RIP Cheetah

[Compound]

Cheetah, a chimpanzee who starred alongside Tarzan in the franchise films of the early 1930s, died Saturday. He had experienced kidney failure earlier that week, and was thought to be 80 years old.

Cheetah, also known as Cheetah-Mike, acted as Tarzan's comic sidekick "Cheeta" and was one of several chimpanzees who appeared in the films of 1932 to 1934, with Johnny Weissmuller in the starring role.

Around 1960, after living on Weissmuller's estate, Cheetah retired to Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, Fla.

"It is with great sadness that the community has lost a dear friend and family member," the sanctuary announced this week on its website. Chimpanzees live an average of 45 years in the wild, and captive chimps have an average lifespan of 60 years.

While at the sanctuary, Cheetah enjoyed watching sports on television, listening to nondenominational Christian music, and occasionally throwing poop when he was feeling disgruntled.

"He was very outgoing," outreach director Debbie Cobb tells PEOPLE. "He always loved to laugh and to make other people laugh. He was the first chimp I've ever seen shed a tear when another animal died."

Cobb, who has been affiliated with the sanctuary since she was a child, has known Cheetah for 51 years, and says she will miss "not being around him everyday." The sanctuary has been raising funds to construct a medical building dedicated to Cheetah. "We're going to make sure that Cheetah's memory lives on forever," Cobb says.

Actress Mia Farrow, whose mother, Maureen O'Sullivan, starred as Jane in the Tarzan films, took to Twitter to remember the animal.

"Cheetah the chimp in Tarzan movies died this week at 80," she wrote. "My mom, who played Jane, invariably referred to Cheetah as 'that bastard.'"

"He loved women," Cobb says. "He loved life, everything about it."

Cheetah in the 30s:


Cheetah in 2011:


Okay, hands up. How many people out there even conceived that Cheetah might still be alive 80 years later?

Oh, and:

While at the sanctuary, Cheetah enjoyed watching sports on television, listening to nondenominational Christian music, and occasionally throwing poop when he was feeling disgruntled.

So, he's just like Tim Tebow then? (rimshot)
(No offense Tim. )

[Darth Geek]

I thought they found out years ago that Cheetah was not the monkey that was in the Tarzan movies.

[shodan]

80 years? jesus christ. i wonder how many times he attempted to lead the primate revolution.

[Compound]

I thought they found out years ago that Cheetah was not the monkey that was in the Tarzan movies.

Different chimpanzee.

The dead one:
Cheetah-Mike, a male chimpanzee owned by Suncoast Primate Sanctuary after being donated from Noell's Chimp Farm in Palm Harbor, FL.[15] Alleged to have been born about 1931 (claimed age in February 2008 was 77),[16] to have been acquired from the estate of Johnny Weissmuller in 1957, and to have been "one of the original 'Cheetahs' from Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan movies."[15] Died in Palm Harbor, Florida, of kidney failure on December 24, 2011.[17]

The fake one:
Cheeta, a male chimpanzee born about 1960, formerly owned by Tony Gentry and now residing at the C.H.E.E.T.A. Primate Sanctuary (Creative Habitats and Enrichment for Endangered and Threatened Apes) in Palm Springs, California. Claimed by Gentry to have been born in 1932 or later in the 1930s and to have portrayed Cheeta in most of the Johnny Weismuller and Lex Barker Tarzan films, and for that reason long celebrated as the longest-lived chimpanzee. Both claims were debunked by journalist R. D. Rosen in 2008 in an article that settled the animal's true age and established that he had not appeared in any movies, let alone in the role of Cheeta.[1]

[SJP]

Anyone think it's sort of ironic that an 80-year-old chimp looks a lot better than Sandy Frank these days?  Just sayin'.

[Johnny Unusual]

Cheetah in 2011:

Too bad, if he lived, he could have played Gorilla Grodd.  Yes, I know that he's a chimp and not a gorilla, but with a little CGI his gravitas would have come through.  Look at him, he's clearly a wise old chimp with skeletons in his closet.

[Thrifty]

I hear that chimps have average lifespans about as long as humans, which isn't surprising given how closely related the two species are biologically.  Chimps that perform in movies and TV shows and stuff are young, usually fewer than 5 years old.  After they become adults, they become too agressive and uncooperative to meet the demands of a shooting schedule.  But they're too domesticated to survive out in the wild.  On the other hand, they've still got decades upon decades of life before dying of old age.  So there are these chimp retirement homes throughout the country.

[Smith Dr John Smith]

Wow,80 years old. Really.  My Grandmother just died at the age of 83,she only just outlived the chimp.

[Danecho1967]

It's pretty amazing when you consider that the chimp outlived Tarzan, Jane and "Boy".

[Smith Dr John Smith]

It's pretty amazing when you consider that the chimp outlived Tarzan, Jane and "Boy".

it's also kind of sad.  Not that I want to drag this thread down or anything it is is amazing,but it is one of those amazing things that is kind of sad.  Being outlived by your chimp costar.