Tarzan's Cheeta is alive and well in retirement

Cheeta lives in the resort town of Palm Springs, California like a lot of old movie stars, painting, playing the piano and watching his old movies. But as one of Palm Springs' only retired chimpanzees, he stands out.

The last actor to have played the lead chimpanzee role in the Tarzan movies of the 1930s and 1940s, Cheeta is 71 now, the oldest chimp in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records.

"He's just part of the family," said Dan Westfall, who saved Cheeta's life when he adopted him from Tony Gentry, an animal trainer who worked in Hollywood.

Gentry, Westfall's uncle, originally left instructions in his will to have Cheeta euthanized after his death because he worried that the 142-pound chimp would wind up in a research lab. His nephew talked him out of that by promising he'd always take care of Cheeta.

Westfall and Abe Karajerjian care for Cheeta nd other animals, includinmg orangutans and monkeys, at a house they have nicknamed Casa de Cheeta.