Jungle Adventure (1932 - 36) (1951
- 53)
 Tarzan ranks in the pantheon of American hero
characters, although real fans would tell you Tarzan
was an Englishman. His author, Edgar Rice Burroughs,
was an American born to a prosperous family in Chicago,
who before Tarzan led a life full of failures. At
the age of 35 he began writing - firmly convinced
that he could write as well as most pulp fiction magazines
required with absolutely no prior experience in the
field. Like his literary predecessors Jules Verne,
Alexander Dumas, Lord Dunsany Arthur Conan Doyle and
Burroughs succeeded beyond his widest dreams with
Tarzan of the Apes, published in 1914. He wrote the
Tarzan novels, and many other novel series as well.
All was fantasy adventure fiction for the masses-
none considered great literature, but still in print
worldwide,
Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2011 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved-Reproduction is prohibited. Burroughs himself was involved in the production
of the first of the Tarzan radio serials, Tarzan
of the Apes. It is considered to be the first
major syndicated radio serial, and was popular from
the start. This first serial gave the story of Tarzan
and his background, and was very true to the novel.
It also was good radio, with a vivid scenes and good
sound effects for all the action. Burrough's daughter
Joan played Jane, and her husband, James Pierce played
Tarzan. The famed radio actor Gale Gordon (best known
for principal Conklin on Our Miss Brooks) was Cecil
Clayton. The second of the series, Tarzan and the
Diamond of Asher, 1934, starred Carlton KaDell as
Tarzan. Joan Pierce was pregnant, so Jane wasn't in
this adventure. Also, Burroughs took more control
than he had on the first series on this one, The Fires
of Toth, begun in 1936, was the third and final serial series of the early era. All three are great jungle
radio serials.
 Tarzan is one of our most popular adventure figures,
so he was repackaged for radio, although it was many years
after the early 1930s serials. Perhaps WWII made our
battle with Europeans and Orientals more vivid in the
public mind than the dark continent exploits of an imaginary
Ape Man. In 1951, a new Tarzan show was produced,
with Lamont Johnson and Tarzan. In the new format, a story
was finished in a single half-hour show. Even though
Tarzan had been a staple of Hollywood movies both good
and mediocre throughout the years as a radio broadcast it was successful series late for old time radio.
Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2011 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved-Reproduction is prohibited.
Great 1930s serial series are Air
Adventures of Jimmie Allen and Captain
Midnight, while the 1940s favorites are Dick
Tracy, Superman,
The Green Hornet, and
I Love a Mystery.
For additional reading, see also Tim DeForest's article on Tarzan of the Apes. See also: Jungle Jim.
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