Frank Buck , wildlife animal trader in United States Born 1884-03-17 in United States dead 1950-03-25 in United States . Frank Howard Buck (March 17, 1884 – March 25, 1950) was an American hunter, animal collector, and author, as well as a film actor, director, and producer. Beginning in the 1910s he made many expeditions into Asia for the purpose of Hunting and collecting exotic animals, bringing over 100,000 live specimens back to the United States and elsewhere for zoos and circuses and earning a reputation as an adventurer. He co-authored seven books chronicling or based on his expeditions, beginning with 1930's Bring 'Em Back Alive, which became a bestseller. Between 1932 and 1943 he starred in seven adventure films based on his exploits, most of which featured staged "fights to the death" with various wild beasts. He was also briefly a director of the San Diego Zoo, displayed wild animals at the 1933–34 Century of Progress exhibition and 1939 New York World's Fair, toured with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and co-authored an autobiography, 1941's All in a Lifetime. The Frank Buck Zoo in Buck's hometown of Gainesville, Texas is named after him. Following the end of World War II, Buck returned to animal collecting, telling The New Yorker "You dig the same old-fashioned pits and use the same old-fashioned knives and come back with the same old-fashioned tigers." By his own estimate, he had by then captured 49 elephants, 60 tigers, 63 leopards, 20 hyenas, 52 orangutans, 100 gibbons, 20 tapirs, 120 Asiatic antelope and deer, 9 pigmy water buffalo, a pair of gaurs, 5 babirusa, 18 African antelope, 40 wild goats and sheep, 11 camels, 2 giraffes, 40 kangaroos and wallabies, 5 Indian rhinoceros, 60 bears, 90 pythons, 10 king cobras, 25 giant monitor lizards, 15 crocodiles, more than 500 different Species of other mammals, and more than 100,000 wild birds. Sultan Ibrahim of Johor was a good friend of Buck's and frequently assisted him in his animal collecting endeavors. Buck's final film role was an appearance as himself in the 1949 Abbott and Costello comedy Africa Screams. His last recorded performance was Tiger, a 1950 children's record adapting two stories from Bring 'Em Back Alive. Buck spent his last years in his family home at 324 South Bishop Street in San Angelo, Texas, and died of lung Cancer on March 25, 1950 in Houston, aged 66.
