Frank Howard Buck (March 17, 1884 â€" March 25, 1950) was an American
hunter, animal collector, and author, as well as a film actor,
director, and producer. Beginning in the 1910s he made many
expeditions into Asia for the purpose of hunting and collecting exotic
animals, bringing over 100,000 live specimens back to the United
States and elsewhere for zoos and circuses and earning a reputation as
an adventurer. He co-authored seven books chronicling or based on his
expeditions, beginning with 1930's Bring 'Em Back Alive, which became
a bestseller. Between 1932 and 1943 he starred in seven adventure
films based on his exploits, most of which featured staged "fights to
the death" with various wild beasts. He was also briefly a director of
the San Diego Zoo, displayed wild animals at the 1933â€"34 Century of
Progress exhibition and 1939 New York World's Fair, toured with
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and co-authored an
autobiography, 1941's All in a Lifetime. The Frank Buck Zoo in Buck's
hometown of Gainesville, Texas is named after him.Buck was born in
Gainesville, Texas in 1884 and grew up in Dallas. He excelled at
geography, at the cost of "utter failure on all the other subjects of
that limited Dallas curriculum", and quit school after completing the
seventh grade. During childhood he began collecting birds and small
animals, tried farming, and sold songs to vaudeville singers before
getting a job as a cowpuncher, (a term for cowboy used mostly in Texas
and surrounding states). Accompanying a cattle car to the Chicago
stockyards, he refused to return to Texas.In Chicago, while working as
captain of bellhops at the Virginia Hotel, Buck met hotel resident
Lillian West (pen name Amy Leslie). West was a former actress and
operetta singer. At the time that Buck met her, she was one of the
very few female drama critics in the country, and the only one working
in Chicago, where she wrote for the Chicago Daily News. In his
autobiography, Buck described her as "a small woman, plump, with
keenly intelligent eyes, the most beautifully white teeth I have ever
seen, and a red, laughing mouth", adding that she was "always
good-natured." Although their relationship was highly unusual at the
time, she being 46 years old to his youthful 17 (a 29-year
difference), they married in 1901.In 1911 Buck won $3,500 in a poker
game and decided to go abroad for the first time, traveling to Brazil
without his wife. Bringing back exotic birds to New York, he was
surprised by the profits he was able to obtain from their sale. He
then traveled to Singapore, beginning a string of animal collecting
expeditions to various parts of Asia. Leading treks into the jungles,
Buck learned to build traps and snares to safely catch animals so he
could sell them to zoos and circuses worldwide. After an expedition,
he would usually accompany his catches on board ship, helping to
ensure they survived the transport to the United States. Buck and West
divorced in 1913, and the following year he married Nina C. Boardman,
a Chicago stenographer who accompanied him on jungle expeditions.
hunter, animal collector, and author, as well as a film actor,
director, and producer. Beginning in the 1910s he made many
expeditions into Asia for the purpose of hunting and collecting exotic
animals, bringing over 100,000 live specimens back to the United
States and elsewhere for zoos and circuses and earning a reputation as
an adventurer. He co-authored seven books chronicling or based on his
expeditions, beginning with 1930's Bring 'Em Back Alive, which became
a bestseller. Between 1932 and 1943 he starred in seven adventure
films based on his exploits, most of which featured staged "fights to
the death" with various wild beasts. He was also briefly a director of
the San Diego Zoo, displayed wild animals at the 1933â€"34 Century of
Progress exhibition and 1939 New York World's Fair, toured with
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and co-authored an
autobiography, 1941's All in a Lifetime. The Frank Buck Zoo in Buck's
hometown of Gainesville, Texas is named after him.Buck was born in
Gainesville, Texas in 1884 and grew up in Dallas. He excelled at
geography, at the cost of "utter failure on all the other subjects of
that limited Dallas curriculum", and quit school after completing the
seventh grade. During childhood he began collecting birds and small
animals, tried farming, and sold songs to vaudeville singers before
getting a job as a cowpuncher, (a term for cowboy used mostly in Texas
and surrounding states). Accompanying a cattle car to the Chicago
stockyards, he refused to return to Texas.In Chicago, while working as
captain of bellhops at the Virginia Hotel, Buck met hotel resident
Lillian West (pen name Amy Leslie). West was a former actress and
operetta singer. At the time that Buck met her, she was one of the
very few female drama critics in the country, and the only one working
in Chicago, where she wrote for the Chicago Daily News. In his
autobiography, Buck described her as "a small woman, plump, with
keenly intelligent eyes, the most beautifully white teeth I have ever
seen, and a red, laughing mouth", adding that she was "always
good-natured." Although their relationship was highly unusual at the
time, she being 46 years old to his youthful 17 (a 29-year
difference), they married in 1901.In 1911 Buck won $3,500 in a poker
game and decided to go abroad for the first time, traveling to Brazil
without his wife. Bringing back exotic birds to New York, he was
surprised by the profits he was able to obtain from their sale. He
then traveled to Singapore, beginning a string of animal collecting
expeditions to various parts of Asia. Leading treks into the jungles,
Buck learned to build traps and snares to safely catch animals so he
could sell them to zoos and circuses worldwide. After an expedition,
he would usually accompany his catches on board ship, helping to
ensure they survived the transport to the United States. Buck and West
divorced in 1913, and the following year he married Nina C. Boardman,
a Chicago stenographer who accompanied him on jungle expeditions.
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