Elmo Lincoln

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Actor Born Otto E. Linkenhelt on Feb. 6, 1889 in Rochester, IN

In the days of silent movies Elmo Lincoln played the role of Edgar Rice Burroughs' famed jungle hero, Tarzan.

Lincoln appeared in numerous movies both before and after he played the Tarzan role. Among his films was D.W. Griffith's monumental "Birth of a Nation," in which Lincoln jokingly said he appeared in 16 parts — and then lost count.

In the Griffith masterpiece, he appeared in both the Union and Confederate armies, as a member of the Ku Klux Klan under a hood, a saloon keeper and a blacksmith. He also appeared in Griffith's spectacle of Babylonian days, "Intolerance."

For a time, he retired from the film industry and entered the salvage business in Salt Lake City but he returned to Los Angeles and again appeared in films.

— Los Angeles Times June 28, 1952