Clarence Linden Crabbe II (/ˈkræb/; February 7, 1908 â€" April 23,
1983), known professionally as Buster Crabbe, was an American two-time
Olympic swimmer and film and television actor. He won the 1932 Olympic
gold medal for 400-meter freestyle swimming event, which launched his
career on the silver screen and later television. He starred in a
variety of popular feature films and movie serials released between
1933 and the 1950s, portraying the top three syndicated comic-strip
heroes of the 1930s: Tarzan, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers.Crabbe was
born in 1908 to Edward Clinton Simmons Crabbe, a real estate broker,
and Lucy Agnes (née McNamara) Crabbe, in Oakland, California. He had
a brother, Edward Clinton Simmons Crabbe Jr. (1909â€"1972). Crabbe
grew up in Hawaii and graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu. He
then attended the University of Southern California, where he was the
school's first All-American swimmer (1931) and a 1931 NCAA freestyle
titlist. He also became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity before
graduating from USC in 1931.Crabbe competed in two Olympic Games as a
swimmer. At the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, he won the bronze
medal for the 1,500 meters freestyle, and at the 1932 Summer Olympics
in Los Angeles, he won the gold medal for the 400 meters freestyle
when he beat Jean Taris of France by a tenth of a second.
1983), known professionally as Buster Crabbe, was an American two-time
Olympic swimmer and film and television actor. He won the 1932 Olympic
gold medal for 400-meter freestyle swimming event, which launched his
career on the silver screen and later television. He starred in a
variety of popular feature films and movie serials released between
1933 and the 1950s, portraying the top three syndicated comic-strip
heroes of the 1930s: Tarzan, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers.Crabbe was
born in 1908 to Edward Clinton Simmons Crabbe, a real estate broker,
and Lucy Agnes (née McNamara) Crabbe, in Oakland, California. He had
a brother, Edward Clinton Simmons Crabbe Jr. (1909â€"1972). Crabbe
grew up in Hawaii and graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu. He
then attended the University of Southern California, where he was the
school's first All-American swimmer (1931) and a 1931 NCAA freestyle
titlist. He also became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity before
graduating from USC in 1931.Crabbe competed in two Olympic Games as a
swimmer. At the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, he won the bronze
medal for the 1,500 meters freestyle, and at the 1932 Summer Olympics
in Los Angeles, he won the gold medal for the 400 meters freestyle
when he beat Jean Taris of France by a tenth of a second.
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