Cheetah Dead: Chimpanzee Sidekick From 1930s Tarzan Flicks Dies At 80

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Cheetah Dead: Chimpanzee Sidekick From 1930s Tarzan Flicks Dies At 80

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/cheetah-the-chimpanzee-obituary_n_1172283.html



PALM HARBOR, Fla. — A Florida animal sanctuary says Cheetah the chimpanzee sidekick in the Tarzan movies of the early 1930s has died at age 80.

The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor announced that Cheetah died Dec. 24 of kidney failure.

Sanctuary outreach director Debbie Cobb on Wednesday told The Tampa Tribune ( ) that Cheetah was outgoing, loved finger painting and liked to see people laugh. She says he seemed to be tuned into human feelings. http://bit.ly/rRuTeJ

Cobb says Cheetah wasn't a troublemaker. Still, sanctuary volunteer Ron Priest says that when the chimp didn't like what was going on, he would throw feces.

[FSogol]

1. "when the chimp didn't like what was going on, he would throw feces," just like Newt Gingrich.

[Tom_Foolery]

2. I hope they don't leave him out of the memoriam segment of the Academy Awards. n/t

[kwassa]

3. This story is probably not true. A chimp died, but not Cheetah or George W.

here is one disputation of this claim.

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2011/12/cheetah_the_chimp_died_in_flor.php

quote:

"The story originated from The Tampa Tribune. Yes, a chimpanzee who lived at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor Florida died. Yes, his caretakers believe that he starred in the famed early 1930s Tarzan movies starring Johnny Weissmuller. No, there's little evidence backing it up.

The sanctuary claims that Cheetah was 80, which would have made him old enough to have appeared in the films. Chimpanzees rarely live more than 35 years in the wild, and even in captivity they don't often make it past 45 years. There's no evidence of any chimp who has actually lived 80 properly documented years. To imagine that world's longest living chimp just also happened to have been a movie star is a hard pill to swallow.
Several chimps were used to play the role of Cheetah in the Tarzan films, but the most famous was Jiggs. He died back in 1938. Jiggs seems to be the only animal actor whose role in the films has been established thoroughly."

and many other reasons are also given in this article, mostly having to do with ever-changing stories from the supposed original owner.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

4. I'm confident that George W. Bush is still alive and still flinging feces when agitated.

I posted his photo only to illustrate what a mentor Cheetah had become for our former Pretzeldent...there's things you jest cain't get from book learnin', Stretch...