Johnny Sheffield
Encyclopedia
Johnny Sheffield was an American
child actor
.
, the second child of actor
Reginald Sheffield
and Louise Van Loon (January 21, 1905 - April 14, 1987). His older sister was Mary Alice Sheffield Cassan and his younger brother was William Hart Sheffield Cassan (actor Billy Sheffield).
His father was himself a former juvenile performer when he came to the United States
from his native England
. His mother, a native of New York
, was a Vassar College
graduate with a liberal arts education who loved books and lectured widely.
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.
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
. 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 (1939
). 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
.
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.
, he made Bomba, the Jungle Boy
with co-star Peggy Ann Garner
. In all, he appeared as Bomba 12 times. 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.
and enrolled in college
to further his education
. He lived and worked for a time in Arizona
. John and Patricia Sheffield were married in 1959 in Yuma, Arizona
. They had three children: Patrick, Stewart and Regina.
, Sheffield completed a business
degree
at UCLA. Turning his attention to other fields, he involved himself variously in farming, real estate
and construction
. For a time, he was a representative for the Santa Monica Seafood Company importing
lobsters from Baja California
in Mexico
. In his later years Johnny Sheffield lived in Southern California
where he wrote articles about his Hollywood years and sold copies of the TV pilot
Bantu, the Zebra Boy on video.
, aged 79.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
.
Early life
He was born as John Matthew Sheffield Cassan in Pasadena, CaliforniaPasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, the second child of actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Reginald Sheffield
Reginald Sheffield
Reginald Sheffield was an English-born actor.He was born as Matthew Reginald Sheffield Cassan in the St. George Hanover Square District of Surrey near London, to Matthew Sheffield Cassan and Alice Mary Field...
and Louise Van Loon (January 21, 1905 - April 14, 1987). His older sister was Mary Alice Sheffield Cassan and his younger brother was William Hart Sheffield Cassan (actor Billy Sheffield).
His father was himself a former juvenile performer when he came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from his native England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. His mother, a native of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, was a Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
graduate with a liberal arts education who loved books and lectured widely.
In 1938, Sheffield became a child star after he was cast in the juvenile lead of a West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
production of the highly successful Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
play On Borrowed Time, which starred Dudley Digges
Dudley Digges (actor)
Dudley Digges was an Irish stage and film actor.Digges was born in Dublin. He went to America with a group of Irish players in 1904, and became successful both as an actor and producer. For a time, he was stage manager to Charles Frohman and George Arliss...
and featured Victor Moore
Victor Moore
Victor Frederick Moore was an American actor of stage and screen, as well as a comedian, writer, and director.-Personal life:...
as Gramps. Sheffield played the role of Pud, a long role for a child. He later went to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as a replacement and performed the role on Broadway.
Tarzan and other films
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. MGMMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
was searching for a suitable youngster to play the adopted son of Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
in its next jungle movie with stars Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller was an Austro-Hungarian-born American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in movies. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven...
and Maureen O'Sullivan
Maureen O'Sullivan
Maureen Paula O’Sullivan was an Irish actress.-Early life:O'Sullivan was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, the daughter of Roman Catholic parents Mary Lovatt and Charles Joseph O'Sullivan, an officer in The Connaught Rangers who served in The Great War...
. 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 (1939
1939 in film
The year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
). In that same year, Sheffield appeared in the Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley was a highly influential Hollywood movie director and musical choreographer. Berkeley was famous for his elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns...
movie musical Babes in Arms
Babes in Arms
Babes in Arms is a 1937 musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Rodgers and Hart. It concerns a teen-age boy who puts on a show with his friends to avoid being sent to a work farm.- Production history:...
with Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
and Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, classmates of his at the studio school.
He appeared with many other performers over the years, including Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
, Pat O'Brien
Pat O'Brien (actor)
Pat O’Brien was an American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits.-Early life:O’Brien was born William Joseph Patrick O’Brien to an Irish-American Catholic family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as an altar boy at Gesu Church while growing up near 13th and Clybourn streets...
, Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
, Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and Beverly Garland
Beverly Garland
Beverly Garland was an American film and television actress, businesswoman, and hotel owner. Garland gained prominence for her role as Fred MacMurray's second wife, "Barbara Harper Douglas", in the 1960s sitcom My Three Sons...
.
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
Brenda Joyce (actress)
Brenda Joyce was an American film actress. She was born as Betty Graftina Leabo in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, although family and friends referred to her as Graftina....
played Jane in the last three Tarzan movies in which Sheffield appeared.
Bomba and Bantu
After he outgrew the role of Boy, the teenage Sheffield went on to star in his own jungle movie series. In 19491949 in film
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
, he made Bomba, the Jungle Boy
Bomba, the Jungle Boy
Bomba the Jungle Boy was a series of American boy's adventure books produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate under the pseudonym Roy Rockwood and published by Cupples & Leon in the first half of the 20th century in imitation of the successful Tarzan series....
with co-star Peggy Ann Garner
Peggy Ann Garner
Peggy Ann Garner was an American actress.A successful child actor, Garner played her first film role in 1938 and won the Academy Juvenile Award for her work in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn...
. In all, he appeared as Bomba 12 times. Sheffield appeared in his last movie, as Bomba, in 1955
1955 in film
The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....
.
He then made a pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
for a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series, Bantu the Zebra Boy, which was created, produced and directed by his father, Reginald Sheffield
Reginald Sheffield
Reginald Sheffield was an English-born actor.He was born as Matthew Reginald Sheffield Cassan in the St. George Hanover Square District of Surrey near London, to Matthew Sheffield Cassan and Alice Mary Field...
. 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.
Personal life
Sheffield decided to leave the industryFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and enrolled in college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
to further his education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
. He lived and worked for a time in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. John and Patricia Sheffield were married in 1959 in Yuma, Arizona
Yuma, Arizona
Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....
. They had three children: Patrick, Stewart and Regina.
Later years
After leaving show businessShow business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
, Sheffield completed a business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
at UCLA. Turning his attention to other fields, he involved himself variously in farming, real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
and construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
. For a time, he was a representative for the Santa Monica Seafood Company importing
International trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...
lobsters from Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. In his later years Johnny Sheffield lived in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
where he wrote articles about his Hollywood years and sold copies of the TV pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
Bantu, the Zebra Boy on video.
Death
His wife Patti said that he fell from a ladder while pruning a palm tree. Though his injuries seemed minor, he died of a heart attack four hours later on October 15, 2010, in Chula Vista, CaliforniaChula Vista, California
Chula Vista is the second largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fourteenth largest city in the State of California, and the seventy seventh largest city in the U.S....
, aged 79.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1939 | Tarzan Finds a Son! Tarzan Finds a Son! Tarzan Finds a Son! is a 1939 Tarzan film based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was the fourth in the MGM Tarzan series to feature Johnny Weissmuller as the "King of the Apes".-Plot:... |
Boy |
| Babes in Arms Babes in Arms Babes in Arms is a 1937 musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Rodgers and Hart. It concerns a teen-age boy who puts on a show with his friends to avoid being sent to a work farm.- Production history:... |
Bobs | |
| 1940 | Lucky Cisco Kid Lucky Cisco Kid Lucky Cisco Kid is a 1940 western film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring Cesar Romero, Mary Beth Hughes and Dana Andrews.-Plot summary:... |
Tommy Lawrence |
| Knute Rockne, All American Knute Rockne, All American Knute Rockne, All American is a 1940 biographical film which tells the story of Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach. It stars Pat O'Brien, Ronald Reagan, Gale Page, Donald Crisp, Albert Bassermann, Owen Davis, Jr., Nick Lukats, Kane Richmond, William Marshall and William Byrne. It also... |
Knute Rockne Knute Rockne Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history... (at age 7) |
|
| Little Orvie | Orvie Stone | |
| 1941 | Tarzan's Secret Treasure Tarzan's Secret Treasure Tarzan's Secret Treasure is a 1941 Tarzan film based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is the fifth in the MGM Tarzan series to star Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan.-Plot:An expedition team arrives on Tarzan's escarpment... |
Boy |
| Million Dollar Baby Million Dollar Baby (1941 film) Million Dollar Baby is a 1941 romantic comedy film directed by Curtis Bernhardt. Released by Warner Bros., the film stars Priscilla Lane, Jeffrey Lynn, and Ronald Reagan.-Plot:... |
Alvie Grayson | |
| 1942 | Tarzan's New York Adventure Tarzan's New York Adventure Tarzan's New York Adventure is a 1942 film, the sixth Tarzan film to feature actors Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan. This film was the sixth and final film in MGM's Tarzan series and was the studio's last Tarzan film until their 1958 release, Tarzan's Fight for Life, directed by H. Bruce... |
Boy |
| 1943 | Tarzan Triumphs Tarzan Triumphs Tarzan Triumphs is a 1943 adventure film in which Tarzan fights the Nazis. Johnny Weismuller had portrayed the popular Edgar Rice Burroughs character in six films with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but this was his first with the producer Sol Lesser at RKO Pictures... |
Boy |
| Tarzan's Desert Mystery Tarzan's Desert Mystery Tarzan's Desert Mystery is a 1943 film starring Johnny Weismuller and Nancy Kelly. The movie was directed by Wilhelm Thiele.Like its immediate predecessor, "Tarzan Triumphs," this movie makes reference to Tarzan's mate, Jane, played in earlier Weissmuller films by Maureen O'Sullivan, but it does... |
Boy | |
| 1945 | Roughly Speaking Roughly Speaking (film) Roughly Speaking is a drama/comedy starring Rosalind Russell and Jack Carson. The plot involves a strong-minded mother keeping her family afloat through World War I and the Great Depression. The movie was based on the autobiography of the same name by Louise Randall Pierson.-Plot:Louise Randall... |
Frankie (at age 9) |
| Tarzan and the Amazons Tarzan and the Amazons Tarzan and the Amazons is an adventure film starring Johnny Weissmuller in his ninth outing as Tarzan. Brenda Joyce makes the first of five appearances as Jane and Johnny Sheffield returns as Boy. Henry Stephenson and Maria Ouspenskaya co-star. The movie was produced by Sol Lesser and Kurt... |
Boy | |
| 1946 | Tarzan and the Leopard Woman Tarzan and the Leopard Woman Tarzan and the Leopard Woman was a 1946 action film based on the Tarzan character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs and portrayed by Johnny Weissmuller. Directed by Kurt Neumann, the premise of the movie is Tarzan encounters a tribe of leopard-worshippers.... |
Boy |
| 1947 | Tarzan and the Huntress Tarzan and the Huntress Tarzan and the Huntress is an adventure film starring Johnny Weissmuller in his eleventh outing as Tarzan. Brenda Joyce makes the third of five appearances as Jane and Johnny Sheffield marks his eighth and final appearance as Boy. Patricia Morison and Barton MacLane co-star... |
Boy |
| 1949 | Bomba, the Jungle Boy Bomba, the Jungle Boy Bomba the Jungle Boy was a series of American boy's adventure books produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate under the pseudonym Roy Rockwood and published by Cupples & Leon in the first half of the 20th century in imitation of the successful Tarzan series.... |
Bomba Bomba, the Jungle Boy Bomba the Jungle Boy was a series of American boy's adventure books produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate under the pseudonym Roy Rockwood and published by Cupples & Leon in the first half of the 20th century in imitation of the successful Tarzan series.... |
| Bomba on Panther Island | Bomba | |
| 1950 | The Lost Volcano | Bomba |
| Bomba and the Hidden City | Bomba | |
| 1951 | The Lion Hunters | Bomba |
| Bomba and the Elephant Stampede | Bomba | |
| 1952 | African Treasure | Bomba |
| Bomba and the Jungle Girl | Bomba | |
| 1953 | Safari Drums | Bomba |
| 1954 | Killer Leopard | Bomba |
| The Golden Idol | Bomba | |
| 1955 | Lord of the Jungle | Bomba |