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One of Hollywood's most famous animals, Cheetah the chimpanzee from the Tarzan movies of the early 1930s, has died aged 80.
The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, Florida, has revealed the chimp believed to be the iconic simian star of the golden age of film died on Christmas Eve of kidney failure.
It is claimed he outlived both of his co-stars Johnny Weissmuller, who died in 1984 aged 79, and Maureen O'Sullivan, who played Tarzan's mate Jane and who died aged 87 in 1998.
However, the story of Cheetah is mired in mystery as some have claimed he was not the same animal and some have disputed his age.
In 2008 claims about another chimp, who in 2005 was handed a Guinness world record as the oldest non-human primate, were debunked after research carried out by the journalist Richard Rosen revealed he could not have been born until the 1960s.
Sanctuary outreach director Debbie Cobb said the recently departed Cheetah was outgoing, loved finger painting and American football and liked to see people laugh.
She added the jungle swinger seemed to be tuned into human feelings was soothed by nondenominational Christian music.
'He was very compassionate,' Ms Cobb said. 'He could tell if I was having a good day or a bad day.
'He was always trying to get me to laugh if he thought I was having a bad day. He was very in tune to human feelings.'
The character of Cheetah was the comic relief in the Tarzan series starring American Olympic gold medal swimmer Weissmuller.
Ms Cobb said Cheetah came to the sanctuary from Weissmuller's estate sometime around 1960. She added that he wasn't a troublemaker.
However, sanctuary volunteer Ron Priest did admit that when the superstar chimp didn't like what was going on, he would throw faeces.
'When he didn't like somebody or something that was going on, he would pick up some poop and throw it at them. He could get you at 30ft with bars in between.'
He added Cheetah stood out because of his ability to stand up – shoulders tall, back straight – and walk like a person.
It was claimed the chimp in the films, who was 4ft and 10st 2lb, was 'discovered' as a newborn by an animal trainer on a trip to Africa in April 1932.
He appeared soon afterwards alongside Weissmuller in Tarzan And His Mate, and went on to star in a dozen films about the jungle hero who swung from tree to tree.
His character was a product of the movies, as a chimp never appeared in any of the Tarzan novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs that the films were based on.
It was claimed another chimp, Cheeta, appeared in 50 movies before his final appearance, as Chee-Chee in 1967's Doctor Dolittle.
He was then cared for at a foundation in Palm Springs, California, paying for his keep with his 'Ape-stract' paintings which sell for £75 a time.
In 2008 Esquire magazine published his 'memoirs' which also joked that he made a small fortune working as a body double for actor Robin Williams.
Chimpanzees in captivity regularly live to about 50, a decade longer than those in the wild.
Another old-timer was Fifi, a star attraction at Sydney's Taronga Zoo until her death at the age of 60 last July.
The character of Cheetah was honoured with a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in 1995. His star is at 110 South Palm Canyon Drive.
There have been several unsuccessful campaigns to secure a star for the pretender Cheeta on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which gained the support of Hillary Clinton.
Cheeta’s trainer, Tony Gentry, claimed that the chimp was born in the early 1930s, but other sources claim he was not born until 1960.
It is known various chimps played Cheetah in different scenes in the 1932 and 1934 films, Tarzan the Ape Man and Tarzan and His Mate.
But while one of the chimps is known to have died in 1938, the chimp that died on December 24 could be one of the other actors then known as Zippy or Harry but since renamed.
Sadly, the world may never know.
