Herman Brix was a star shot-putter in the 1928 Olympics. After nearly getting the lead in MGM's Tarzan the Ape Man, he was picked by Edgar Rice Burroughs for his own production of The New Adventures of Tarzan, 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 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, dropping his Tarzan and athlete connections. He made many movies after that, gaining fame as a leading man in many Warners products. 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.
He won a silver medal in the 1928 Olympics for the shot put. He attended the "Hollywood Collectors & Celebrities Show", at Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn, in North Hollywood, California. Considered Edgar Rice Burroughs' favorite to play Tarzan, Bruce lost the jungle film series in 1932 when he suffered a separated shoulder from a tackle in the gridiron flick Touchdown (1931). Of course, Johnny Weissmuller became a big star when he won the role. Bruce recuperated and did get to play Tarzan in the serial The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935). His father was a lumber man who owned a couple of different logging camps. Bruce built up his physique working in these lumber camps as a youth. Retired from acting in the 60s and became commercially employed. *