Cheeta to ‘write’ memoirs

Cheeta the Chimp, who co-starred in a dozen Tarzan films, is to publish his memoirs.

The chimpanzee is listed in the Guinness World Records as the oldest living non-human primate at 75. Plucked from obscurity to become a Hollywood star in the 1930s, he later overcame addiction to alcohol and cigars.

The chimpanzee, who lives in California and whose real name is Jiggs, was approached by the publisher Fourth Estate. He has taken on a literary agent and is working with a ghostwriter on a ‘funny, moving and searingly honest’ autobiography. The chimpanzee was snatched from the Liberian jungle in 1932 and taken to New York by the flamboyant animal importer Henry Trefflich. He starred in 12 Tarzan films and went on to work with Bela Lugosi in the 1950s, finally quitting the big screen after 1967’s Doctor Dolittle with Rex Harrison. ananova

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