Clarence Linden Crabbe II (; February 7, 1908 – April 23, 1983), known professionally as Buster Crabbe, was an American two-time Olympic swimmer and film and television actor. He won the 1932 Olympic gold medal for 400-meter freestyle swimming event, which launched his career on the

silver screen A silver screen, also known as a silver lenticular screen, is a type of projection screen that was popular in the early years of the motion picture industry and passed into popular usage as a metonym for the cinema industry. The term silver scree ...

and later television. He starred in a variety of popular

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

s and movie serials released between 1933 and the 1950s, portraying the top three syndicated comic-strip heroes of the 1930s:

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...

, and

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...

Early life

Crabbe was born in 1908 to Edward Clinton Simmons Crabbe, a real estate broker, and Lucy Agnes (née McNamara) Crabbe, in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. He had a brother, Edward Clinton Simmons Crabbe Jr. (1909–1972). Crabbe grew up in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and graduated from

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through twelfth grade, 12th grade. Protestant missionar ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

. He then attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, where he was the school's first All-American swimmer (1931) and a 1931 NCAA freestyle titlist. He also became a member of the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

fraternity before graduating from USC in 1931.

Olympic Games

Crabbe competed in two

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

as a

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. At the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, he won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

for the 1,500 meters freestyle, and at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, he won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

for the 400 meters freestyle when he beat

Jean Taris Jean Charles Émile Taris (6 July 1909 – 10 January 1977) was a French swimmer who competed at the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympics. In 1928, he was eliminated in the heats of the 4×200 m freestyle relay and 1500 m freesty ...

of France by a tenth of a second.

Acting career

Hollywood

He is credited in some films as "Larry Crabbe" or "Larry (Buster) Crabbe". His role in the ''Tarzan'' serial ''

Tarzan the Fearless ''Tarzan the Fearless'' is a 12 chapter American Pre-Code film serial starring Buster Crabbe in his only appearance as Tarzan. It was also released as a 61-minute feature film which consisted of the first four chapters edited together, and whi ...

'' (1933) began a career in which Crabbe starred in more than a hundred films. In '' King of the Jungle'' (1933), '' Jungle Man'' (1941), and the serial ''

King of the Congo ''King of the Congo'' is a 1952 American 15 chapter movie serial, the 48th released by Columbia Pictures. It was produced by Sam Katzman, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and Wallace Grissell, and stars Buster Crabbe. The serial also co-stars G ...

'' (1952), he played typical "jungle man" roles. He starred in several popular films at this time, including ''

The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi Often called the most beloved and popular of college fraternity songs, "The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi" was written in 1911 by Byron D. Stokes ( Albion Class of 1913) and F. Dudleigh Vernor (Albion '14). Stokes had written the words while in class ...

'' (1933), alongside

Betty Grable Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer. Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million; for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she reign ...

, and ''Search for Beauty'' (1934), ''Daughter of Shanghai'' (1937) credited as Larry Crabbe. In 1936, he was selected over several stars to play

in the first, very successful

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

''Flash Gordon'' serial, which was followed by two sequels released in 1938 and 1940. The series was later edited and shown extensively on American television during the 1950s and 1960s, then fully restored for home video release. He also starred as

for Universal, playing the role with dark hair, unlike his blonde hair for Flash Gordon. In 1939 Crabbe reunited with Grable for a lead role in the mainstream comedy '' Million Dollar Legs''. Crabbe starred at the Billy Rose's Aquacade at the New York World's Fair during its second year (1940), replacing fellow Olympic swimmer and Tarzan actor

Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. H ...

. During World War II, Crabbe was put under contract by

Producers Releasing Corporation Producers Releasing Corporation was the smallest and least prestigious of the Hollywood film studios of the 1940s. It was considered a prime example of what was called "Poverty Row": a low-rent stretch of Gower Street in Hollywood where shoest ...

for lead roles from 1942 to 1946. He portrayed a

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

folk-hero version of

Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at t ...

in 13 films, and Billy Carson in 23, along with

Al St. John Al St. John (also credited as Al Saint John and "Fuzzy" St. John; September 10, 1892 – January 21, 1963) was an early American motion-picture comedian. He was a nephew of silent film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, with whom he often performed on ...

as his

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

. As a 34-year-old married man, Crabbe had a draft deferment, but made Army

training film A training film is a form of educational film – a short subject documentary movie, that provides an introduction to a topic. Both narrative documentary and dramatisation styles may be used, sometimes both in the same production. While most ...

s for the

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20t ...

at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, along with St. John. Crabbe also played some jungle roles for the studio. Following the war, Crabbe appeared opposite Weissmuller as a rival in two jungle films, '' Swamp Fire'' (1946) and ''

Captive Girl ''Captive Girl'' is the fourth Jungle Jim film produced by Columbia Pictures. It was directed by William Berke and starred Johnny Weissmuller as the title character. It was also Weissmuller's second teaming with his fellow former Tarzan and Olympi ...

'' (1950). For his final multi-chapter movie serial, Crabbe returned to the jungle playing the role of

Thun'da Thun'da is a fictional character created by artist and conceptualist Frank FrazettaThun'da
at

in ''

'' (1952).

Television

Crabbe was frequently featured in archival footage in the children's television program, ''

The Gabby Hayes Show The Gabby Hayes Show was the name given to two early children's television series. Both series were broadcast on NBC, and both were sponsored by the Quaker Oats Company. Gabby Hayes was the host of a series that featured history stories. He al ...

''. Prior to his playing "Captain Gallant", Crabbe had hosted the local New York City-based children's film wraparound television series, ''The Buster Crabbe Show''. It was set against the backdrop of a ranch foreman's bunk house and featured Crabbe engaging his viewers with games, stories, craftmaking, hobbies, informational segments, and interviews with guest performers and personalities. This was in-between the reruns of old movie serials, westerns, and comedies. ''The Buster Crabbe Show'' was seen weekday evenings on WOR-TV (Channel 9) in New York City from Monday, March 12, 1951, to Friday, October 3, 1952. The series name was changed to ''Buster's Buddies!'' and returned to the NYC airways on WJZ-TV (Channel 7) (now WABC) on Monday, September 21, 1953. The WJZ TV version of the series included a studio audience of kids, becoming more of a kids' variety show. Despite the addition of the studio audience and Crabbe's personality, ''Buster's Buddies!'' was not a hit, and it was canceled on Friday, March 26, 1954. On September 28, 1952, ''Sports Final with Buster Crabbe'' debuted on WNBT-TV in New York City. Crabbe gave updates sports news from 11:15 to 11:20 p.m. Eastern Time on Sundays. Crabbe starred in the syndicated television series, ''

Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion ''Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion'' is an American half-hour black-and-white television series about the French Foreign Legion starring Buster Crabbe in the title role. Crabbe's real-life son Cullen Crabbe played the Legion mascot, with cowb ...

'' (1955 to 1957) as Captain Michael Gallant; the adventure series aired on NBC. His real-life son, Cullen Crabbe, appeared in the series as the character "Cuffy Sanders". Crabbe made regular television appearances, including an episode of the 1979 series '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'', in which he played a retired fighter pilot named "Brigadier Gordon", in honor of Flash Gordon. When Rogers (

Gil Gerard Gil Gerard (born January 23, 1943) is an American actor, whose roles include Captain William "Buck" Rogers in the 1979–81 television series '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century''. Early life Gerard was born January 23, 1943, in Little Rock, Arkan ...

) praises his flying, Gordon replies "I've been doing that sort of thing since before you were born", not realizing Buck was actually born over 500 years earlier. (Indeed, Crabbe first played Buck Rogers in 1939, six years before Gerard's birth.) Rogers responds "You think so?" to which Gordon replies "Young man, I ''know'' so!" He was also in a TV spot for

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started o ...

, where Crabbe spies himself in an old Flash Gordon short being shown on board: "I think I know that guy. He used to be my idol."

Later years

Crabbe's Hollywood career waned somewhat in the 1950s and 1960s, and he became a stockbroker and businessman during this period. According to David Ragan's ''Movie Stars of the '30s'', Crabbe owned a

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

swimming pool-building company in later years. In the mid-1950s, Crabbe purchased the Adirondack campus of the Adirondack-Florida School, which advertised itself as a swim camp, called Camp Meenahga, for boys aged eight to fourteen, with most of the campers coming from Montreal. He was also the aquatics director at the

Concord Resort Hotel The Concord Resort Hotel (pronounced KAHN-cord, ()) was a resort in the Borscht Belt of the Catskills, known for its large resort industry in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Located in Kiamesha Lake, New York (state), New York, United States, the Conc ...

in New York State's

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...

. During this period, Buster joined the swimming pool company Cascade Industries in

Edison, New Jersey Edison is a township located in Middlesex County,in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan Valley region, Edison is a commercial hub, home to Menlo Park Mall and Little India. It is ...

. In his capacity as Vice President of Sales, promoter, and spokesman for Cascade, "the world's first 'package pool' company", he attended shopping mall openings and

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

grounds, combining the promotion of his swim camps and Cascade's vinyl liner for in-ground swimming pools. A pool line was named after him, and swimming pools were sold by "Buster Crabbe Dealers" throughout the eastern seaboard and southern states from 1952 until 1990. Though he followed other pursuits, he never stopped acting. However, his career in the 1950s, and later, was limited to low-budget films, notably westerns, such as '' Gunfighters of Abilene'' (1960) co-starring Barton MacLane, ''

Arizona Raiders ''Arizona Raiders'' is a 1965 American Techniscope Western (genre), Western film directed by William Witney and starring Audie Murphy.The Bounty Killer ''The Ugly Ones'' ( es: ''El precio de un hombre'', lit. "The Price of a Man", it: ''The Bounty Killer'', later ''La morte ti segue... ma non ha fretta'', lit. "Death follows you... but not in a hurry") is a 1966 Spanish-Italian Italian(s) ...

'' (1965) co-starring Dan Duryea and Rod Cameron. Crabbe appeared as the father of a young swimmer in the comedy ''Swim Team'' (1979), and as a sheriff in the low-budget horror film ''

Alien Dead ''Alien Dead'' is an American horror film directed by Fred Olen Ray. Ray co-wrote the script with Martin Nicholas. The film involves a meteor hitting a houseboat, which causes the people on board to become zombies who eat alligators and eventual ...

'' (1980), followed by '' The Comeback Trail'' (1982), one year before his death. Crabbe also appeared in television commercials for

Hormel Hormel Foods Corporation is an American food processing company founded in 1891 in Austin, Minnesota, by George A. Hormel as George A. Hormel & Company. The company originally focused on the packaging and selling of ham, sausage and other pork, ...

Chili,

Icy Hot Icy commonly refers to conditions involving ice, a frozen state, usually referring to frozen water. Icy or Icey may also refer to: People * Icy Spicy Leoncie, an Icelandic-Indian musician Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ICY (band), a vocal ...

, and the Magic Mold Bodyshirt, an upper body male girdle of sorts, which purportedly helped in weight loss. Through Icy Hot, he was actively involved in arthritis education. Despite his numerous film and television appearances, he is best remembered today as one of the original cinema action heroes of the 1930s and 1940s. In the 1950s, two published comic book series were named after him.

Eastern Color The Eastern Color Printing Company was a company that published comic books, beginning in 1933. At first, it was only newspaper comic strip reprints, but later on, original material was published. Eastern Color Printing was incorporated in 19 ...

published 12 issues of ''Buster Crabbe Comics'' from 1951 to 1953, followed by

Lev Gleason Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Stone Gleason (1898–1971), was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including '' Daredevil Comics'', '' Crime Does Not Pay'', and ''Boy Comics''. Backg ...

's four issues of ''The Amazing Adventures of Buster Crabbe'' in 1954. In 1965, he was inducted into the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the s ...

. During his senior swimming career, Crabbe set 16 world and 35 national records. He continued swimming through his sixties and in 1971 set a world record in his age group. In 1979 he made one of his final appearances in an episode of the NBC television series ''Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'', playing the guest role of retired space fighter pilot "Brigadier Gordon," who is recalled to active duty, in a nod to his two famous science fiction hero roles.

Personal life

In 1933, he married Adah Virginia Held (1912–2004) and gave himself a year to make it as an actor. If he didn't find employment as an actor in that period, he planned to start law school at the University of Southern California. Crabbe and his wife had two daughters, Caren Lynn ("Sande") and Susan, and a son, Cullen. In 1957, Sande died of

anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gr ...

aged 20. He is the maternal grandfather of the college football coach

Nick Holt Nicholas Holt VSpokesman-Review'' - Washington State Employee Salaries - Assistant football coach employees - Univ. of Washington - 2010 compensation - accessed 2011-12-31 (born October 15, 1962) is an American football coach who is currently the ...

Death

In 1983, at age 75, Crabbe died of a heart attack at his home in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

. He is interred at Green Acres Memorial Park in Scottsdale.

Selected filmography (films)

* ''

Badge of Honor The Badge of Honor novel series is a series of novels written by W.E.B. Griffin about the Philadelphia Police Department. Although the books were originally set in the 1970s and early 1980s, and the characters have only aged a few years (Matt Payn ...

'' (1934) as Bob Gordon *'' The Arizona Raiders'' (1936) as "Laramie" Nelson *''

Billy the Kid (film series) The Billy the Kid series of 42 Western films was produced between 1940 and 1946, and released by Poverty Row studio Producers Releasing Corporation. The initial six star Bob Steele as Billy the Kid who left PRC to return to Republic Pictures. Th ...

'' - Crabbe starred in 36 of the 42 films in the series (1941-1946) *'' Swamp Fire'' (1946) as Mike Kalavich, co-starring with

as Johnny Duval *'' Gunfighters of Abilene'' (1960) as Kip Tanner *''

'' (1965) as Mike Clayman *''

'' (1980) as Sheriff Kowalski *'' The Comeback Trail'' (1982) as Duke Montana

Selected filmography (serials)

*''

'' (1933) as Tarzan *''

'' (1936) as Flash Gordon *''

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars ''Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars'' is a 1938 Universal Pictures 15–chapter science-fiction movie serial based on the syndicated newspaper comic strip ''Flash Gordon''. It is the second of the three Flash Gordon serials made by Universal between 1 ...

'' (1938) as Flash Gordon *'' Red Barry'' (1938) as Red Barry *''

'' (1939) as Buck Rogers *''

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe ''Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe'' is a 1940 American black-and-white science fiction 12-chapter movie serial from Universal Pictures, produced by Henry MacRae and co-directed by Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor. The serial stars Buster Crabbe, Ca ...

'' (1940) as Flash Gordon *''

Last of the Redmen ''Last of the Redskins'' (aka ''Last of the Redmen'') is a 1947 American Western film directed by George Sherman and starring Joh Hall and Michael O'Shea. The film was shot in Vitacolor but released in Cinecolor. Unlike other adaptations th ...

'' (1947) as Magua *''

The Sea Hound ''The Sea Hound'' is an American radio adventure series that ran from June 29, 1942, to August 7, 1951. It began on the Blue Network June 29, 1942 – September 22, 1944, as a 15-minute serial for young audiences, featuring Ken Daigneau as Capt ...

'' (1947) as Captain Silver *''

Pirates of the High Seas ''Pirates of the High Seas'' is a 1950 American adventure serial film directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Carr and starring Buster Crabbe, Lois Hall and Tommy Farrell. Plot Adventurer Jeff Drake sails to a Pacific island in aid of Kel ...

'' (1950) as Jeff Drake *''

'' (1952) as Captain Roger Drum and "