I heard this on a local radio station-the chimpanzee that played alongside Maureen O’Sullivan and Johnny Weismuller is STILL alive?? That would make the chimp something like 75 years old!
Is this true? I thought that chimps lived about 40 years.
Speaking of those old Tarzan movies-is “Boy” still alive?
He’s still alive. Last I heard he has his own house in Palm Springs and sells his paintings on ebay.
No, seriously.
Johnny Sheffield is still around, and fairly recent interviews of him are floating around the Internet
Damn! I thought you meant “Cheetah” was still alive and doing quite well for a chimp. 
That is what they meant. Cheeta is alive at 76 years old, living in Palm Springs, and selling paintings.
Well, I"ll be a “monkey’s uncle.”
Of course, what he really wants to do is direct.
Jai (Manuel Padilla Jr) is dead though.
Yep, Cheetah is living the high life, alright.
Most of his fellow animal actors end up in far less posh surroundings.
According to Wikipedia, chimpanzees do indeed live only 40 years in the wild. But captive chimps (i.e. those which have access to veterinary care, and don’t compete with other chimpanzees for food or status) have been known to live for 60 years or longer.
Still - he broke the record 12 years ago. He is anomalous as far as our knowledge of non-human primates goes.
Interestingly, a primate sanctuary in Palm Harbor FL also claims to be caring for a “Cheetah” from Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan movies. This one’s name is Mike and he is also supposed to be over 70.
Were I a more cynical person, I might harbor suspicions that any sufficiently elderly chimpanzee eventually becomes “Cheetah” from Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan movies.
Since animal parts in TV and movies often had multiple “actors” this could actually be true if more than one chimp played Cheetah.
“Now, Tarzan make war!” Tarzan Triumphs (1943)
The best Cheeta moment:
This bit of anachronism was the result of the WWII war effort, Tarzan fights against the Nazis (even Cheeta machine guns one Nazi!) and at the end of the movie Cheeta takes over the radio the Nazis were using and the Nazi HQ confuse him with the Führer. 
That sounds as if it is likely. A near example might be with the two Clint Eastwood movies, “Every Which Way But Loose” and “Any Which Way You Can” in which a different orangutan played “Clyde” in each movie.
Bah. Orangutans. They all look alike.
Is he a Doper living in Orlando and claiming to be English?
Just a thought.
Bumping this thread rather than starting another (since it’s not likely to start any arguments) for a MPTIMS that’s CS related:
C’mon people! Give him a star! While I doubt he’s exactly heartrboken over the honor, you can’t convince me a 76 year old chimp (the equivalent of being well over 100 for a human) and one of the last recognizable bankable household-name movie stars from the 1930s doesn’t deserve a star when The Monkees and Jennifer Love Hewitt have one. Poor babe.
(I love the reports that he actually watches his old movies with his grandchildren- true.)
I did a thread on his birthday a couple of years ago…I think it’s so cool!
He should totally have a star on the walk of fame.
Tinker Bell over Cheeta? I know Disney has clout, but I don’t think she deserves a star as much as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, or Kermit the Frog*. Cheeta definitely does though.
*Kermit’s star was awarded in 2002, while the character was still owned by Jim Henson Productions.