Film Early Tarzan films portrayed Jane Porter and (occasionally) her father faithfully to the portrayal in the novels. The 1932 sound film
Tarzan the Ape Man and its sequels changed the character's name to Jane Parker, portraying her as English rather than American and making her and Tarzan the adoptive parents of an orphan they named "Boy". In addition, the name of Jane's father in the first film is James Parker.
Remakes of the 1932 film, (
Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959) and
Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981) reprised this portrayal as well as that of her father.
Maureen O'Sullivan, who portrayed Jane Parker with
Johnny Weissmuller in the 1932 film and its first few sequels, was the most famous screen Jane. '' (1932) In recent Tarzan films, starting with
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984), the character is again Jane Porter, and her father Archimedes Q. Porter, and both once again Americans (with the exception of Disney's 1999 animated
Tarzan, which again represents both as English). Actresses who portrayed Jane on film include: •
Enid Markey 1918 (
Elmo Lincoln as Tarzan) •
Karla Schramm 1920 (
Gene Pollar as Tarzan;
P. Dempsey Tabler as Tarzan) •
Louise Lorraine 1921 (
Elmo Lincoln as Tarzan) •
Dorothy Dunbar 1927 (
James H. Pierce as Tarzan) •
Natalie Kingston 1929 (
Frank Merrill as Tarzan) •
Maureen O'Sullivan 1932–1942 (
Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan) •
Brenda Joyce 1945–1949 (
Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan;
Lex Barker as Tarzan) •
Vanessa Brown 1950 (
Lex Barker as Tarzan) •
Virginia Huston 1951 (
Lex Barker as Tarzan) •
Dorothy Hart 1952 (
Lex Barker as Tarzan) •
Joyce MacKenzie 1953 (
Lex Barker as Tarzan) •
Eve Brent 1958 (
Gordon Scott as Tarzan) •
Joanna Barnes 1959 (
Denny Miller as Tarzan) •
Bo Derek 1981 (
Miles O'Keeffe as Tarzan) •
Andie MacDowell 1984 (
Christopher Lambert as Tarzan) •
Jane March 1998 (
Casper Van Dien as Tarzan) •
Minnie Driver 1999 (voice – Disney's animated
Tarzan) (
Tony Goldwyn as the voice of Tarzan) •
Olivia d'Abo 2002, 2001–2003 (voice – Disney's
direct-to-video sequel, and the
TV series) (
Michael T. Weiss as the voice of Tarzan) •
Spencer Locke 2013 (voice –
Constantin Film's CGI
Tarzan) (
Kellan Lutz as Tarzan) •
Margot Robbie 2016 (
Alexander Skarsgård as Tarzan) The Jane character is absent in: •
Tarzan Triumphs (1943) • ''
Tarzan's Desert Mystery'' (1943) • ''
Tarzan's Hidden Jungle'' (1955) •
Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957) • ''
Tarzan's Greatest Adventure'' (1959) •
Tarzan the Magnificent (1960) •
Tarzan Goes to India (1962) • ''
Tarzan's Three Challenges'' (1963) •
Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966) •
Tarzan and the Great River (1967) •
Tarzan and the Jungle Boy (1968)
Jane in all but name Three Tarzan films presented female leads who became the partner of Tarzan, but who were not named Jane, for one reason or another. •
Tarzan the Mighty (1928), starring
Frank Merrill.
Natalie Kingston portrays Mary Trevor, who becomes Tarzan's mate at film's end. A year later Kingston portrayed Jane to Merrill's Tarzan in
Tarzan the Tiger. •
Tarzan the Fearless (1933), starring
Buster Crabbe.
Jacqueline Wells portrays Mary Brooks, who becomes Tarzan's mate at film's end. • ''
Tarzan's Revenge'' (1938), starring
Glenn Morris.
Eleanor Holm portrays Eleanor Reed, who becomes Tarzan's mate at film's end. Producer
Sol Lesser nixed calling the character Jane as he felt that Holm was so popular for her swimming exploits that audiences would not accept her playing a character not named Eleanor.
Television The Jane character has appeared sporadically in the seven (to date) television series featuring Tarzan, occasionally in offbeat portrayals when she does appear. She was entirely omitted in television series
Tarzan (1966–68). In the Filmation animated series
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (1976–80), she appeared once in the episode "Tarzan and Jane," in which she and her father were part of an archaeological expedition looking for the lost city of Cowloon; she was voiced by
Linda Gary in this episode. In the TV movie
Tarzan in Manhattan (1989) the character was reimagined as a New York cab driver, played by
Kim Crosby, and in the French-Canadian-Mexican series
Tarzán (1991–94) as a French ecologist, played by
Lydie Denier. Jane was absent from
Tarzan: The Epic Adventures (1996–1997), and Lydie Denier returned in the role of Olga de Coude; Jane was slated to appear in the unproduced second season, with
Julie St. Claire cast in the role.
Olivia d'Abo took the role in the Disney animated series
The Legend of Tarzan (2001–2003), a follow-up to Disney's animated
Tarzan film and its direct-to-video sequel
Tarzan & Jane (2002). The 2003 series
Tarzan, set like
Tarzan in Manhattan in New York City, casts
Sarah Wayne Callies as detective Jane Porter. In the CGI 2017 series
Tarzan and Jane, Jane Porter is a teenage, big-city girl who becomes friends with a teenage Tarzan. Actresses who portrayed Jane on television include: •
Linda Gary 1979 (voice, with
Robert Ridgely as the voice of Tarzan) •
Kim Crosby 1989 (
Joe Lara as Tarzan) •
Lydie Denier 1991–1994 (
Wolf Larson as Tarzan) •
Olivia d'Abo 2000–2003 (voice, with
Michael T. Weiss as the voice of Tarzan) •
Sarah Wayne Callies 2003 (
Travis Fimmel as Tarzan) •
Rebecca Shoichet 2017 (voice) (
Giles Panton as Tarzan)
Radio •
Joan Burroughs Pierce 1932–1934
Stage •
Ethel Dwyer 1921 (Broadway) •
Jennifer Gambatese 2006 (Disney's Broadway Musical)
Audio cassette • 1999
Minnie Driver (with
Naia Kelly playing "narrator" Jane)
Video games • Naia Kelly 2001–2002 (voice –
Tarzan Untamed and
Kingdom Hearts) (
Tony Goldwyn as the voice of Tarzan) ==References==