Editing Buster Crabbe (section)

===Hollywood===
[[File:Buster Crabbe 1933b.jpg|thumb|Crabbe watches "Jack", one of the lions in ''[[King of the Jungle (1933 film)|King of the Jungle]]'', eating lunch in a Hollywood restaurant in 1933. Crabbe became a lion tamer while working on that adventure film.]]
He is credited in some films as "Larry Crabbe" or "Larry (Buster) Crabbe". His role in the ''Tarzan'' serial ''[[Tarzan the Fearless]]'' (1933) began a career in which Crabbe starred in more than a hundred films. In ''[[King of the Jungle (1933 film)|King of the Jungle]]'' (1933), ''[[Jungle Man (film)|Jungle Man]]'' (1941), and the serial ''[[King of the Congo]]'' (1952), he played typical "jungle man" roles. He starred in several popular films at this time, including ''[[The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (film)|The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi]]'' (1933), alongside [[Betty Grable]], ''[[Search for Beauty]]'' (1934), and ''[[Daughter of Shanghai]]'' (1937) credited as Larry Crabbe.

In 1936, he was selected over several stars to play [[Flash Gordon]] in the first, very successful [[Universal Pictures]] [[Flash Gordon (serial)|''Flash Gordon'' serial]], which was followed by two sequels released in 1938 and 1940. The series was later edited and shown extensively on American television during the 1950s and 1960s, then fully restored for home video release. He also starred as [[Buck Rogers]] for Universal, playing the role with dark hair, unlike his blonde hair for Flash Gordon. In 1939 Crabbe reunited with Grable for a lead role in the mainstream comedy ''[[Million Dollar Legs (1939 film)|Million Dollar Legs]]''.

Crabbe starred at the [[Billy Rose's Aquacade]] at the [[1939 New York World's Fair|New York World's Fair]] during its second year (1940), replacing fellow Olympic swimmer and Tarzan actor [[Johnny Weissmuller]].

During World War II, Crabbe was put under contract by [[Producers Releasing Corporation]] for lead roles from 1942 to 1946. He portrayed a [[Western (genre)|Western]] folk-hero version of [[Billy the Kid (film series)|Billy the Kid]] in 13 films, and Billy Carson in 23, along with [[Al St. John]] as his [[sidekick]]. As a 34-year-old married man, Crabbe had a draft deferment, but made Army [[training film]]s for the [[field artillery]] at [[Ft. Sill, Oklahoma]], along with St. John.<ref>pp 31-32 Vermilye, Jerry ''Buster Crabbe: A Biofilmography'' McFarland, 29 Apr 2014</ref> Crabbe also played some jungle roles for the studio.

Following the war, Crabbe appeared opposite Weissmuller as a rival in two jungle films, ''[[Swamp Fire]]'' (1946) and ''[[Captive Girl]]'' (1950). For his final multi-chapter movie serial, Crabbe returned to the jungle playing the role of [[Thun'da]] in ''[[King of the Congo]]'' (1952).