Today in sports history

One hundred years ago today, Olympic athlete and Hollywood/TV actor Buster Crabbe was born. Or was he? I've found conflicting reports. One site says he was born Feb. 7, 1910, and another says he was born Feb. 17, 1907. But Britannica online says it was Feb. 7, 1908, and I'm going with that.

Crabbe, who grew up in Hawaii, became a world-class swimmer, and he won a bronze medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, and a gold in the 400-meter freestyle at the 1932 games in Los Angeles, which wasn't a long drive for Crabbe, who had graduated from USC in 1931.

Following in the footsteps (swim strokes?) of fellow swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller, Crabbe played Tarzan in the 1933 film "Tarzan the Fearless," which launched him into a very successful second career. He would go on to appear in more than 100 movies, playing at various times Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and Billy the Kid. He also starred in the late-'50s TV series "Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion," as the title character.

Crabbe died of a heart attack in 1983, age 75.