JOHNNY SHEFFIELD who wowed kid auds as TARZAN’S son "Boy" and in his own jungle series as BOMBA the Jungle Boy has gone to that great tree house in the sky.
His wife, Patty, told the LA Times that Johnny died of heart attack after falling off a ladder while pruning a tree in his Sand Diego suburb home of Chula Vista.
Johnny had beat out more than 300 other depression era youngsters to win the role of Tarzan Johnny Weissmuller’s son "Boy" in the 1939 classic Tarzan Finds a Son!
At his audition with the 5 time Olympic swimming champion, Sheffield recalled "the talking went fine" until he had to jump into a pool.
He couldn’t swim.
Weismuller coached him and said to the lad, "You’ll do fine."
Sheffield costarred with Johnny Weissmuller in seven Jungle Lord flicks.
The character was named Korak in the original Edgar Rice Burroughs novels and was the legitimate son of Tarzan and Jane not adopted from a downed "great silver bird".
Sheffield also appeared in the Busby Berkeley movie musical Babes in Arms with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland who were classmates of his.
After the Bomba series ended, Johnny’s father, Reginald, a former actor, produced a spin-off for TV Bantu the Jungle Boy where the Sheffields would own the character. It didn’t sell.
Johnny Sheffield quit the acting biz in 1955 to pursue his education at UCLA, later working in contracting and real estate. He could be spotted at fan conventions in later years pitching his Bantu dvds.
But wherever there’s an alligator to be fought, Boy and Bomba Johnny, will be remembered by his legion of fans worldwide.
KREEGAH BUNDOLO!
