James Pierce

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American actor, football player and coach (1900–1983)

title: "James Pierce" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1900-births", "1983-deaths", "20th-century-american-male-actors", "american-football-centers", "american-male-film-actors", "american-male-silent-film-actors", "american-male-radio-actors", "indiana-hoosiers-football-players", "high-school-football-coaches-in-california", "people-from-shelbyville,-indiana", "sportspeople-from-the-indianapolis-metropolitan-area", "male-actors-from-indiana", "players-of-american-football-from-indiana", "male-western-(genre)-film-actors", "phi-delta-theta-members"] description: "American actor, football player and coach (1900–1983)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Pierce" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actor, football player and coach (1900–1983) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameJames Pierce
imageJames Pierce as Tarzan.jpg
captionPierce in Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927)
birth_nameJames Hubert Pierce
birth_date
birth_placeFreedom, Indiana, U.S.
death_date
death_placeApple Valley, California, U.S.
resting_placeForest Hill Cemetery Shelbyville, Shelbyville, Indiana
occupation
years_active1932–1958
alma_materIndiana University Bloomington
spouse
children2
::

| name = James Pierce | image = James Pierce as Tarzan.jpg | caption = Pierce in Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927) | birth_name = James Hubert Pierce | birth_date = | birth_place = Freedom, Indiana, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Apple Valley, California, U.S. | resting_place = Forest Hill Cemetery Shelbyville, Shelbyville, Indiana | occupation = | years_active = 1932–1958 | alma_mater = Indiana University Bloomington | spouse = | children = 2

James Hubert Pierce (August 8, 1900 – December 11, 1983) was an American actor and the fourth actor to portray Tarzan on film. He appeared in films from 1924 to 1951.

Background

Pierce was born in Freedom, Indiana. He was an All-American center on the Indiana Hoosiers football team. Following his graduation in 1921, he coached high school football in Arizona, and began acting in his spare time.{{cite book|last1=Hammel|first1=B.|last2=Klingelhoffer|first2 =K.|title=Glory of Old IU, Indiana University|publisher=Sports Pub.|year=1999|isbn=978-1-58261-068-9|url=https://archive.org/details/gloryofoldiuindi0000hamm|url-access=registration|access-date=2019-03-29|page=44|quote= After graduation from IU in 1921, he coached high school football in Arizona and tried amateur acting.

Career

Portrayal of Tarzan

Pierce's life changed when he attended a party given by Edgar Rice Burroughs and his daughter Joan. Burroughs, the creator and author of the Tarzan books, immediately wanted Pierce to star in the next Tarzan movie. Pierce gave up a role in the film Wings to accept the Tarzan role. His part in Wings was given to a newcomer named Gary Cooper. The silent Tarzan film Burroughs talked him into accepting was released in 1927 by RKO Radio Pictures, and entitled Tarzan and the Golden Lion.{{cite book|last=Fenton|first=R.W.|title=Edgar Rice Burroughs and Tarzan: A Biography of the Author and His Creation|publisher= McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers|year= 2015|isbn=978-0-7864-8504-8|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=924rAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA107|access-date=2019-03-29|page=107|quote=ERB remarked at this time: "If you would like to see the personification of Tarzan of the Apes as I visualize him, see the film Tarzan and the Golden Lion with Mr. James Pierce as Tarzan.

Later career

Pierce played Prince Thun of the Lion Men in the 1936 serial film Flash Gordon. He acted in small roles in several films, mostly westerns, through 1951, and worked in a real estate agency in the San Fernando Valley. He was a pilot, active during World War II with the National Airmen's Reserve, the forerunner of today's Air National Guard.

Personal life and death

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Radjpjp3.jpg" caption="James H. Pierce and Joan Burroughs Pierce starred in the 1932–34 ''Tarzan'' radio series"] ::

Pierce wed Joan Burroughs on August 8, 1928, his 28th birthday. From 1932 to 1936, James and Joan Pierce were the voices of Tarzan and Jane on national radio in Tarzan. They had a daughter Joanne II Anselmo, née Pierce), and a son James Michael Pierce. They remained married until Joan's death in 1972. Both are buried in Forest Hill Cemetery Shelbyville, Shelbyville, Indiana, and their tombstones bear the inscriptions Tarzan and Jane.

For many years, near the end of his life, Pierce attempted, to no avail, to find a print of Tarzan and the Golden Lion, which was thought lost. After his death, a copy was found in a foreign archive.

Selected filmography

References

References

  1. Wonning, P.R.. "A Year of Indiana History – Book 1: 366 Indiana History Stories". Mossy Feet Books.
  2. Lemmo, D.. (2017). "Tarzan, Jungle King of Popular Culture". McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers.
  3. [http://www.erbzine.com/mag13/1385.html ERBzine issue 1385]
  4. [http://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0591.html ERBzine issue 0591]

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1900-births1983-deaths20th-century-american-male-actorsamerican-football-centersamerican-male-film-actorsamerican-male-silent-film-actorsamerican-male-radio-actorsindiana-hoosiers-football-playershigh-school-football-coaches-in-californiapeople-from-shelbyville,-indianasportspeople-from-the-indianapolis-metropolitan-areamale-actors-from-indianaplayers-of-american-football-from-indianamale-western-(genre)-film-actorsphi-delta-theta-members