Rafer Johnson(1934-2020)
- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
A distinguished American athlete and occasional actor with many other strings to his bow, Rafer Johnson was a UCLA basketball star who went on to become Pan American decathlon champion in 1955, a two time decathlon silver medallist at the Melbourne Olympics (despite injuries) and winner of gold four years later in Rome. In 1968, he joined the Special Olympics International Board of Directors as a co-founding member and the following year also co-founded the California Special Olympics, serving as board president from 1983 to 1992. He was briefly a member of the Peace Corps during the administration of John F. Kennedy. While sports anchor at KNBC in Los Angeles, he took time out to support his close friend Robert F. Kennedy during the latter's 1968 presidential campaign in the role of advisor and quasi bodyguard. Along with L.A. Rams football star Roosevelt Grier he famously tackled Kennedy's assassin Sirhan Sirhan and secured the murder weapon, a .22 caliber revolver. In 1984, Johnson was the torch bearer at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He became an inductee into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame in 1994, the California's Hall of Fame in 2009 and seven years later was awarded the UCLA medal.
In between his many sporting achievements, Johnson enjoyed a modest acting career. At its outset, he had befriended film legend Kirk Douglas while in Rome training for the 1960 Olympics and was offered the plum role of the Ethiopian slave Draba in the upcoming blockbuster epic Spartacus (1960). Since accepting the part would have made Johnson a professional actor and therefore disqualified him from participating in the games, he had little choice but to turn down the offer. The role subsequently went to fellow athlete Woody Strode. After 1960, Johnson appeared sporadically in films, often cast as native Africans in period adventures (The Sins of Rachel Cade (1961), The Fiercest Heart (1961), Tarzan and the Great River (1967)) and subsequently guest-starred in episodes of Mission: Impossible (1966),Roots: The Next Generations (1979) and Quincy, M.E. (1976). He also made a brief appearance as a DEA operative in the James Bond thriller Licence to Kill (1989).
Rafer Johnson passed away on December 2 2020 in Sherman Oaks, California, at the age of 85.
In between his many sporting achievements, Johnson enjoyed a modest acting career. At its outset, he had befriended film legend Kirk Douglas while in Rome training for the 1960 Olympics and was offered the plum role of the Ethiopian slave Draba in the upcoming blockbuster epic Spartacus (1960). Since accepting the part would have made Johnson a professional actor and therefore disqualified him from participating in the games, he had little choice but to turn down the offer. The role subsequently went to fellow athlete Woody Strode. After 1960, Johnson appeared sporadically in films, often cast as native Africans in period adventures (The Sins of Rachel Cade (1961), The Fiercest Heart (1961), Tarzan and the Great River (1967)) and subsequently guest-starred in episodes of Mission: Impossible (1966),Roots: The Next Generations (1979) and Quincy, M.E. (1976). He also made a brief appearance as a DEA operative in the James Bond thriller Licence to Kill (1989).
Rafer Johnson passed away on December 2 2020 in Sherman Oaks, California, at the age of 85.
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