Weissmüller, Johnny
Banat immigrant to America, Actor & Five swimming gold medals with the U.S.
Born János Weissmüller 02 Jun 1904 in Freidorf, suburb of Temesvar.
1. [photo of Weissmuller as Tarzan] Broad shoulders, bare chest; that’s the way people know Johnny Weissmuller — as the man of the jungle.
2. [photo of marriage record] On June 7, 1903 Peter Weiszmüller, widower of Margit Müller, born in Warjasch, residing in Freidorf, married the single [woman] Elisabeth Kersch, daughter of the cobbler Konrad and Elisabeth née Bücher.
3. [photo of baptismal/birth record] In entry No. 39 for the year 1904, dated June 5, the birth of János Weiszmüller (on June 2) is listed in the Freidorf baptismal register.
4. [photo of Weissmuller in nursing home] Johnny Weissmuller was victorious in several Olympic breaststroke swimming events. He earned millions as the world’s most successful man of the jungle. On his 75th birthday he was declared legally incompetent and admitted to a nursing home — broke and seriously ill.
5. [photo of godparents entry] Godparents of the first son of the Weiszmüller family, Freidorf No. 84, were Borstner, János (cobbler) and Zerbesz, Katalin.
Article from the 1983 – Volkskalender Neue Banater Zeitung, 1983, pp. 46-48 by Ludwig Klein
Johnny Weissmüller
English translation by Hyde Flippo
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TARZAN COMES FROM FREIDORF
Johnny Weissmuller — son of a brickworks employee**
Four brothers came from Warjasch
by Ludwig Klein
Johnny Weissmüller, the athlete who stands 1.95 meters tall, brought home five swimming gold medals with the U.S. Olympic team in 1924 and 1928. Over the course of his career he broke 67 world records and won 52 U.S. championships. Beginning in 1932 the giant swung his way to fame as the “ape man.” His famous yell — a mixture of five different tape recordings, by the way — went around the world. Tarzan-Johnny swung from branch to branch in a total of 19 films. In every film he dived headfirst into raging waters and — with the help of his animal friends — saved the good guys. “I never had a double,” he used to say proudly. In 1950 he appeared in a slightly modified TV series as “Jungle Jim.” But the show was not that well received. Johnny withdrew from show business. The money he had earned during his glory days ran through his fingers like water. His five divorces cost him vast sums of money. The former star was going downhill. His last job was as a greeter at Caesar’s Palace Hotel in Las Vegas. He fell ill and was then forgotten.
It wasn’t until the late 1970s that he again made headlines with the news that he was being admitted to a Los Angeles nursing home — an event that corresponded with his 75th birthday. But soon came the news that the jungle man was being kicked out of the hospital because he often went down the halls at night in a state of mental confusion, yelling out his distinctive jungle cry. That’s when his wife Maria moved to Mexico, to Acapulco, with her seriously ill husband. (Physician Dr. Ricardo Figueroa: “Anyone else would have never survived all these strokes, but his heart is strong.”) There, according to the latest reports prior to press time, the 77-year-old former muscleman has been reduced almost to a skeleton. But with all the reports there are also different accounts as to the birthplace, name, and age of the world-famous movie star.
Among other things, Windber in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania is also given as his birthplace, while it is claimed that his parents immigrated from Austria. The accounts of his age vary by author, while lately a minor alteration of the name has also been seen. Johnny Weissmüller is said to have changed his name to the more English-sounding Weissmuller. Magazines in western Europe sometimes write Weissmueller. It is well known that the film star himself — for publicity purposes, of course — gave varying accounts about himself, including that he was a U.S.-born citizen, the son of a high-ranking officer who had immigrated from Austria.
Nikolaus Berwanger — in his book DER SONNE NACH (“Following the sun” – Kriterion Publishing, Bucharest, 1974) and in two reports broadcast in German and Romanian by our TV, based on documents and accounts from relatives and countrymen of the Weissmuller family, has already proven that the famous king of the jungle Johnny Weissmüller was born on June 2, 1904 in Freidorf. To be sure, in accordance with the requirements of the time, he is registered as János. (See entry in the birth registry of the Freidorf Roman Catholic parish, Vol. VII, No. 39: János Weiszmüller, boy, legitimate child of Peter Weiszmüller, worker, [town of] Warjasch, and Elisabeth née Kersch, Freidorf. Godparents: János Borstner, cobbler, and Katharina Zerbesz.) Regarding the entry for the parents of Johnny Weissmuller, the NBZ* [newspaper] has discovered the marriage [record] in the Temeswar State Archive in the marriage registry of the Freidorf parish for the year 1903, page 31, No. 10: Peter Weiszmüller of Warjasch, residing at No. 192 Freidorf, widower, 26 years of age, with Elisabeth Kersch, daughter of Konrad Kersch and Elisabeth Bücher, residing at No. 81 Freidorf, 23 years of age, single.
We still find the name Weissmuller in Freidorf today, where Johnny Weissmuller’s closest relatives live: Hans and Werner, the two sons of Johnny’s cousin, Jakob Weissmüller, who only recently passed away. Cousin Jakob knew many a story, and he merely smiled when we asked about his famous cousin: “Tarzan came from Freidorf. My father, his name was Wilhelm, had three brothers, Michael, Peter, and Jakob. Peter was Tarzan’s father. From my father I know that the family went to the U.S. in 1907.” Jakob himself had a photo — unfortunately now lost — that showed Uncle Peter and Aunt Elisabeth “with little Hansi [Johnny]” Jakob Weissmüller still remembers the exchange of letters between his parents and Uncle Peter very well. Tarzan’s father was said to have been the tallest and strongest of the Weissmüller brothers, who had come to Freidorf from Warjasch as brick-factory workers.**
“After the First World War my Uncle Michael was in the USA himself for a few years, where his son Adam became a wrestler,” cousin Jakob told us. The two brothers spent time together there, according to Michael Weissmüller after his return. Two other people from Freidorf — Karl Kersch and a locksmith named Pappert — also were in contact with their compatriot Peter Weissmüller during a brief stay in the U.S. “Unfortunately, the family never came home for a visit,” so Jakob Weissmüller never met his cousin, who had in the meantime become famous, in person. With the outbreak of World War II the postal correspondence was also interrupted. For over 30 years the Weissmüllers in Freidorf have heard no news from their relatives overseas. The fact that Johnny is still remembered is no doubt due to his fame as the movie Tarzan; as a champion swimmer he has probably been long forgotten.
(For the information of some authors, including some here in Romania, who keep casting doubt on Johnny Weissmuller’s birthplace, [you will find] here facsimiles as verifiable proof.)
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*Translator’s note: NBZ = Neue Banater Zeitung = “New Banat Newspaper”
**Translator’s note: The word used in the original German is “Ziegeleiarbeiter,” which can mean either a worker in a (roof) tile-making plant or in a brickworks.
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– English translation: Hyde Flippo, who has been researching Weissmuller’s European roots for some time now. Recently he interviewed Johnny Weissmuller’s son, Johnny Jr. View at:
www.germanhollywood.com/tarzan_myfather1.html
www.germanhollywood.com – Hyde Flippo – Webmaster: Thank you Mr. Hyde Flippo for voluntarily translating this article. Now our English readers can join this most interesting story.
[Published at dvhh.org, 07 Feb 2005 by Jody McKim Pharr]
Last updated: 07/18/2025