Lex Barker (Alexander Crichlow Barker Jr.) was born in 1919 in Rye, New York to a rich Canadian-born building contractor and stockbroker, and his American wife. He was raised in NYC. He went to a boarding school for both elementary school and HS. He went to Princeton University for college but dropped out to join a theatrical stock company, which angered his parents. He wanted to act and in 1938, at 19 years old he got cast in his first Broadway show, in a small role in a short run of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. He also had a small role in Orson Welles's disastrous Five Kings, which met with so many problems in Boston and Philadelphia that it never made it into New York City. He was 6’4, blond haired, handsome faced, athletic and intelligent. Barker spoke English (obviously) and was fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, and could speak some German.
Due to his acting career going nowhere he joined the army in 1941, months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He rose to the rank of Major during the war and was later wounded in the head and leg while fighting in Sicily. He was awarded the Purple Heart award twice. After being wounded he was brought back to the states and stayed in an Arkansas hospital, and eventually discharged from the army. After being discharged he traveled to Los Angeles, and quickly landed his first film role, a small part in a film called “Doll Face” in 1945, the first of a few small roles in 1945 and 1946, before RKO came knocking and signed him to an exclusive contract with them in 1947. He was given roles in a few films and allowed to film one movie for Paramount in 1947. In 1949 he would get his big break, starring in “Tarzan’s Magic Fountain”. His good looks and tall, athletic frame made him a popular Tarzan (he was the 10th to play the role!). He starred as Tarzan in a few films from 1949-1953, and also made one non-Tarzan film in 1952 in the midst of his Tarzan fame. He was released from his RKO contract in 1953.
In 1954 he began acting in numerous Westerns for numerous studios, like Columbia and Universal. He also made a few non-Westerns in between the Westerns. By 1957 he was barely getting any work in the states so he moved to Europe to attempt to land roles, especially being that he spoke numerous languages. Moving to Europe worked out well for him, as he became a big star there, starring in over 40 European films (his first being in Britain, followed by numerous in Italy) and being Germany’s top box office draw for a moment. He had his biggest success in Germany. Although he spoke German, his voice was almost always dubbed in West German films.
In 1966 he was awarded the Bambi Award for Best Foreign Actor in Germany, where he was a massive star. He was so popular there they even had him release two songs there.
While starring in European films he did occasionally come back to the states to do guest spots on American television shows, but his professional home was overseas in Europe and Germany.
Lex was married 5 times in his life, including to actress Arlene Dahl, and most notably to actress Lana Turner. All 5 marriages ended in divorce.
Barker died in 1973, just 3 days after his 54th birthday, from a heart attack. He had the heart attack while walking down Lexington Avenue on New York City's Upper East Side, to meet his latest fiancée, actress Karen Kondazian. He died very quickly.