Tarzan’s Cheeta oldest living chimp @ 75, active painting, exhibiting artwork

It could be a joke: “Old chimps never die, they exhibit their artwork in museums and get published alongside Jackson Pollack” — except it’s TRUE!

The same Cheeta who kept Johnny Weissmuller and other Tarzans company in 12 movies is not only still alive at 75 years of age, he is spending his retirement in Palm Springs painting abstracts, exhibiting in museums and galleries, and getting press coverage in newspapers, magazines and this blog. He also has his own star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on the West side of Palm Canyon Drive between Tahquitz and Arenas.

The National Museum of London displayed three of Cheeta’s paintings 12 years ago. Most recently, he was exhibiting this summer at the Lancaster Museum and Art Gallery in Southern California. Titled “Walk on the Wild Side — A Wildlife Art Exhibition,” the show also featured work by homo sapiens.

If you’re curious about Cheeta’s artwork, go to his website at http://www.cheetathechimp.org. Donations of $135 or more will get you your very own Cheeta art in the mail and will support him and his friends during retirement. And if you’d like to see him in action during his younger days, his Tarzan movies are available here. They’re great family entertainment.