On this day 135 years ago, February 6, 1889, Otto Elmo Linkenhelt, also known as Elmo Lincoln, was born in Rochester, Indiana.

He was a star in the slient era and famously known as being the first-ever man to play Tarzan on the silver screen in 1918. Lincoln, the first of 22 actors to play Tarzan in a movie, would go on to play the Ape Man role in several more silent movies, as well as many other action films. 

Between 1913 and 1952, Lincoln performed in over 100 screen productions. 

At 18, Lincoln left Rochester to begin a railroad career as a brakeman. His travels landed him other careers, which included work as a dockman, sailor, and a boxer prior to his debute on the big screen. 

Lincoln's acting career began under director D.W. Griffith. Griffith influenced the performer's name change, and featured Lincoln in his first role, The Battle of Elderbush Gulch in 1914. 

Following the fall of the silent movie era, Lincoln left Hollywood for a short time and moved to Salt Lake City, Utah to try his hand at mining and other forms of business. It wasn't until the late 1930's that Lincoln again would return to the film industry, and was said to be most often employed as a movie extra. His final work in the industry was in 1952, with a brief uncredited role in the movie 'Carrie.' 

After a heart attack on June 27, 1952, Lincoln passed away at the age of 63. Lincoln's body was placed in a mausolem in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. His contribution in the motion picture industry's start also had landed him with a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Learn more about Lincoln, including his career and start to life as a Rochester native, by checking out the Elmo Lincoln exhibit at the Fulton County Historical Museum.