Robert R. Barrett: “I occasionally visited Richard Corben and his family in the early 1970s. Here are two photographs taken during one of these visits. The first one shows Richard sitting at his drawing table looking at his sculpture based on J. Allen St. John’s dust jacket art for Tarzan and the Golden Lion. The second photo shows me sitting at Rich’s drawing table looking at a different view of the sculpture. Vern Coriell, publisher of The Burroughs Bulletin and founder of The Burroughs Bibliophiles commissioned Richard to make the sculpture which was to be cast and given to recipients of the Golden Lion Award at the annual Dum-Dum, which was the yearly gathering of Edgar Rice Burroughs enthusiasts. One of the castings was given to Buster Crabbe, who portrayed Tarzan in the serial Tarzan the Fearless. Sadly Richard accidentally broke the mold and no more castings were made.”
Robert R. Barrett: “In the early 1970s (probably 1971 or 1972) Vern Coriell commissioned Richard Corben to sculpt a statue of Tarzan and the Golden Lion, based on J. Allen St. John’s dust jacket and interior illustration from the novel of that name. Corben made the sculpture and mold and made two statues, one of which he gave to Coriell. The other was to be presented to the guest of honor at the Dum-Dum in Toronto, Canada in 1972. These photographs are of Vern unveiling the sculpture, Vern presenting it to Buster Crabbe, and Crabbe accepting the award before regaling the crowd of his adventures in Hollywood. Sadly Corben accidently broke the mold and no other castings of the Golden Lion Award were ever made. These are the only photographs of the award that I am aware of and I’ve found none in any publications. When presented with the statue Buster Crabbe remarked, “How in the hell am I going to take this damn thing on the plane with me?’
Copyright © 2023 Heart-Attack-Series, Ink!
Created: June 4, 2023. Last updated: June 4, 2023 at 9:19 am
