Buster Crabbe (February 7, 1908 – April 23, 1983) was an American athlete turned actor, who starred

in a number of popular serials in the 1930s and 1940s.

Raised in Hawaii, he graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu. He excelled as a swimmer and participated

in two Olympic Games: 1928, where he won the bronze medal for the 1,500 meter freestyle, and 1932,

where he won the gold medal for the 400 meter freestyle.

He attended the University of Southern California, where he was the school's first All-American swimmer (1931)

and a 1931 NCAA freestyle titlist. He also became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity before graduating

from USC in 1931. In 1933 he married his college sweetheart Adah Virginia Held, and gave himself

one year to either make it as an actor or start law school at USC. Buster and Virginia remained together until

Buster's death in 1983. They had two daughters, Sande and Susan and a son, Cullen. Sande died of anorexia.

Time magazine wrote on April 11, 1932: "Clarence (Buster) Crabbe, 22, of Los Angeles,

ablest distance swimmer in the United States: the 1,500-metre race in the A.A.U. championships, at New Haven,

lowering his own American record by 20.9 seconds to 19:45.6. Later he won two other championships:

the 300 yard medley and 500 yard free style. Los Angeles won the team championship with 45 points to

New York's 37."Buster Crabbe as "Tarzan"

Crabbe also starred at the Billy Rose Aquacade at the New York World's Fair in its second year of

1940, replacing Johnny Weismuller.

Crabbe's role in the 1933 Tarzan serial Tarzan the Fearless (also issued as a full length movie) launched a

successful career in which he starred in over one hundred movies. It would be the only movie in which Crabbe

starred as Tarzan. (The serial was re-edited into a made-for-TV feature in 1964.) In the 1933's King of the Jungle,

1941's Jungle Man, and the 1952 serial King of the Congo he played generic "jungle man" roles in the Tarzan mode.

He also starred in the first international film Search for Beauty (1934), and his next major role was in 1936 as

Flash Gordon in the popular Flash Gordon serial, which

he reprised in two sequels, released by Universal in 1938 and 1940). The three serials were later shown

extensively on American television during the 1950s, then edited for release on home video. Other characters

he portrayed included Western hero Billy the Kid, Buck Rogers, and a brother of his real-life fraternity

in the movie musical The Sweetheart of

Sigma Chi. In some of his movies he is credited as Larry Crabbe. His sidekick in most of his westerns was the actor

Al St. John. Crabbe is the only actor who played Tarzan, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers

— the top three comic strip heroes of the 1930s.

Crabbe starred in the television series, Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion (1955 to 1957) as

Captain Michael Gallant; the adventure series aired on NBC. His real-life son, Cullen Crabbe,

appeared in this show as the character "Cuffy Sanders".

Buck Roggers

Crabbe made regular television appearances, including one on an episode of the 1979 series Buck Rogers

in the 25th Century, where he played a retired fighter pilot named "Brigadier Gordon" in honor of Flash Gordon.

When Rogers (Gil Gerard) praises his flying, Gordon replies "I've been doing that sort of thing since before

you were born." Rogers (who was born over 500 years earlier) responds "You think so?" to which Gordon replies

"Young man, I know so!" Crabbe had, in fact, been playing "Buck Rogers" since long before Gerard was born.

And as he said that, he looked straight into the camera and winked at the audience.

Flash Gordon

Timeline
• 1908 Birth of "Clarence Linden Crabbe" in Oakland

• 1910 US Census with the Crabbes in California

• 1928 Olympics

• 1931 graduated from the University of Southern California

• 1932 Olympics, won gold medal in 400 meter freestyle

• 1933 Tarzan

• 1936 played the title role of Flash Gordon

• 1938 played the title role in Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars

• 1940 played the title role in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe

• 1955 Start of Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion

• 1957 End of Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion

• 1983 Death of Buster Crabbe in Scottsdale, Arizona at age 75