Before MGM casting directors found him, a 1939 Hollywood Reporter ad posed a question that would change a young boy’s life: “Have you a Tarzan Junior in your backyard? ” That search led to Johnny Sheffield, the child actor who would become one of the most recognized juvenile stars of the era in the role of Boy, Tarzan’s adopted son. . Sheffield, born John Matthew Sheffield on April 11th, 1931, in Pasadena, California, was the son of Reginald and Louise Van Loon Sheffield.
His entry into acting came at age seven when he appeared on Broadway in the play On Borrowed Timein 1938. The following year, his father spotted the MGM casting call in the trade press. Reginald arranged an audition for his son, and Johnny Weissmuller, who starred as Tarzan, selected the young Sheffield out of over300 boys interviewed for the part. Sheffield made his film debut that same year at the age of seven in Tarzan Finds a Son, the first installment featuring the character Boy, the son Tarzan and Jane adopt in the jungle storylinenext gennext gen this dramatic shift in the narrative of the Tarzan saga established Sheffield as a key figure in one of Hollywood’s most enduring franchises.
In addition to his Tarzan work in 1939, Sheffield appeared in the musical Babes in Arms alongside Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, both of whom were his classmates at the MGM Studio School. His early career also included roles with performers such as Jeanette MacDonald, Pat O’Brien, Cesar Romero, and Beverly Garland, as well as playing the childhood version of the title character in Knute Rockne All American. Sheffield played Boy in three Tarzan films produced at MGM, and in five more after production moved to RKO Pictures, cementing his status as a fixture in the series. When he outgrew the role of Boy, the teenage actor transitioned to starring in his own jungle adventure film series, Bomba the Jungle Boy, for Allied Artists.
The first film, Bomba the Jungle Boy, was released in 1949, and Sheffield went on to portray the character Bomba 12 times, more than any other role he played during his career. His final entry in the series came with Lord of the Junglein 1955. These films became fixtures of Saturday afternoon programming for a generation of young viewers, often shown alongside other popular series like the Bowery Boys. Later, Sheffield shot a pilot for a television series titled Bantu the Zebra Boy, but the project stalled when producers could not find a sponsor, and the series was never picked up.
At the age of24, Sheffield chose to leave show business behind entirely. He enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles, to pursue a business degree and began investing in real estate. Over time, he expanded into farming and construction, and also worked for a period as a representative for the Santa Monica Seafood Company. In 1959, he married Patricia,in Yuma, Arizona, and the couple raised three children together.
In his later years, Sheffield returned to Southern California, where he wrote articles reflecting on his Hollywood childhood and sold copies of his unproduced TV pilot, Bantu the Zebra Boy, on video to collectors and fans. On October 15th, 2010,in Chula Vista, California, Sheffield died at the age of79. His death followed an accident in which he fell from a ladder while pruning a palm tree. Although the injuries from that fall were not initially considered life-threatening, he suffered a fatal heart attack approximately four hours later.
He was cremated, and his ashes were given to his family. His passing marked the end of an era for fans of the classic Tarzan films and the jungle adventure serials of mid-century Hollywood.
