From Tarzan to the Kardashains: Olympians On the Big Screen

Missy Franklin

Olympiad XXX draws to a close, carving new names into the record. We'll remember the U.S. gold medal swimmers, including Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and Missy Franklin.

Winning a medal at the Olympics has often been a springboard for Olympians to express their talents and prowess elsewhere, and it doesn't matter if you win a bronze, silver or gold medal, you could be in demand.





Here are Olympic gold medalists who parlayed their wins into movie contracts:



Johnny Weissmuller

Hungarian-born American swimmer Johnny Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He made his movie debut as "Tarzan, the Ape Man" and starred in 12 Tarzan films, often co-starring with Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane. The “Me Tarzan. You Jane” and the famous “Tarzan yell” became known the world over. "Tarzan and the Mermaids", the last of these films, was completed in 1948. Weissmuller died in Acapulco in 1984 at the age of 79.



Bruce Jenner

Bruce Jenner won the gold for the decathlon at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, his second Olympics appearance. He was offered the role of "Superman", but turned it down. Bruce's only appeared in the 1980 film, "Can't Stop the Music" which he tries to forget.

His second marriage to Kris Kardashian propelled him back into the spotlight in the reality show "Keeping Up With The Kardashians", with Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney. The show premiered in October 2007 on E!

Helene Madison won three gold medals in 1932 in the freestyle competitions. She was almost unbeatable at many swimming distances, and she actually set 16 world records in as many months. Not long after her Olympic Success she made her acting debut in the 1933 film "The Warriors Husband", where she played an Amazon captain of the guards. Unfortunately her performance went largely unnoticed and she did not make another movie.However, she later made a career as a night club singer.




Buster Crabbe won the 400 meter free style in the 1932 Olympics. He won his gold medal by one -tenth of a second, and he later claimed that this is what led Hollywood producers to discover his acting talents! Crabbe mad his debut in "King of the Jungle" and is best remembered as Flash Gordon and as Buck Rodgers. He completed 53 movies before his death in 1983.

Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie was a three-time Olympic Champion (1928, 1932, 1936) in Ladies Singles, a ten-time World Champion (1927–1936) and a six-time European Champion (1931–1936). Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater. At the height of her acting career she was one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood.  Her shows and touring activities brought Henie as much as $2 million per year. She also had numerous lucrative endorsement contracts, and deals to market skates, clothing, jewelry, dolls, and other merchandise branded with her name. These activities made her one of the wealthiest women in the world in her time.

In addition to her three marriages, Henie had a variety of love interests, including her skating partners, celebrated boxing legend Joe Louis, a much-publicized affair with Tyrone Power, and a later romance with actor Van Johnson. According to the biography Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows, written by her brother Leif with Raymond Strait after her death, Henie was obsessed with money and sex, had a vile temper when crossed, and used her family and others shamelessly to advance her own ends.

Henie was diagnosed with leukemia in the mid-1960s. She died on October 12, 1969 at the age of 57 while on a flight to Oslo.

Cornishman V

The only non-human gold medal winner to have a career in the movies was Cornishman V, Bitish olympic double gold winner in 1968 and 1972.  He had a role in "Dead Cert" in 1974 and "International Velvet" in 1978.

You might  be looking for my favorite movie swim star, Esther Williams.

Like Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe before her, Esther Williams achieved the seemingly impossible by transforming her skill at competitive swimming into a popular movie career. A star athlete and Olympic hopeful in her teens, she gained her earliest exposure to show business as the female lead in showman Billy Rose's Aquacade. Executives at MGM who saw her swimming abilities and pin-up worthy looks signed her immediately to a contract with the studio.

There she starred in a series of musicals built around Williams' extraordinarily graceful water ballets. Audiences ate up the ultra-lightweight fare, making her one of the most popular movie stars of the 1940s and 1950s, though her career declined whenever she decided to pursue roles on dry land. After retiring in the early sixties, she parlayed her association with all things aquatic into lucrative licensing deals for ladies' swimwear and swimming pools.

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