Born 1919 as Alexander Crichlow Barker Jr. in Rye, New York, American actor Lex Barker landed a small role in Doll Face (1945), his first film. A string of small roles followed, in films such as Two Guys from Milwaukee (1945) and Cloak and Dagger (1946).
Barker was known for playing Tarzan for RKO Pictures between 1949 and 1953, and portraying leading characters from Karl May’s novels, notably as Old Shatterhand in a film series by the West German studio Constantin Film. At the height of his fame, he was one of the most popular actors in German-speaking cinema, and received Bambi Award and Bravo Otto nominations for the honor.
Barker returned to the United States 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. He died in 1973, of a heart attack, three days after his 54th birthday, while walking down Lexington Avenue on New York City’s Upper East Side, to meet his fiancée, actress Karen Kondazian.
Take a look at these vintage photos to see portraits of a young and handsome Lex Barker in the 1940s and 1950s.
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