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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. His mother, a native of New York City,
382:. 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.
363:. 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").
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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
273:. When he was 7 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
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279:(1939). Newspaper articles at the time mentioned erroneously that Sheffield was only 5 years old. In that same year, Sheffield appeared in the
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as Gramps. Sheffield played the role of Pud. He later went to New York as a replacement and performed the role on
Broadway.
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April 11, 1931 – October 15, 2010) was an
American child actor who, between 1939 and 1947, portrayed Boy in the
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After he outgrew the role of Boy, the teenaged
Sheffield went on to star in his own jungle movie series for
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Sheffield played Boy in three Tarzan movies at MGM, and in another five after the star, Weissmuller, and
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that asked, "Have you a Tarzan Jr. in your backyard?" He believed he did and set up an interview.
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In 1938, Sheffield became a child star after he was cast in the juvenile lead of a
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graduate with a liberal arts education who loved books and lectured widely.
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where he wrote articles about his
Hollywood years and sold copies of the TV
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played Jane in the last three Tarzan movies in which
Sheffield appeared.
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The Moving
Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995
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Sheffield was born John
Matthew Sheffield Cassan on April 11, 1931, in
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Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire
Careers, 1914-1985
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was searching for a suitable youngster to play the adopted son of
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He appeared with many other performers over the years, including
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Those Endearing Young Charms: Child Performers of the Screen
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Collura, Joe (Spring 2016). "Johnny Sheffield: Jungle Boy".
326:, perhaps the most prestigious film in which he had a role.
320:. He played the childhood version of the title character in
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378:, which was created, produced, and directed by his father,
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1184:. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, pp. 213.
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1177:, Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, pp. 175–176.
251:The following year, his father read an article in
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1101:"Tarzan's 'Boy' quits films for business world"
506:. For a time, he was a representative for the
521:In his later years Johnny Sheffield lived in
206:, the second child of English-American actor
1254:University of California, Los Angeles alumni
472:. He married Patricia Sheffield in 1959 in
424:. Unsourced material may be challenged and
1138:"Actor who played Tarzan's Boy dies at 79"
297:, classmates of his at the studio school.
38:
1204:"Matt's Bomba the Jungle Boy Movie Guide"
444:Learn how and when to remove this message
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21:For other people with similar names, see
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1099:Bowlin, Michael (December 31, 1989).
1144:. Associated Press. October 19, 2010
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468:. He lived and worked for a time in
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265:in its next jungle movie with stars
222:production of the highly successful
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190:and, between 1949 and 1955, played
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353:. The first entry in this series,
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18:American child actor (1931–2010)
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23:John Sheffield (disambiguation)
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184:John Matthew Sheffield Cassan,
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64:John Matthew Sheffield Cassan
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633:Knute Rockne, All American
323:Knute Rockne, All American
89:October 15, 2010 (aged 79)
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781:Tarzan and the Huntress
715:Tarzan's Desert Mystery
542:Chula Vista, California
93:Chula Vista, California
1053:Shamokin News-Dispatch
747:Tarzan and the Amazons
386:Post-Hollywood careers
254:The Hollywood Reporter
1020:The Bellingham Herald
813:Bomba, the Jungle Boy
356:Bomba, the Jungle Boy
192:Bomba, the Jungle Boy
530:Bantu, the Zebra Boy
508:Santa Monica Seafood
418:improve this section
376:Bantu, the Zebra Boy
204:Pasadena, California
78:Pasadena, California
1105:The Kerrville Times
1049:"Hollywood Roundup"
737:Frankie (at age 9)
653:Million Dollar Baby
574:Tarzan Finds a Son!
523:Southern California
276:Tarzan Finds a Son!
51:Tarzan Finds a Son!
1022:, October 18, 2010
987:Lord of the Jungle
380:Reginald Sheffield
302:Jeanette MacDonald
271:Maureen O'Sullivan
267:Johnny Weissmuller
208:Reginald Sheffield
188:Tarzan film series
172:Reginald Sheffield
138:Patricia Sheffield
46:Johnny Weissmuller
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732:Roughly Speaking
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291:Mickey Rooney
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286:Babes in Arms
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236:and featured
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234:Dudley Digges
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1180:Dye, David.
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1166:Best, Marc.
1161:Bibliography
1146:. Retrieved
1141:
1132:
1115:– via
1109:. Retrieved
1104:
1080:
1063:– via
1057:. Retrieved
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1037:(84): 24–31.
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1018:Obituary in
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610:Orvie Stone
605:Little Orvie
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504:construction
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455:
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416:Please help
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348:
339:Brenda Joyce
328:
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310:Cesar Romero
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295:Judy Garland
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238:Victor Moore
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1224:2010 deaths
1219:1931 births
806:Uncredited
740:Uncredited
641:(at age 7)
548:Filmography
544:, aged 79.
518:in Mexico.
500:real estate
306:Pat O'Brien
1213:Categories
1002:References
532:on video.
372:television
331:production
220:West Coast
198:Early life
117:Occupation
70:1931-04-11
1142:USA Today
512:importing
466:education
405:does not
128:1939–1955
510:Company
485:business
458:industry
434:May 2023
374:series,
224:Broadway
160:Children
108:business
1148:May 20,
1111:May 20,
1059:May 20,
496:farming
470:Arizona
462:college
426:removed
411:sources
154:
146:
142:
992:Bomba
975:Bomba
961:Bomba
944:Bomba
927:Bomba
913:Bomba
896:Bomba
882:Bomba
865:Bomba
851:Bomba
834:Bomba
564:Notes
558:Title
488:degree
370:for a
263:Tarzan
245:Tarzan
211:was a
182:(born
168:Father
133:Spouse
111:degree
95:, U.S.
80:, U.S.
54:(1939)
982:1955
951:1954
934:1953
903:1952
872:1951
841:1950
819:Bomba
793:1949
776:1947
759:1946
727:1945
696:1943
679:1942
648:1941
600:1940
593:Bobs
569:1939
561:Role
555:Year
536:Death
527:pilot
368:pilot
289:with
148:(
144:
120:Actor
1199:IMDb
1150:2016
1113:2016
1061:2016
786:Boy
769:Boy
752:Boy
720:Boy
706:Boy
689:Boy
672:Boy
579:Boy
502:and
492:UCLA
409:any
407:cite
316:and
293:and
269:and
227:play
105:UCLA
86:Died
60:Born
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337:.
335:RKO
259:MGM
48:in
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1091:^
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150:m.
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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