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(February 6, 1889 in Rochester,
Indiana – June 27, 1952 in Los Angeles)
 Born
Otto Elmo Linkenhelt, the barrel-chested actor is best known in his
silent movie role as the first person to star as Tarzan as an adult.
An enormous man (6'1", 230 pounds) who'd worked as an Arkansas law
officer before entering films as a bit player, Lincoln was selected
on the basis of his physique by D.W. Griffith to play blacksmith
White Arm Joe in Birth of a Nation (1915) and the Mighty Man of
Valor in Intolerance (1916).
The screen's first Tarzan, Elmo Lincoln might never have landed the
role had it not been for WWI. He might have continued playing
supporting roles indefinitely had not actor Winslow Wilson dropped
out of the 1918 production Tarzan of the Apes to fight on the
battlefields of France. Rushed into the role of Tarzan, Lincoln gave
an impressively virile performance, even though his acting skills
left a great deal to be desired. He went on to play Tarzan in two
subsequent films and starred in several action-oriented feature
films and serials.
He retired from films in 1926 to operate a moderately successful
salvage business in Salt Lake City. Returning to Hollywood in 1939,
he played bit parts in a number of features, including a brace of
Tarzan pictures.
At the time of his death, Elmo Lincoln was still active in films,
playing tiny roles in Columbia's Charles Starrett Westerns for 55
dollars a day.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, he has a star
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7042 Hollywood Boulevard. |
