The actor Buster Crabbe won an Olympic gold medal in what sport?

Clarence Linden Crabbe II (February 7, 1908 – April 23, 1983) commonly known by his stage name Buster Crabbe, was an American two-time Olympic swimmer and movie actor. He starred in a number of popular films in the 1930s and 1940s. He also played the title role in the serials Tarzan the Fearless, Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. Crabbe is the only actor to play Tarzan, Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers – the top three syndicated comic strip heroes of the 1930s.

Raised in Hawaii, Crabbe graduated from the Punahou School in Honolulu. He competed in two Olympic Games as a swimmer. At the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, he won the bronze medal for the 1,500 meters freestyle, and at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he won the gold medal for the 400 meters freestyle when he beat Jean Taris of France by a tenth of a second. He attended the University of Southern California, where he was the school's first All-American swimmer (1931) and a 1931 NCAA freestyle titlist. He also became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity before graduating from USC in 1931.