Johnny Sheffield

• Name — Johnny Sheffield • Birth Name — John Matthew Sheffield Cassan • Born — 11 April 1931 • Birthplace — Pasadena, California, U.S. • Died — October 15, 2010 (aged 79) • Place of death — Chula Vista, California, U.S. • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1939–1955 • Education — UCLA business degree • Children — 3 • Father — Reginald Sheffield Johnny Sheffield (born John Matthew Sheffield Cassan, April 11, 1931 – October 15, 2010) was an American actor who, between 1939 and 1947, portrayed Boy in the Tarzan film series and, between 1949 and 1955, played Bomba, the Jungle Boy.

Sheffield was born John Matthew Sheffield Cassan on April 11, 1931, in Pasadena, California, the second child of English-American actor Reginald Sheffield and Louise Van Loon. 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. 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.

After he outgrew the role of Boy, the teenaged Sheffield went on to star in his own jungle movie series for Allied Artists. The first entry in this series, Bomba, the Jungle Boy was released in 1949 with co-star Peggy Ann Garner. In all, he appeared as Bomba 12 times, more than any other character he portrayed. Sheffield retired from films at age 24 after starring in his twelfth Bomba film in 1955 ("Lord of the Jungle"). 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 not taken up as a weekly series. In his later years, Sheffield sold bootlegged copies of the pilot to collectors on videotape.

Sheffield decided to leave the industry and enrolled in college to further his education. He lived and worked for a time in Arizona. He married Patricia Sheffield in 1959 in Yuma, Arizona. The couple had three children: Patrick, Stewart, and Regina. After leaving show business, 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.

Sheffield's wife, Patty, 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, California, aged 79. He was remembered by the New York Times as "the character Boy in the Tarzan movies of the 1930s and ’40s."

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1939 — Tarzan Finds a Son! — Boy • Babes in Arms — Bobs • 1940 — Little Orvie — Orvie Stone • Lucky Cisco Kid — Tommy Lawrence • Knute Rockne, All American — Knute Rockne (at age 7) • 1941 — Million Dollar Baby — Alvie Grayson • Tarzan's Secret Treasure — Boy • 1942 — Tarzan's New York Adventure — Boy • 1943 — Tarzan Triumphs — Boy • Tarzan's Desert Mystery — Boy • 1945 — Roughly Speaking — Frankie (at age 9) — Uncredited • Tarzan and the Amazons — Boy • 1946 — Tarzan and the Leopard Woman — Boy • 1947 — Tarzan and the Huntress — Boy • 1949 — The Sun Comes Up — Music Lover — Uncredited • Bomba, the Jungle Boy — Bomba • 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 — The Golden Idol — Bomba • Killer Leopard — Bomba • 1955 — Lord of the Jungle — Bomba — Final film role

Johnny Sheffield is recorded as actor.