Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

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Alexander Crichlow Barker Jr. was a direct descendant of the founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, and of Sir William Henry Crichlow, historical Governor-General of Barbados. Barker attended the Fessenden School and Phillips-Exeter Academy, where he excelled in football and track. He went to Princeton, but left to become an actor. A year later he was spotted while working in summer stock theatre, and received a contract offer from 20th Century Fox. World War II intervened; he enlisted as an infantry private, and rose to the rank of major.

Although later signed by Fox and then Warner Bros, he was too tall for supporting parts and too unknown for leads. Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949) (RKO) provided his first starring role. After five Tarzan films, he went into other adventure films. After 16 non-Tarzan films, mostly westerns, he went to Europe in 1957 (he spoke French, Spanish, Italian, and German). He went on to make more than 50 more films worldwide: Brazil, Germany, Spain, Yugoslavia, Italy, Lebanon, France, as well as the USA. He became very popular in Germany owing to his roles as "Old Shatterhand", "Kara Ben Nemsi", and "Dr. Karl Sternau", in films based on books written by Karl May, a popular German writer of adventure literature. Barker won Germany's Bambi Award as Best Foreign Actor of 1966.

A member of an extremely prominent family in New York society, Barker
was effectively disowned by his family upon his decision to become an
actor.

Normally quite hairy-chested, Barker was forced to submit to a full body wax in order to play the buffed version of Tarzan demanded by the producers.

His fifth wife, <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0148947/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Carmen Cervera</a>, is a former Miss Spain.

Father of <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0054853/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Christopher Barker</a>, from his marriage to <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm1217011/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Irene Labhart</a>

Enlisted in the US Army in 1941. He was wounded in action fighting in Sicily and was awarded the Purple Heart twice.

Trivia

Lex Barker

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