Cheeta puts his feet up

Like many old Hollywood stars, he has to accept the bus loads of tourists who stop outside his home and offers a weary wave to those who shout out as he drives by in his golf cart. After a 30-year career in films, he is enjoying retirement despite having to give up beer and cigars.

Such is the life of the world's oldest chimpanzee, 36 years after his last role, with Rex Harrison in Doctor Dolittle. Cheeta the Chimp is best remembered for playing alongside Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan in the classic Tarzan series of the 1930s and 1940s. Now a grand 71 years old, he is one of the most celebrated residents of Desert Springs - the oasis 100 miles or so east of Los Angeles.

Tour guides say there is almost as much interest in Cheeta as in the old homes of local icons such as Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Frank Sinatra and Kirk Douglas.

Chimpanzees in the wild usually live for 40 to 45 years and to the mid-50s in captivity, but Cheeta shows no signs of slowing down. 'He's in excellent condition,' said Dan Westfall, who cares for him and several other retired showbiz primates at the Cheeta Primate Foundation. 'I'm just honoured to share a home with the last of the simian icons.'

Cheeta even helps pay for his keep with his brightly-coloured abstract paintings - nicknamed 'ape-stracts' - which sell for about £80 each.

Although he was stopped from drinking beer, a habit that reportedly reached ten pints a day, after animal activist Brigitte Bardot complained it could damage his health, Cheeta still 'likes to go to the drive-through and get a hamburger and a Coke'. He watches TV, expertly opens soft drinks cans and loves watching his old films on video.

The 4ft 6in tall, 142lb creature starred in his first of 12 Tarzan films after being discovered at just a couple of months old in Africa by Hollywood trainer Tony Gentry.

During his long Hollywood career, Cheeta worked much longer than any other trained chimps, who rarely act after the age of ten because they become less manageable and willing to follow directions.

When showbiz chimps were retired from films, many were sold for medical research. But Dan Westfall adopted Cheeta and promised to help him live out his life in comfort.