It is our sad duty to report the passing of genre icon Cheeta, who succumbed to kidney failure over the holiday period. The monkey was 80.

Cheeta is best known for his roles in the TARZAN movies, and began his career as the jungle man’s best bud in 1932’s TARZAN THE APE MAN. His last acting gig was DOCTOR DOOLITTLE in 1967. Since then, Cheeta had indulged his other passions, including writing (ME CHEETA: MY LIFE IN HOLLYWOOD was his best-selling autobiography in 2009) and, of course, painting…

A Cheeta original.

Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.