Johnny Tatum was a famous rodeo clown

Rodeo clown

A rodeo clown, also known as a bullfighter or rodeo protection athlete, is a rodeo performer who works in bull riding competitions. The primary job of the rodeo clown is to protect a fallen rider from the bull, whether the rider has been bucked off or has jumped off of the animal...

 and bullfighter. He toured the United States for many years entertaining crowds and protecting bullriders. Early in his career, he traveled to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 with Casey Tibbs

Casey Tibbs

Casey Duane Tibbs was an American cowboy, rodeo performer, and actor.He was born northwest of Fort Pierre, South Dakota. Tibbs held the "World All-Around Rodeo Champion" title twice, in 1951 and 1955. He also won in 1949, 1951–1954, and 1959, the world saddle bronc riding championship and...

 to promote the sport of rodeo

Rodeo

Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...

 in that country. He worked some of the biggest rodeos in the world including Cheyenne Frontier Days and the Calgary Stampede

Calgary Stampede

The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and features one of the world's largest rodeos, a parade, midway,...

.

His contract acts usually involved trained animals including horses, dogs and monkeys. He delighted crowds with his trained monkey that rode a dog and herded sheep http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=pPlircZBl2c.

He was selected to be a bullfighter at the National Finals Rodeo

National Finals Rodeo

The National Finals Rodeo, organized by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, is the premier championship rodeo event in the United States. Wrangler Jeans is the title sponsor for the 10-day event, commonly just called the National Finals or NFR, which is also sometimes referred to as the...

 in 1976 and retired from rodeo in 1983. After retiring, he provided horses and livestock for many movies including "The Blue And The Gray". He also performed as a stuntman and acted in several movies and TV shows including "The Gambler 2" starring Kenny Rogers

Kenny Rogers

Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...

, Silverado

Silverado

Silverado is a 1985 American Western film produced and directed by Lawrence Kasdan. The screenplay was written by Kasdan and his brother Mark. The film depicts a chance encounter between a group of cowboys who travel to the town of Silverado, where they thwart the plans of a rancher and a corrupt...

 and others.

He lived in Laveen, Arizona

Laveen, Arizona

Laveen is a suburban community in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, situated eight miles southwest of Downtown Phoenix near the confluence of the Gila and Salt rivers. Parts of Laveen constitute an unincorporated area in Maricopa County, while the remainder falls within the city limits of...

where he maintained several successful business ventures until his death in 1994.