Johnny Sheffield

Johnny Sheffield (lahir John Matthew Sheffield Cassan) adalah seorang aktor anak, remaja, dan dewasa muda Amerika, karir layarnya berlangsung dari tahun 1938 hingga 1955. Pada tahun 1938, Sheffield menjadi bintang cilik setelah ia berperan sebagai pemeran utama remaja dalam produksi Pantai Barat dari drama Broadway yang sangat sukses, On Borrowed Time, yang dibintangi oleh Dudley Digges dan menampilkan Victor Moore sebagai Gramps. Sheffield memainkan peran Pud, peran yang panjang bagi seorang anak. Dia kemudian pergi ke New York sebagai penggantinya dan memainkan peran tersebut di Broadway. Tahun berikutnya, ayahnya membaca artikel di The Hollywood Reporter yang menanyakan, "Apakah kamu ada Tarzan Jr. di halaman belakang rumahmu?" Dia yakin dia melakukannya dan mengatur wawancara. MGM sedang mencari anak muda yang cocok untuk memerankan anak angkat Tarzan di film hutan berikutnya dengan bintang Johnny Weissmuller dan Maureen O'Sullivan. Ketika dia berusia 5 tahun, Sheffield dibawa ke audisi di mana Weissmuller memilihnya daripada lebih dari 300 aktor remaja yang diwawancarai untuk peran "Boy" di Tarzan Menemukan Putra. Pada tahun yang sama, Sheffield muncul di film musikal Busby Berkeley Babes in Arms bersama Mickey Rooney dan Judy Garland, teman sekelasnya di sekolah studio. Dia tampil bersama banyak pemain lain selama bertahun-tahun, termasuk Jeanette MacDonald, Pat O'Brien, Cesar Romero, Ronald Reagan dan Beverly Garland. Dia memainkan versi masa kecil dari karakter utama di Knute Rockne, All American, mungkin film paling bergengsi di mana dia berperan. Sheffield memerankan Boy dalam tiga film Tarzan di MGM, dan di lima film lainnya setelah bintangnya, Weissmuller, dan produksi serial film tersebut dipindahkan ke RKO. Brenda Joyce memerankan Jane dalam tiga film Tarzan terakhir yang menampilkan Sheffield. Setelah ia melampaui perannya sebagai Boy, Sheffield yang masih remaja kemudian membintangi serial film hutannya sendiri untuk Allied Artists. Pada tahun 1949, dia membuat Bomba, si Bocah Hutan dengan lawan mainnya Peggy Ann Garner. Secara keseluruhan, dia tampil sebagai Bomba sebanyak 12 kali, lebih banyak dari karakter lain yang dia gambarkan. Sheffield muncul di film terakhirnya, sebagai Bomba, pada tahun 1955. Dia kemudian menjadi pilot untuk serial televisi, Bantu the Zebra Boy, yang dibuat, diproduksi dan disutradarai oleh ayahnya, Reginald Sheffield. Meskipun nilai produksinya tinggi dibandingkan dengan acara hutan TV lainnya pada masa itu, tidak ada sponsor yang ditemukan dan acara tersebut tidak pernah diproduksi sebagai serial mingguan.

Johnny Sheffield (born John Matthew Sheffield Cassan) was an American child, teen, and young-adult actor, his screen career lasting from 1938 to 1955. 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, a long role for a child. He later went to New York as a replacement and performed the role on Broadway. The following year, his father read an article in The Hollywood Reporter that asked, "Have you a Tarzan Jr. in your backyard?" He believed he did and set up an interview. MGM was searching for a suitable youngster to play the adopted son of Tarzan in its next jungle movie with stars Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan. When he was 5 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 Tarzan Finds a Son. In that same year, Sheffield appeared in the Busby Berkeley movie musical Babes in Arms with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, classmates of his at the studio school. He appeared with many other performers over the years, including Jeanette MacDonald, Pat O'Brien, Cesar Romero, Ronald Reagan and Beverly Garland. He played the childhood version of the title character in Knute Rockne, All American, perhaps the most prestigious film in which he had a role. Sheffield played Boy in three Tarzan movies at MGM, and in another five after the star, Weissmuller, and production of the movie series moved to RKO. Brenda Joyce played Jane in the last three Tarzan movies in which Sheffield appeared. After he outgrew the role of Boy, the teenaged Sheffield went on to star in his own jungle movie series for Allied Artists. In 1949, he made Bomba, the Jungle Boy with co-star Peggy Ann Garner. In all, he appeared as Bomba 12 times, more than any other character he portrayed. Sheffield appeared in his last movie, as Bomba, in 1955. 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 never produced as a weekly series.