The diver, who legend has it could hold his breath for up to four minutes at a time, landed the iconic role in 1953 after being asked by a film crew to help scout locations at Wakulla Springs Florida for the Universal monster film. He was already performing underwater newsreels shot at the tourist spot.“Their cameraman asked if I could swim in front of the cameras so they could get the perspective of the size of a human being against the fish and the grass.