The chimpanzee named Cheetah, who some claim was featured in Tarzan films of the 1930s starring Johnny Weissmuller, is shown in a publicity photo released Wednesday. The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary Foundation in Florida, where Cheetah spent his retirement days, said the chimp died on Dec. 24. They estimate he was 80 years old.
Cheetah, the chimpanzee who became famous at the side of Tarzan in the classic 1930s movies, has died at the age of 80 leaving several disputes unresolved.
Doubts were raised about the chimpanzee's extraordinary age and the authenticity of its silver screen career. Chimpanzees kept in captivity seldom live beyond the age of 45.
And previous animal trainers have falsely claimed that their chimps starred in the films with Johnny Weissmuller.
Eve Golden, a film historian at the Everett Collection, a Hollywood archive, said Wednesday: "There doesn't seem to be any verification that this particular chimp was ever really in any movies or television shows at all. I think it's just an urban legend.
"Unless they have the chimpanzee's acting union card it seems impossible to prove."
The greying primate retired in comfort at the Suncoast Sanctuary. A spokesman for the sanctuary claimed that the much loved primate died from kidney failure on Christmas Eve.
Staff at the American home in Palm Harbour, Fla., said the chimpanzee had enjoyed an enormous impact on children and adults alike "throughout his years." The spokesman said it was "with great sadness that the community has lost a dear friend and family member on December 24."
She said: "Cheetah, the star of the Tarzan films, passed away after kidney failure during the week of December 19."
Debbie Cobb, the director of the sanctuary, said the chimp had loved to finger paint and watch football as he grew older. Some of his artwork, dubbed "ap-stract" paintings, was sold to fans.
"He was very compassionate," Cobb said. "He could tell if I was having a good day or a bad day. He was always trying to get me to laugh if he thought I was having a bad day. He was very in tune to human feelings."
Ron Priest, a volunteer at the sanctuary that has looked after Cheetah since the 1960s, said: "When he didn't like somebody or something that was going on, he would pick up some poop and throw it at them. He could get you at 30 feet with bars in between."
The Tarzan stories, based on the works of the author Edgar Rice Burroughs, chronicle the adventures of a man raised by apes in Africa. The films proved an instant hit from their outset in the 1930s right through to the 1960s.
Weissmuller, who died in 1984, aged 79, played the role of Tarzan, while Maureen O'Sullivan, who played Jane, died at the age of 87 in 1998. Alongside O'Sullivan, Cheetah quickly became an established co-star, often warning the vine-swinging Tarzan of lurking dangers and leaping to his rescue.
But there have long been doubts about the identity of the chimpanzee that played the role of Cheetah. According to film experts 10 chimps starred in the Tarzan movies.
In 2008, the American journalist Richard Rosen discovered that another chimpanzee, which was named Cheeta, was unlikely to have had any-thing to do with the films. The animal's owner, Tony Gentry, claimed that he smuggled the chimp out of Liberia aboard a PanAm flight in 1932.
He said he hid the newborn primate under his overcoat. His family has since agreed that there are doubts over the allegations. It was claimed Wednesday that Cheetah made his first appearance in Tarzan and His Mate in 1934, and later went on to appear in a dozen films about the jungle hero.
In 2005, after his retirement, he was awarded a Guinness world record for the oldest non-human primate. FOLLOW US!
