Screenwriter Cyril Hume, working on the adaptation of "Tarzan the Ape Man" (1932), noticed Johnny Weissmuller swimming in the pool at his hotel and suggested him for the part of Tarzan. Weissmuller was under contract to BVD to model underwear and swimsuits; MGM got him released by agreeing to pose many of its female stars in BVD swimsuits. The studio billed him as "the only man in Hollywood who's natural in the flesh and can act without clothes". The film was an immediate box-office and critical hit. Seeing that he was wildly popular with girls, the studio told him to divorce his wife and paid her $10,000 to agree to it.
When Weissmuller was introduced to the first Cheetah in his Tarzan films in 1931 (he worked with 8 chimpanzees altogether), the chimp's trainer told him to show no fear or the animal would attack him. As Weissmuller, dressed in his Tarzan loincloth and hunting knife, walked up to the animal, it bared its teeth, growled at him and lunged as if to attack him. Weissmuller took the knife out of the sheath and held it in front of the chimp's nose, to make sure he saw and smelled it. He then slammed the animal on the side of the head with the knife handle. He put the knife back in its sheath and held out his hand to the chimp. It glared at him, bared his teeth again, then changed its mind, grinned at Weissmuller and jumped up and hugged him. Weissmuller never had any further problems with the chimp--although other cast and crew members did--and it followed him around like a puppy dog during all the pictures they worked together.
Weissmuller had a close call in Cuba during the time of the Cuban Revolution. While playing golf, he and his friends found themselves suddenly surrounded by a group of Fidel Castro's soldiers intent on kidnapping them, or worse. Thinking fast, Weissmuller immediately gave his trademark Tarzan yell. The soldiers immediately recognized it and were so delighted to meet Tarzan that they began to clap and escorted the group back to a safe area, where Weissmuller was presented a $100 bill.
At his request, a recording of his trademark Tarzan yell which he invented was played as his coffin was lowered into the ground.
Jack Benny: "There are only five real people in Hollywood. Everybody else is Mel Blanc."
Originally, the sound of the Maxwell car on Jack Benny's radio show was a pre-recorded sound effect on a phonograph record. However, during a live broadcast, Blanc noticed that the record player was not turned on for the crucial moment when the effect was supposed to play. He quickly grabbed the microphone and improvised the sounds himself, to the utter delight of the studio audience. Benny made it part of the program from then on and gave Blanc much larger roles to play in the show.
The sound Bugs Bunny makes while munching a carrot is actually Blanc munching on a carrot. He tried using celery, raw potatoes, and a lot of other things, but only a carrot would make that carrot crunching sound. According to Noel Blanc, Mel's son, Mel was not in fact allergic to carrots as was previously thought by many. People who worked in the sound studios believed this because they would see Mel spitting out the carrot after taking a bite. Mel did this because he could not speak with the carrot in his mouth and that was the only reason he spat it out.
Originally, voice artists were not given screen credit on animated cartoons. After he was turned down for a raise by tight-fisted producer Leon Schlesinger, Blanc suggested they add his name as Vocal Characterizationist to the credits as a compromise and omitted the name of any other voice actor that worked on the cartoon. Not only did it give greater recognition to voice artists from then on, it helped to bring Blanc to the public eye and quickly brought him more work in radio.
On January 24, 1961, Blanc was in a near-fatal car accident while many of the shows that required his services, most importantly "The Flintstones," were still in production. He did the voices of his characters in both his home bed and his hospital bed, in a full body cast and with all his "Flintstones" co-stars and recording equipment crowded into the same room.
While in a coma after the accident, doctors unsuccessfully tried to get Mel to talk. Finally, a doctor, who was also a huge fan of his cartoon characters, asked Mel "Bugs? Bugs Bunny? Are you there?" In Bugs Bunny's voice, Mel responded "What's up, Doc?". After talking with several other characters, they eventually lead Mel out of his coma.
John Burroughs and Henry Ford in the first automobile (Quadricycle) designed and built by Mr. Ford. Image is from the American Museum Journal in 1915.
On June 4th, 1896 Ford completed his Quadricycle.