Glenn Morris

Decathlete

Birthday June 18, 1912

Birth Sign Gemini

Birthplace Colorado

DEATH DATE Jan 31, 1974 (61)

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About

American decathlon champion at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin who later came to play Tarzan in Hollywood.

Before Fame

A superb athlete in high school, his performance at the 1936 games mesmerized German chancellor Adolf Hitler and Germany's propagandist filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.

Trivia

His Olympic success got him a ticker-tape-parade welcoming back to the U.S., a movie offer from Twentieth Century Fox, and an invitation to play football for the Detroit Lions.

Family Life

He grew up in Denver, Colorado.

Associated With

Leni Riefenstahl apparently became so enamored with him that she claimed an affair developed between them, and featured him on the second part of her Olympia film.