Gene Pollar on AllMovie

Film history's second Tarzan (third, if one counts Gordon Griffith, who played the jungle man as a child in Tarzan of the Apes, 1918), Joseph Pohler was a New York City fireman when hired by Numa Pictures to star in The Revenge of Tarzan (aka The Return of Tarzan, 1920). Pohler, whom Numa renamed Gene Pollar, was chosen because of his impressive physique (reportedly 6' 2 1/2" and weighing in at 200 pounds) rather than for his nonexistent acting prowess. Appearing opposite Karla Schramm's Jane, Pollar was successful enough for Universal to offer him a contract but Numa reportedly refused to release him and, disgusted with the whole thing, he returned to his former job. Long out of the public eye, Pollar died in complete obscurity in a retirement home in Fort Lauderdale, FL.