Johnny Sheffield
Johnny Sheffield
Born 11/04/1931 in Pasadena, California, USA

Johnny Sheffield (born John Matthew Sheffield Cassan) was an American child, teen, and young-adult actor, his screen career lasting from 1938 to 1955.

Johnny Sheffield (born John Matthew Sheffield Cassan) was an American child, teen, and young-adult actor, his screen career lasting from 1938 to 1955.

In 1938, Sheffield became a child star after he was cast in the juvenile lead of a West Coast production of the highly successful Broadway play On Borrowed Time, which starred Dudley Digges and featured Victor Moore as Gramps. Sheffield played the role of Pud, a long role for a child. He later went to New York as a replacement and performed the role on Broadway. The following year, his father read an article in The Hollywood Reporter that asked, "Have you a Tarzan Jr. in your backyard?" He believed he did and set up an interview. MGM was searching for a suitable youngster to play the adopted son of Tarzan in its next jungle movie with stars Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan. When he was 5 years old, Sheffield was taken to an audition where Weissmuller chose him over more than 300 juvenile actors interviewed for the part of "Boy" in Tarzan Finds a Son. In that same year, Sheffield appeared in the Busby Berkeley movie musical Babes in Arms with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, classmates of his at the studio school.

He appeared with many other performers over the years, including Jeanette MacDonald, Pat O'Brien, Cesar Romero, Ronald Reagan and Beverly Garland. He played the childhood version of the title character in Knute Rockne, All American, perhaps the most prestigious film in which he had a role.

Sheffield played Boy in three Tarzan movies at MGM, and in another five after the star, Weissmuller, and production of the movie series moved to RKO. Brenda Joyce played Jane in the last three Tarzan movies in which Sheffield appeared.

After he outgrew the role of Boy, the teenaged Sheffield went on to star in his own jungle movie series for Allied Artists. In 1949, he made Bomba, the Jungle Boy with co-star Peggy Ann Garner. In all, he appeared as Bomba 12 times, more than any other character he portrayed. Sheffield appeared in his last movie, as Bomba, in 1955.

He then made a pilot for a television series, Bantu the Zebra Boy, which was created, produced and directed by his father, Reginald Sheffield. Although the production values were high compared to other TV jungle shows of the day, a sponsor was not found and the show was never produced as a weekly series.

External links

IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0790788

Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q962024

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Filmography (Movies)

Charlie Chan's Lucky Director: H. Bruce Humberstone

Charlie Chan's Lucky Director: H. Bruce Humberstone

Character:Self

Release Date:05/12/2006

The One, the Only, the Real Tarzan

The One, the Only, the Real Tarzan

Character:Self

Release Date:22/08/2004

Lord of the Jungle

Lord of the Jungle

Character:Bomba

Release Date:12/06/1955

Killer Leopard

Killer Leopard

Character:Bomba

Release Date:22/08/1954

The Golden Idol

The Golden Idol

Character:Bomba

Release Date:10/01/1954

Safari Drums

Safari Drums

Character:Bomba

Release Date:21/06/1953

Bomba and the Jungle Girl

Bomba and the Jungle Girl

Character:Bomba

Release Date:07/12/1952

African Treasure

African Treasure

Character:Bomba

Release Date:06/05/1952

Elephant Stampede

Elephant Stampede

Character:Bomba

Release Date:28/10/1951

The Lion Hunters

The Lion Hunters

Character:Bomba

Release Date:25/03/1951

Bomba and the Hidden City

Bomba and the Hidden City

Character:Bomba

Release Date:24/09/1950

The Lost Volcano

The Lost Volcano

Character:Bomba

Release Date:25/06/1950

Bomba on Panther Island

Bomba on Panther Island

Character:Bomba

Release Date:18/12/1949

Bomba, the Jungle Boy

Bomba, the Jungle Boy

Character:Bomba

Release Date:20/03/1949

Tarzan and the Huntress

Tarzan and the Huntress

Character:Boy

Release Date:05/04/1947

Tarzan and the Leopard Woman

Tarzan and the Leopard Woman

Character:Boy

Release Date:18/02/1946

Tarzan and the Amazons

Tarzan and the Amazons

Character:Boy

Release Date:29/04/1945

Tarzan's Desert Mystery

Tarzan's Desert Mystery

Character:Boy

Release Date:26/12/1943

Tarzan Triumphs

Tarzan Triumphs

Character:Boy

Release Date:20/01/1943

Tarzan's New York Adventure

Tarzan's New York Adventure

Character:Boy

Release Date:01/05/1942

Tarzan's Secret Treasure

Tarzan's Secret Treasure

Character:Boy

Release Date:01/12/1941

Million Dollar Baby

Million Dollar Baby

Character:Alvie Grayson

Release Date:31/05/1941

Knute Rockne All American

Knute Rockne All American

Character:Knute - Age 7

Release Date:05/10/1940

Lucky Cisco Kid

Lucky Cisco Kid

Character:Tommy Lawrence

Release Date:28/06/1940

Little Orvie

Little Orvie

Character:Orvie Stone

Release Date:11/03/1940

Babes in Arms

Babes in Arms

Character:Bobs (as John Sheffield)

Release Date:10/10/1939

Tarzan Finds a Son!

Tarzan Finds a Son!

Character:Boy

Release Date:16/06/1939

The Man on the Rock

The Man on the Rock

Character:Napoleon's Son (uncredited)

Release Date:03/09/1938

Television Appearances

Images

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