championing of all races, writing
trends (science fiction, adventure, fantasy), mechandising, artists' rights,
fatherhood, creativity and imaginative thinking.
On the other hand, there are those
who see in him characteristics contrary to all of the forelisted: placing
of women in subservient roles, butcher of wildlife, intensely religious
and spiritual, shallow thinker, racist, hack, plagiarizer, business failure,
homewrecker, opportunist, and a dreamer of wild and worthless fantasies.
ERB Bio Timeline
http://www.ERBzine.com/bio
ERB and Religion
http://www.erbzine.com/mag14/1434.html
BACK TO MAY WEEK II
www.ERBzine.com/mag63/6328.html
VISIT MAY WEEK 3 PHOTO ALBUM
www.ERBzine.com/mag63/6329pics.html
BACK TO DAILY
EVENTS INTRO and CONTENTS
www.ERBzine.com/events
BILL
HILLMAN
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