Jock Mahoney

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Jock Mahoney (February 7, 1919 - December 14, 1989) was the stagename of American actor and stuntman Jacques O'Mahoney, who was of French, Irish and Cherokee descent.

Born and raised in Chicago, Mahoney left college in 1941 to join the United States Marine Corps, where he was a pilot and flying instructor. Following the end of World War II, Mahoney moved to Los Angeles and was a horsebreeder for a short period. He then became a movie stuntman, doubling for top stars such as Gregory Peck, Errol Flynn and John Wayne. He soon switched to acting and starred in the popular Range Riders and Yancy Derringer television series.

In 1960, he appeared as Coy Banton, a villain in Tarzan the Magnificent, starring Gordon Scott. His strong presence, work ethic, and lean (6 foot 4 inch, 225 pound) frame impressed producer Sy Weintraub who wanted a "new look" for the fabled apeman.

In 1962, Mahoney became the thirteenth actor to portray Tarzan when he appeared in Tarzan Goes to India. A year later he again played the role in Tarzan's Three Challenges. When this film was released, Mahoney, at 44, became the oldest actor to play the jungle king, a record that still stands. A variety of illnesses plagued Mahoney on the shoot, and he lost considerable weight. It took him several years to regain his health.

During the late 1960s, he appeared in television guest-starring roles on shows such as Batman and the Ron Ely Tarzan series.

Mahoney was married for many years to actress Margaret Field and was the stepfather of Sally Field. The character of Jocko (played by Brian Keith) in Hooper is a tribute to him.

In 1981, Mahoney returned to the Tarzan film series as the stunt coordinator on the John Derek directed remake of Tarzan, the Ape Man. He was billed as "Jack O'Mahoney."

During the final years of his life, Mahoney was a popular guest at film conventions and autograph shows.

He died of a stroke two days after being in an automobile accident in Bremerton, Washington.

Preceded by
Gordon Scott
Actors to portray Tarzan
1962, 1963
Succeeded by
Mike Henry

Essoe, Gabe. Tarzan of The Movies, 1968. Published by The Citadel Press, ISBN 0-8065-0295-9

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