Cheeta, chimpanzee and Tarzan movie star, dies at 'roughly 80'

Entertainment Weekly ^ | Dec. 27, 2011 | Annie Barrett

[Free ThinkerNY]

Cheeta the chimpanzee, who starred in Tarzan movies alongside Olympic swimmer-turned-actor Johnny Weissmuller in the 1930s and ranked #1 on EW.com’s list of the 10 Best Monkeys at the Movies, died of kidney failure Saturday. According to the Suncoast Primary Sanctuary’s outrach director, Cheeta was “roughly 80 years old, loved fingerpainting and football and was soothed by nondenominational Christian music.”

Roughly 80?! Way to live, chimp! That’s amazing! (Cheeta was an anomaly; the average zoo chimp dies around age 35-45.) I sure hope my favorite chimp lives that long.

[SatinDoll]

But he wasn’t a zoo chimp. He worked for a living and learned things during his lifetime.

What this shows is having interesting things to do in one’s life can be a life extender, even if you’re considered just “an animal”.

[gleeaikin]

What is the average age of death of convicts in cages?

[Jonty30]

That depends on whether they have to spend their time with an angry ape or not.

[beaversmom]

I thought he died years ago.

[ETL]

[ETL]

If Tarzan only knew what Cheeta was doing behind his back! Perhaps now the truth will finally come out.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Zoo and acting chimps sometimes were prone to emotional upset and acting-out because of the way that they were caught (IIRC they’re bred now, but that wasn’t the case in the past). Some of them caught in the wild were in their mother’s arms when their mother was shot. They are intelligent enough that an experience like this can seriously weird them out. If Cheeta managed to live without this kind of trouble he was fortunate.

[Lancey Howard]

Whoa... I grew up watching those Tarzan movies on Saturday afternoons in the ‘60s.
I cannot believe Cheeta has been alive all this time.
Just freaking wow.

[dayglored]

Astonishing and wonderful long life!

[skinkinthegrass]

!

[skinkinthegrass]

& this was before, "LAS VEGAS"
"what happens in Vegas, Nevada stays in Vegas"

[Ezekiel]

Cheeta was “roughly 80 years old, loved fingerpainting and football and was soothed by nondenominational Christian music.”

He lived a constructive peaceful life, with no chip on his shoulder apparently. And then there was... Travis.

[myheroesareDeadandRegistered]

I too had thought Cheeta had been long dead. 80 years old....amazing. RIP, Cheeta.

Also, thanks to ETL for posting the pics. Had a crush on Mareen O’Sullivan since I was a kid.....

[Doogle]

....even at 10, I always questioned why a chimp was named after a cat

[BfloGuy]

I’ve always admired Cheetah because, unlike so many, he kept his politics to himself.

[LibertyRocks]

WOW! As a kid growing up in the 70s the Tarzan movies on Weekend TV were some of the only black and white films that could actually hold my attention. Being Black & White I had assumed that Cheeta was most likely already dead by the time I ever saw them! I never would have imagined his being alive still - he was only Middle-Aged at that time though! LOL

RIP Cheeta - you were probably my first exposure to a chimpanzee and you represented your species very well!

[panaxanax]

LOL.

I forgot how ‘HOT’ Jane was. No wonder Tarzan was always in a hurry to get home.

[count-your-change]

An 80 year old chimp? Not likely. It seems the role of “Cheeta” was played by several different animals just as “Lassie” the dog was.