Biography for
Lex Barker

advertisement

Date of Birth

8 May 1919, Rye, New York, USA

Date of Death

11 May 1973, New York, New York, USA (heart attack)

Birth Name

Alexander Crichlow Barker Jr.

Nickname

Sexy Lexy

Height

6' 4" (1.93 m)

Mini Biography

Barker was a direct descendant of the founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, and of Sir 'William Henry Crichlow', historical governor-general of Barbados. He excelled in football and track at Fessenden School and Phillips-Exeter Academy. He went to Princeton but left to become an actor. A year later he was spotted in summer stock and received a contract offer from 20th Century-Fox. World War II intervened; he enlisted an Infantry Private and rose to Major. Though later signed by Fox and then Warner, he was too tall for supporting parts and too unknown for leads. Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949) (RKO) provided his first starring role. After five Tarzans he went into other adventure films. After 16 non-Tarzan films, mostly westerns, he went to Europe in 1957 (he spoke French, Spanish, Italian and German). He went on to make more than 50 more films all over the world: Brazil, Germany, Spain, Yugoslavia, Italy, Lebanon, France. He became very popular in Germany because of his role as "Old Shatterhand", "Kara Ben Nemsi" and "Dr. Karl Sternau" in the movies based on books written by Karl May, who is a very popular author for adventure literature in Germany. Nearly every child in Germany knows some of his books. He won Germany's Bambi Award as Best Foreign Actor of 1966.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan

Mini Biography

American leading man, best known for playing Tarzan. Born Alexander Crichlow Barker, Jr. in Rye, New York, he was the second child of a wealthy stockbroker and his wife Marion. Barker's family reportedly was in the direct lineage of Roger Williams, co-founder of the Rhode Island colony, and of Sir Henry Crichlow, governor-general of Barbados. The Barker household was extensive, with scores of servants, nurses, butlers, and chauffeurs. Young Barker attended the Fessenden School and graduated from the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy. He played oboe in the school orchestra and football on the playing field. He attended Princeton University for a time, but dropped out in order to join a theatrical stock company, much to the chagrin of his family. Barker made it to Broadway once, in a small role in a short run of Shakepeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" in 1938. He also had a small role in Orson Welles's disastrous "Five Kings," which met with so many problems in Boston and Philadelphia that it never made it into New York. Barker reportedly was spotted by scouts from Twentieth Century Fox and offered a film contract in 1939, but could not convince his parents to sign it (he was underage). Disowned by his family for his choice of an acting career, he worked in a steel mill and studied engineering at night. In February, 1941, nearly a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Barker left his fledgling acting career and enlisted in the U.S. Army. The 6'3", 208-pound soldier rose to the rank of major during the war. He reportedly was wounded in action (in the head and leg) fighting in Sicily. Back in the U.S., Barker recuperated at an Arkansas military hospital, then upon his discharge from service, traveled to Los Angeles. Within a short time, he landed a small role in his first film, Doll Face (1946). A string of small roles followed, the best of which was as Emmett Dalton in the Western Return of the Bad Men (1948). The next year, Barker found the role that would bring him fame. In Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949), Barker became the tenth official Tarzan of the movies. His handsome and intelligent appearance, as well as his athletic, now 6'4" frame, helped make him popular in the role Johnny Weissmuller had made his own for sixteen years. Barker made only five Tarzan films, but he remains one of the actors best known for the role. His stardom as Tarzan led him to a variety of heroic roles in other films, primarily Westerns, and one interesting (and quite non-heroic) part in a World War II film, Away All Boats (1956). In 1957, finding it harder to get work in American films, Barker moved to Europe, where he found enormous popularity, starring in over forty European films. In Italy he also had a short but compelling role as Anita Ekberg's fiancé; in Federico Fellini's Dolce vita, La (1960). It was in Germany where he would have his greatest success. There he starred in two movies based on the Doctor Mabuse-stories (previously filmed by Fritz Lang) and in thirteen movies based on novels by German author Karl May. In 1966 Barker was awarded the "Bambi Award" as "Best Foreign Actor" in Germany. He returned to the U.S. occasionally and made a handful of guest appearances on American television episodes. But Europe, and especially Germany, was his professional home for the remainder of his life. Barker was married five times. His third wife was actress Lana Turner. According to detailed allegations in a book written by her daughter Cheryl Crane fifteen years after Barker's death, Turner ordered Barker out of their home one night at gunpoint after Cheryl, 13, accused him of molesting her over a long period of time. Divorce followed quickly, though no charges were filed and the couple's 1957 divorce record does not allude to the allegation. On May 11, 1973, three days after his 54th birthday, Barker died of a heart attack while walking down a street in New York City on his way to meet his fiancée, actress Karen Kondazian.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver

Spouse

Carmen G. Cervera	(1965 - 1972) (divorced)
Irene Labhart	(1957 - 1962) (her death) 1 child
Lana Turner	(8 September 1953 - 22 July 1957) (divorced)
Arlene Dahl	(16 April 1951 - 15 October 1952) (divorced)
Constanze Thurlow	(1942 - 1950) (divorced) 2 children

Trivia

A member of an extremely prominent family in New York society, Barker was effectively disowned by his family upon his decision to become an actor.

Father of Christopher Barker, from his marriage to Irene Labhart

His fifth wife, Carmen G. Cervera, is a former Miss Spain.

Personal Quotes

"If my muscles hold up and my waistline keeps down, I can play Tarzan till I'm fifty."

Salary

Schatz im Silbersee, Der (1962)

120,000 DEM

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z