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Bomba, The Jungle Boy
Stars The Great Johnny Sheffield.
His father was the actor Reginald Sheffield who began as a child star and later turned to character acting. Johnny appeared at age seven on Broadway in the original cast of "On Borrowed Time". When Maureen O'Sullivan wanted out of her Jane role in the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan series, it was decided that she and Tarzan would adopt a son (they had to adopt, according to the Legion of Decency, because they weren't married) before she died. Weissmuller personally chose Sheffield for the part of Boy, a part inspired by Bobby Nelson's portrayal in Tarzan the Mighty (1928); athletic by nature, he was taught to swim by swimming Olympian Weissmuller. Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939) was such a success that MGM signed Sheffield to six more films as Tarzan's Boy. By the time of Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948), he was too big for the part; the film merely said he was away at school. When Monogram Studios learned he had been dropped, they picked him up for the series of movies based on the Roy Rockwood Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949) movies. He made twelve of these between 1949 and 1955.
From Tarzan's jungle to Yuma for Boy, now 77
September 1, 2008 - 6:56PM
BY JAMES GILBERT, SUN STAFF WRITER
While it isn't much of a tree in the front yard of the home he owns here, if Johnny Sheffield ever decides he wants to swing from it on a vine, he would be uniquely qualified to do so.
That is because the now 77-year-old Sheffield, who has been in Yuma the past several months renovating the home he bought here about 25 years ago, was personally chosen by Johnny Weissmuller to play Boy, the son of Tarzan, in the 1930s-era MGM Tarzan studio film series.
"I'm still very active and like to work," said Sheffield, a retired contractor. "I don't live my life on a timetable. I live my life in a series of events, so I don't know how much longer I'm going to be here, but when I'm done I will leave."
Sheffield played Boy in eight pictures between 1939 and 1948, before finally outgrowing the part and moving on with his movie career, eventually retiring in 1955.
At the age of 16, he made his last Tarzan film, the 1947 feature "Tarzan and the Huntress."
Although he appeared in movies with many other famous actors of the time, such as former President Ronald Reagan and Mickey Rooney, who he is still friends with, Sheffield says he will always be best-known for his role of Boy.
"I still get fan mail every day, so I wouldn't know what it is like not to get it. I was in London recently and when I got out of the car someone still recognized me."
Before he got out of show business, Sheffield was signed by Monogram to star in their "Bomba the Jungle Boy" series. He made 12 of these between 1949 and 1955.
"While I consider myself very fortunate to have been in the Tarzan movies, when you get to carry a show yourself, it is pretty special," Sheffield said.
After retiring, Sheffield completed his college degree at UCLA and became successful in various business enterprises, which eventually brought him to Yuma, where he developed a lifelong tie to the community.
Sheffield also met and married his wife, Patricia Berg, here in 1959.
The Sheffields have three children: two sons, John and Patrick, and a daughter, Regina. All live together, with their families, in a compound in Chula Vista, Calif.
"I feel very blessed I can see my family every day when I'm home," Sheffield said. "We just had our first grandbaby, which my daughter named Draygon because she likes dragons."
Sheffield lived in Yuma from about 1959 to the late '80s, staying with Lee and Barbara Bradley in the south Gila Valley on the Sirroco Ranch when he first arrived.
"That used to be one big valley full of farms, now it is all development," Sheffield said. "When I first came here, Yuma was an agrarian community. It's still a nice place, though."
He also worked at the University of Arizona Agriculture Test Station out on the mesa, and Whitewing Ranch, which was owned by Bruce Church, out in east county for a few years and was in charge of cropping and leveling.
"I was interested in growing so I worked in agriculture for a few years while I looked for some land to buy, but I never found anything. That was about the time small farmers started dying out to large growing operations that could afford to take a loss in some of their fields."
Other longtime Yumans Sheffield came to count as friends are Steve and Phylis Wilkins, Lois and Jerry Knepper, the Lutes, Victor Florez and Gilberto Fazz.
Sheffield said he and Patricia finally moved to California in about 1987 because she wanted to live on the coast.
While he may not live here anymore, Sheffield is always willing to help out his Yuma friends. During his trip here this time, he learned a friend's son, whom he has known since he was 12 years old, was having some legal problems and became interested in his case.
Sheffield wrote character reference letters to Superior Court Judge Larry Kenworthy, prosecutor Deanna Sandry and defense attorney James Gregory on his friend's son's behalf, offering to take him in and give him work to do to fulfill the conditions of his probation.
"I was really pleased to see what a fine court the judge was running. And the prosecution and defense were both professional and efficient," Sheffield said. "The case was handled well and thankfully came to a very appropriate resolution."
From a showbiz family, the son of actor/director Reginald Sheffield, Johnny said his father encouraged him to be an actor; and by age 7 he appeared on Broadway in the original cast of "On Borrowed Time."
Sheffield said working with Weissmuller, an undefeated Olympic swimmer, was a thrill and wonderful experience.
He added that being around Weissmuller during his formative years had a lasting influence on his life.
"(Weissmuller) was a Star - with a capital 'S' - and he was focused, driven and determined. He had a different clock ticking in his head than most people. Being around him as often as I was started a clock ticking in my head."
Sheffield also remembers the best piece of advice Weissmuller ever gave him: "'No matter what you do, whether it is swimming or gin rummy, take a second to glance to your left and to your right to see who is coming in second.' It wasn't arrogance. He never bragged. It was an inner confidence."
Sheffield went on to say that Weissmuller always seemed to have time for him and respected him, despite his young age. "He might well have been aloof and not had any time for me other than what was written in the script, but that was not the case.
"He loved golf and would keep his clubs in the trunk of his car. He would call me over and we would hit a few balls together sometimes."
There was another time, Sheffield recalls, that an assistant director
was giving him a hard time when something in a scene didn't go right and would tell him that he could be replaced.
"(Weissmuller) took him off over into a corner and set him straight, telling him that if anybody was going to be replaced it was going to be him. He stopped giving me a hard time after that."
While he said he doesn't have a favorite movie, Sheffield says "Tarzan Finds a Son" and the first "Bomba" movies stand out.
"The Tarzan movie was the first movie I was ever in and the first Bomba was the first time I was starring in the lead role."
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SHEFFIELD'S MOVIE CREDITS
•Lord of the Jungle (1955)
•The Golden Idol (1954)
•Killer Leopard (1954)
•Safari Drums (1953)
•Bomba and the Jungle Girl (1952)
•African Treasure (1952)
•Bomba and the Elephant Stampede (1951)
•The Lion Hunters (1951)
•Bomba and the Hidden City (1950)
•The Lost Volcano (1950)
•Bomba on Panther Island (1949)
•Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949)
•The Sun Comes Up (1949)
•Tarzan and the Huntress (1947)
•Tarzan and the Leopard Woman (1946)
•Tarzan and the Amazons (1945)
•Roughly Speaking (1945)
•The Great Moment (1944)
•The Man in the Half Moon Street (1944)
•Tarzan Triumphs (1943)
•Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943)
•Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942)
•Million Dollar Baby (1941)
•Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941)
•Little Orvie (1940)
•Knute Rockne, All American (1940) with Ronald Reagan
•Lucky Cisco Kid (1940)
•Babes in Arms (1939) with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland
•Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
Total Products: 14
African Treasure (1952) Bomba Johnny Sheffield
$24.95 $9.99
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Bantu the Zebra Boy Johnny Sheffield Unsold TV Pilot
$19.95 $14.95
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Bomba and the Hidden City 1950 Johnny Sheffield
$24.95 $9.99
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Bomba and the Jungle Girl (1952) Johnny Sheffield
$24.95 $9.99
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Bomba and the The Lost Volcano (1950) Johnny Sheffield
$24.95 $9.99
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Bomba on Panther Island (1949) Johnny Sheffield
$24.95 $9.99
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Bomba the Jungle Boy Boxed set all 12 Movies
$299.00 $98.00
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Bomba the Jungle Boy Johnny Sheffield (1948)
$29.99 $19.95
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14 product(s) in Bomba, The Jungle Boy on 2 page(s).
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