Big German card by Ross Verlag. Photo: Paramount. Buster Crabbe in Tarzan the Fearless (Robert F. Hill, 1933).
French postcard by Europe, no. 2111.
French postcard by A.N., Paris, no. 948. Photo: Paramount.
From Tarzan to Flash Gordon
Clarence Linden Crabbe was born in 1908 in Oakland, California, USA. He was the son of Edward Clinton Crabbe, a real estate broker, and his wife Agnes Lucy McNamara. "Larry" attended and graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1927 and graduated from the University of Southern California. He was the school's first All-American swimmer (1931) and a 1931 NCAA freestyle titlist. The talented swimmer was on the 1928 and 1932 United States Olympic swimming teams. Crabbe won a bronze medal in the 1500 Meter Freestyle at Amsterdam in 1928. He won also a gold medal in the 400 Meter Swimming Freestyle at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He broke the record held by another actor-athlete, Johnny Weissmuller.
The Olympic success launched his career on the silver screen. In 1931, while working on That's My Boy (Roy William Neill, 1932) for Columbia Pictures, Larry was tested by MGM for Tarzan but rejected. Paramount Pictures put him instead in King of the Jungle (H. Bruce Humberstone, Max Marcin, 1933) as Kaspa, the Lion Man. The film was based on a book of that title but clearly a copy of the Tarzan stories. Publicity for this film emphasised his having won the 1932 Olympic 400-meter freestyle swimming championship and suggested a rivalry with Johnny Weissmuller.
Producer Sol Lesser wanted Crabbe for the independent film Tarzan the Fearless (Robert F. Hill, 1933), though he first had to get James Pierce to waive rights to the part already promised to him by his father-in-law, Edgar Rice Burroughs. The film was released as both a feature and a serial. Most houses showed only the first serial episode, which critics panned as a badly organised feature.
Just prior to the film's release, Larry married his college sweetheart and gave himself one year to either make it as an actor or start law school at USC. He starred in several popular films, including The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (Edwin L. Marin, 1933) with Betty Grable, and Search for Beauty (Erle C. Kenton, 1934) with Ida Lupino. Paramount also put him in a number of Zane Grey Westerns.
Then Universal Pictures gave him the lead in the very successful Sci-Fi serial Flash Gordon (Frederick Stephani, 1936). He bleached his hair and changed his name to Buster when he became 'Flash'. He starred in three Flash Gordon serials: Flash Gordon (Frederick Stephani, 1936), Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (Ford Beebe, Robert F. Hill, 1938) and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (Ford Beebe, Ray Taylor, 1940). He was also the star of another popular serial, Buck Rogers (Ford Beebe, Saul A. Goodkind, 1939). That year, he also starred again with Betty Grable in the comedy hit Million Dollar Legs (Nick Grinde, 1939).
Spanish collectors card by Ferber y Blay, no. 3 of 15 cromos. Photo: Sol Lesser Productions. Buster Crabbe in Tarzan the Fearless (Robert F. Hill, 1933). The Spanish release title was Tarzan de la las fieras.
Spanish collectors card by Ferber y Blay, no. 5 of 15 cromos. Photo: Sol Lesser Productions. Julie Bishop as Mary in Tarzan the Fearless (Robert F. Hill, 1933). The Spanish release title was Tarzan de la las fieras.
Spanish collectors card by Ferber y Blay, no. 6 of 15 cromos. Photo: Sol Lesser Productions. Julie Bishop as Mary in Tarzan the Fearless (Robert F. Hill, 1933). The Spanish release title was Tarzan de la las fieras.
Spanish collectors card by Ferber y Blay, no. 7 of 15 cromos. Photo: Sol Lesser Productions. Buster Crabbe in Tarzan the Fearless (Robert F. Hill, 1933). The Spanish release title was Tarzan de la las fieras.
Spanish collectors card by Ferber y Blay, no. 10 of 15 cromos. Photo: Sol Lesser Productions. Buster Crabbe in Tarzan the Fearless (Robert F. Hill, 1933). The Spanish release title was Tarzan de la las fieras.
Billy the Kid and Billy Carson
In 1940, Buster Crabbe began a string of Billy the Kid Westerns for low-budget studio PRC. The first was Billy the Kid Wanted (Sam Newfield, 1941). He played Billy the Kid in 13 films, and then Billy Carson in 23 films. His counterpart in most of these Westerns was Al St. John.
After World War II, Crabbe appeared opposite Johnny Weissmuller as a rival in two jungle films, Swamp Fire (William H. Pine, 1946) and Captive Girl (William Berke, 1950). He devoted much of his time to his Southern California swimming pool-building company and the operation of a boys' camp in New York. In 1950, he made the serials Pirates of the High Seas (Spencer Gordon Bennet, Thomas Carr, 1950) and King of the Congo (Spencer Gordon Bennet, Wallace Grissell, 1952).
In addition, he was very active on television in the 1950s. In 1953, he hosted a local show in New York City that featured his serials. He played the title role in the adventure series Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion (1955). His real-life son, Cullen Crabbe, appeared in the series as the character "Cuffy Sanders". During television's 'Golden Age', he had several 'meaty' lead roles on such weekly anthology series as Kraft Theater and Philco Television Playhouse.
He later returned to Western features to play Wyatt Earp in Badman's Country (Fred F. Sears, 1958) and gave a stellar performance. In the 1970s, he was the commercial spokesperson for Continental Airlines. He also kept swimming. In 1971, Crabbe broke the world swimming record for the over-sixties in the 400-meter freestyle. He also authored 'Energetics', a book on physical fitness for people over 50. In 1979, he appeared in an episode of the TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. He played a retired fighter pilot named "Brigadier Gordon", in honour of Flash Gordon.
Crabbe later returned to the screen for a large role in The Alien Dead (Fred Olen Ray, 1980). In 1982, he could still be seen in the film The Comeback Trail (Harry Hurwitz, 1982) with Chuck McCann. It was his last role. In 1983, Buster Crabbe died at age 75 of a heart attack after tripping over a wastebasket in his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. Crabbe was married to Adah Virginia Held from 1933 till his death. They had three children, Cullen, Sande and Susan Crabbe. Sande died of anorexia nervosa aged 20.
British Art Photo postcard, no. 144.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 794a. Photo: Paramount.
British Real Photograph postcard, no. 20 A. Photo: Paramount Pictures. Sent by mail in 1942.
British Real Photograph postcard. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D. 141. Photo: Anglo Amalgamated.
Sources: Ed Stephan (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.
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