Sherwood "Shakey" Johnson (September 2, 1925 October 31, 1998) was the founder of Shakey's Pizza

Shakey's Pizza

Shakey's Pizza is a pizza restaurant chain based in the United States. The chain currently has about 500 stores globally, and about 60 in the United States.-History:...

.

Early history

He was born in Sacramento, California

Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, the son of a California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 deputy attorney general

Attorney General

In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...

, and a graduate of Christian Brothers High School (Sacramento, California)

Christian Brothers High School (Sacramento, California)

Christian Brothers High School High School is a private, Roman Catholic, college-preparatory high school in Sacramento, California. It is located within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento.-Background:...

. In 1943, after graduating, Johnson joined the U.S. Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 and served two years in the Pacific theater aboard the USS Alnitah (AK-127)

USS Alnitah (AK-127)

The USS Alnitah was a Crater-class cargo ship in the service of the United States Navy in World War II. Named a spelling variation of the star Alnitak in the constellation Orion, it was the only ship of the Navy to bear this name....

. It was in the Navy that he got the nickname "Shakey." Johnson attended Sacramento City College

Sacramento City College

Sacramento City College is a two-year community college located in Sacramento, California. SCC is part of the Los Rios Community College District and had an enrollment of 25,307 in 2009. Sacramento City College is officially accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges , offering...

, where he was known for a comedy act he performed with a fellow student. He also attended Hastings School of Law in San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

.

Pizza business

In 1954, Johnson founded Shakey's Pizza with "Big Ed" Plummer. Johnson was responsible for every detail in the original Shakey's experience, including the food, drink, the clever signs on the walls and tabletops, and especially the music. Johnson hosted live music nightly at the original parlor and insisted that it be jazz-oriented, perhaps Dixieland

Dixieland

Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...

 or ragtime

Ragtime

Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...

, or old-time. He was named "Emperor of Jazz" at the first Jazz Jubilee

Sacramento Jazz Jubilee

The Sacramento Jazz Jubilee is held every May during Memorial Day weekend in Sacramento, California, United States. It is organized and put on by the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society, usually sponsored by Raley's and Bel-Air supermarkets, and features some of the most noted jazz musicians in the...

 in Sacramento.

Johnson contracted polio around 1960 from a polio inoculation

Inoculation

Inoculation is the placement of something that will grow or reproduce, and is most commonly used in respect of the introduction of a serum, vaccine, or antigenic substance into the body of a human or animal, especially to produce or boost immunity to a specific disease...

 and walked with a slight limp from then on.

Post business interests

Johnson sold out his interest in Shakey's Pizza to Colorado Milling and Elevator Co. in 1966 for $3 million. He retired to a ranch house he built on a 105 acre (0.4249203 km²) estate in Oregon House, California

Oregon House, California

Oregon House is an unincorporated community in Yuba County, California. It is located northeast of Marysville, at an elevation of 1526 feet .The settlement grew up around a travelers' rest stop built in 1852...

 and continued to be a patron of jazz and Dixieland music. He was inducted into the Banjo Hall of Fame

Four-String Banjo Hall of Fame Members

The National Four-String Banjo Hall of Fame recognizes musicians. bands, or companies that have made a distinct contribution to the four-string banjo performance, educational, or manufacturing communities or towards the promotion of the four-string banjo...

 in Guthrie, Oklahoma

Guthrie, Oklahoma

Guthrie is a city in and the county seat of Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. The population was 9,925 at the 2000 census.Guthrie was the territorial and later the first state capital for Oklahoma...

 for his use of banjo

Banjo

In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

 music in his pizza parlors.

Johnson died of a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

on October 31, 1998, at the age of 73.