YUMA — 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 house he bought here about 25 years ago, was personally chosen by Johnny Weissmuller to play Boy, the son of Tarzan, in the 1940s-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 1947, before finally outgrowing the part and moving on with his movie career, eventually retiring in 1955.
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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 those films 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.
Sheffield, who was born in Pasadena, Calif., met and married the former Patricia Berg in Yuma 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.
Sheffield lived in Yuma from about 1959 to the late '80s, staying in the south Gila Valley on the Sir-roco 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."
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 in Yuma anymore, Sheffield is always willing to help out his Yuma friends. During his trip here this time, he learned that 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 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.
From a showbiz family, the son of actor 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, a legendary Olympic swimmer, was a thrill and wonderful experience.
"(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."
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 stop-ped giving me a hard time after that."
