Condolences poured in to a Florida primate sanctuary Wednesday after it announced the death of Cheetah , a chimpanzee that the sanctuary said starred in the Tarzan movies during the 1930s . `` I grew up watching Tarzan and Cheetah from a boy , '' a man identifying himself as Thomas from England wrote on the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary 's website . `` God bless you Cheetah . Now you and Tarzan are together again . '' The chimpanzee died Saturday after suffering kidney failure the week before , the sanctuary foundation said on the site . He was roughly 80 years old , Debbie Cobb , the sanctuary 's outreach director , told CNN affiliate WFLA . Cobb recalled Cheetah as an outgoing chimp who loved finger painting and watching football and who was soothed by Christian music , the station said . Several chimpanzees appeared in various Tarzan movies , many of which were popular in the 1930a and 1940s . The Florida primate sanctuary said its chimp appeared in the Tarzan moves from 1932 through 1934 , according to WFLA . According to the website Tarzanmovieguide.com , `` Tarzan the Ape Man '' was released in 1932 and `` Tarzan and his Mate '' in 1934 . Both movies starred Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan . Weissmuller was the first speaking Tarzan , according to the Internet Movie Database website . He died in 1984 . Weissmuller appeared in Tarzan movies through 1948 , according to the online movie guide site , with other chimpanzees appearing in the role of Cheetah . Cheetah came to the primate sanctuary from Weissmuller 's Florida estate around 1960 , Cobb told WFLA . He was the most famous of the sanctuary 's 15 chimpanzees . `` He was very compassionate , '' Cobb said . `` He could tell if I was having a good day or a bad day . He was always trying to get me to laugh if he thought I was having a bad day . He was very in tune to human feelings . '' Cheetah was known for his ability to stand up and walk like a person , sanctuary volunteer Ron Priest told WFLA . Another distinguishing characteristic : `` When he did n't like somebody or something that was going on , he would pick up some poop and throw it at them , '' Priest said . `` He could get you at 30 feet with bars in between . '' Still , Cobb told the station , `` He was n't a chimp that caused a lot of problems . '' Cheetah is not believed to have any children , Priest said . His age was advanced for a chimpanzee , Cobb told WFLA . In the wild , the average chimp survives 25 to 35 years , she said , and they can live 35 to 45 years in zoos . Another chimpanzee named Cheeta lives on a primate sanctuary in Southern California named C.H.E.E.T.A ( Creative Habitats and Enrichment for Endangered and Threatened Apes ) . The sanctuary 's creator , Dan Westfall , said on its web site that he was saddened to hear of Cheetah 's passing in Florida . He said he and others at the sanctuary `` send our deepest sympathies to our colleagues at Suncoast . '' Westfall writes on the site that he was told Cheeta was one of the original chimps in the Tarzan movies during the 1930s and 1940s . However , when he began working with a writer on Cheeta 's biography , research revealed `` that our Cheeta is unlikely to be as old as we 'd thought , although he is clearly old , '' Westfall wrote . `` It is also difficult to determine which movies , if any , our Cheeta may have been in . '' People from several countries offered condolences for Cheetah on the Florida sanctuary 's site in several different languages . A few credited him with helping them develop a love for animals . `` Cheetah will remain forever remembered in history , '' someone in Malta wrote . `` This little man was almost human , '' another poster wrote . `` Some of the antics he got up to used to make me laugh when I was in my teens many years ago . Thanks Cheetah for all the good times you had and made us all laugh . You will be a star that will be always remembered . I am in my 60s now and grew up with you . ''
Cheetah starred in the Tarzan films from 1932 through 1934 , primate sanctuary says . Comment: Primate sanctuary staffers remember him as `` very compassionate ''