Elmo Lincoln became known as the "original" adult Tarzan and appeared in three productions from 1918 - 1921.

10 year old Gordon Griffith played Tarzan as a boy; Stellan Windrow was the first adult actor chosen to play Tarzan, but when World War 1 broke out, he left to join the Army; Elmo Lincoln ended up as Tarzan. He made Tarzan Of The Apes (1918), The Romance Of Tarzan (1918) and the serial The Adventures Of Tarzan in 1921.



Original title card for the first Tarzan movie

TARZAN OF THE APES (1918)
Cast: Elmo Lincoln (Tarzan), Enid Markey (Jane), True Boardman, Kathleen Kirkham, George B. French, Gordon Griffith (young Tarzan), Colin Kenny, Thomas Jefferson.
Directed by Scott Sidney; Screenplay by Fred Miller based on characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Plot: John and Alice Clayton take ship for Africa. Mutineers maroon them. After his parents die the newborn Tarzan is taken by a great Ape, Kala. Later the boy finds his father's knife and uses it to become King of Apes. Binns, the sailor who saved the Claytons and who has been held by Arab slavers for ten years, finds the young Tarzan and then heads for England to notify his kin. A scientist arrives to check out Binns' story. Tarzan, now a man, kills the native who killed Kala; when their chief is killed the black villagers appease Tarzan with gifts and prayers. The scientist's daughter Jane is carried off by a native, rescued by Tarzan (who has burnt the native village), aggressively loved by him ("Tarzan is a man, and men do not force the love of women"), and at last accepts him with open arms.

ROMANCE OF TARZAN (1918)
Cast: Elmo Lincoln (Tarzan), Enid Markey (Jane), Thomas Jefferson, Cleo Madison, Clyde Benson, Monte Blue, True Boardman, Nigel De Brulier, Phil Dunham, George B. French, Gordon Griffith (young Tarzan).
Directed by Wilfred Lucas; Screenplay by Bess Meredyth and Wilfred Lucas based on characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
PLOT: Tarzan and Jane are to sail for England. They are attacked by natives and Tarzan is believed to have been killed. The Greystoke relatives return to England, the Porters (Jane's family) goes to their ranch near San Francisco. Tarzan shows up in a tuxedo and rescues Jane from outlaws. Later she suspects him ot being in love with another woman. Disgusted with civilization Tarzan returns to the jungle, followed by Jane who learns she was wrong.