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Chimpanzees, along with gorillas and orangutans, are our closest relatives among all the animals on the planet. Chimps are intelligent, artistic, emotional, and so darn cute! On the other hand, you could say that about human movie and TV stars. But chimpanzees have some extra advantages in entertainment: they are small, they look funny dressed as humans because of the relative size and shape of their arms and legs, and they have few inhibitions. Plus, they don’t demand large salaries or champagne in their dressing rooms!
1. Cheeta
Tarzan’s sidekick was a chimpanzee named Cheeta, but only in the movies. The books by Edgar Rice Burroughs never mentioned him, or any other chimp for that matter. The character Cheeta first appeared in the 1932 Johnny Weismuller movie Tarzan the Ape Man. Beginning with the third Tarzan movie, Tarzan Escapes in 1936, Cheeta was played by a chimp originally named Jiggs who appeared in a dozen Tarzan movies as Cheeta, and a couple more as a nameless chimpanzee. The simian actor eventually became known by the name Cheeta, even when he was playing other characters. His last film role was in Dr. Doolittle in 1967. Cheeta celebrated his 75th birthday on April 9, 2007! The above picture shows Cheeta enjoying a birthday message from Jane Goodall. He even has his own MySpace page.
2. Bonzo
Future US president Ronald Reagan starred in Bedtime for Bonzo in 1951. Reagan played a professor who attempts to teach Bonzo morality as an experiment. Bonzo was played by a chimp named Peggy. Yes, Bonzo was a girl! She reprised the role in the 1953 sequel, Bonzo Goes to College.
More chimps, in chronological order, after the jump.
3. J. Fred Muggs
It’s hard to believe The Today Show has been on the air for 56 years. When the show debuted in 1952 with host Dave Garroway, it wasn’t an immediate hit. On January 28, 1953, Garroway got a sidekick, a baby chimpanzee named J. Fred Muggs. Muggs would play the piano, pretend to read the paper, and participate in skits. He was the first animal regular on a live TV show. Muggs appeared regularly through 1957, and made The Today Show a hit with viewers and advertisers. You can see a video of J. Fred Muggs upstaging Gene Rayburn on a game show.
4. Ham the Astrochimp
Ham was the first chimpanzee in space. He was trained to do simple operations (such as pushing a button in reaction to a light) as part of the Mercury Project. Ham blasted off into space on January 31st, 1961 from Cape Canaveral aboard the MR2 capsule. His suborbital flight lasted less than 17 minutes, but he completed the tasks he was trained to do, proving that such tasks would be possible for a human in space. Alan Shepherd’s historic flight aboard the Freedom 7 followed three months later. Ham retired to the National Zoo in Washington, and also lived at the North Carolina Zoo before he died in 1983.
5. Lancelot Link
Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp was a Saturday morning children’s series that ran on ABC from 1970 to 1972. It was a parody of spy shows such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and the James Bond films. Chimpanzees played all the characters, with human voices overdubbed. Lancelot was a secret agent working for A.P.E. (Agency to Prevent Evil). He also headed a band called The Evolution Revolution, which enabled the show to include musical numbers. Some can be seen on YouTube.
6. Bear
BJ and the Bear aired on NBC-TV from 1979 to 1981. The series starred Greg Evigan as BJ, a truck driver who traveled with his chimpanzee named Bear. The show has an online fan club, with episode guides, photos, and cast information.
7. Bubbles
At the height of his career in 1985, Michael Jackson adopted a chimpanzee he named Bubbles. Bubbles had previously lived at a research facility in Texas. The chimp accompanied Jackson to press conferences, recording sessions, and even award shows. Jackson and the chimp parted ways when Bubbles’ behavior became hard to handle. Bubbles was later found living on an animal ranch in Slymar, California, where he is reported to be doing fine.
8. Pankun
The most popular chimpanzee active in the media today is Pankun, a regular on two TV shows in Japan, Tensai! Shimura Doubutsu-en (Genius! Shimura Zoo) on NTV and Doubutsu Kisou Tengai! (Unbelievable Animals) on TBS. He is often seen doing very human things, such as riding a train or fishing with his dog, James.
Comments (13)
Comment
Hooray for this article. Monkeys are the funniest thing on the planet - especially when they’re smoking.
Big points for mentioning Pankun and James too. Anybody curious should watch some of their stuff on youtube. It’s pretty hilarious.
posted by Christian Porter on 1-17-2008 at 8:03 am
I loved Lancelot Link when I was young, but I cannot believe that Cheeta is still alive. I’m curiuos if this is the same Cheeta that was on the Tarzan TV show in the 60’s. I wonder if he reprised his role or if he was just to big to go back to TV by then.
posted by Don on 1-17-2008 at 8:34 am
Cool article! Although I’m pretty depressed to find that Cheeta appears to have a hi-def plasma TV, whereas I, for all my Homo sapiens glory, do not.
posted by Roger on 1-17-2008 at 8:53 am
Why is this the second time today I’ve seen “BJ and the Bear” on mental_floss?
Ha. Ha ha.
posted by Sarah on 1-17-2008 at 9:25 am
www.whiplashrides.com/
C’mon, a monkey that wear a freakin’ cowboy hat and rides a dog? It doesn’t get any better than that, and yes, I love this country.
posted by fixedgear on 1-17-2008 at 9:29 am
If I remember correctly, wasn’t it at Cheetah’s birthday party that 2 other chimps went on a rampage and mutilated and elderly man? It seems that they didn’t get cake. (No, I am not making this up)
J.Fred Muggs and Today Show host Dave Garroway hated each other at first sight. Several times Garroway had to cover his hand on air after J. Fred had bitten him.
I know he’s not a chimp, but what ever happened to Clyde, the orangutan? He used to pal around with Clint Eastwood.
posted by Harold on 1-17-2008 at 9:30 am
Chimps can actually be rather agressive as adults. They are all cute when they are babies, but when they become juveniles, they don’t like doing tricks so much anymore. My anthro. professor did some grad work at University of Texas. He used to tell us this story (over and over again) about some guys that were roommates who decided it would be awesome to have a pet chimp (which is illegal in most states). Well the chimp grew up and since he was addicted to nicotine had to HAVE ciggarettes. Apparently, the guys were found out because the chimp would get really aggresive and throw feces if they did not give him ciggarettes.
posted by stephW on 1-17-2008 at 10:20 am
Speaking of aggressive behavior in chimpanzees, didn’t Cheeta have a “thing” for Johnny Weismuller? I seem to recall an interview where Maureen O’Sullivan (”Jane” in several movies) was talking about it. Two things I remember, the issue of covering up Cheeta’s “excitement” when he was near Weismuller so it wouldn’t be seen on camera, and the fact that Cheeta was jealous and would try to attack her if she got too near Weismuller.
posted by JohnW on 1-17-2008 at 11:22 am
I have quite the issue with Chimpanzees being used in commercials, television and movies in any way shape or form! I’m very glad that the CGI is to such a level that animals can now be created digitally; realistically and beautifully! Maybe now Chimps can be where they should be and be doing what they want to be doing rather than being forced to be “little humans” for our amusement.
posted by Renee Walker on 1-17-2008 at 4:37 pm
I’m going to try not to go into a rant but I have a big point to make:
The chimps used in commercials or on tv are all babies. By age two they are stronger than a man and several years later they become very aggressive. As adults, they can get to be between 130-200 lbs. And at that point they are 6 times stronger than a man. What most people think of as chimps are babies, and when they see the adults they think they are gorillas.
posted by Amy on 1-17-2008 at 6:55 pm
Amy, Thank you for posting that. I don’t think a lot of people realise that they are seeing babies!
Some of the training techniques are so brutal I can not make myself watch the tapes!
I hope that people will be encouraged to investigate this on their own and find out the facts for themselves!
Personally, I was shocked, appalled and dismayed that these practices still continue this day. Chimps should NOT be in show biz and we should not support film or television that takes babies away from their mothers and abuses them!
I support various animal preserves that are giving these former unwilling performers wonderful homes to live out the rest of their long, long lives!
posted by Renee Walker on 1-18-2008 at 11:32 am
Is anyone else scared of monkeys?
posted by Melodye on 1-18-2008 at 11:56 am
The behind-the-scenes story on chimps in entertainment is very dark. Baby chimpanzees used for this purpose are taken away from their mothers at birth, causing irreversible psychological harm. In the wild, chimpanzees nurse until they are 4-6 years old, so you can imagine how important the mother-infant bond is for them. Chimpanzees are very strong (4-6 times stronger than the average human male!) and they cannot be trained by positive reinforcement alone, so trainers use physically and psychologically brutal methods to literally beat them into submission. By the time they are between 5 and 7 years old they become too strong to be dominated, and “retirement” from entertainment usually means being cast off to a roadside zoo or other substandard facility – sometimes even being sold to laboratories for biomedical research. Chimpanzees usually live to be in their 60s, so this kind of treatment means a long life of misery for them.
The Humane Society of the United States, the SPCA, the Jane Goodall Institute, and the Environmental Media Association, among countless other organizations, publicly oppose the use of great apes in entertainment. Also, many celebrities have spoken out against the use of chimpanzees in entertainment, including Pamela Anderson and Anjelica Huston. Anjelica Huston just did a Public Service Announcement about this subject, you can view it on You Tube by searching “Anjelica Huston great apes”
I highly recommend watching this PSA – it’s very short and I guarantee it will convince you that using chimpanzees for entertainment isn’t cute or funny.
posted by Julia on 1-22-2008 at 4:27 pm