Rafer Johnson (1935-2020)

Rafer Johnson
BIRTH 18 Aug 1935
Hillsboro, Hill County, Texas, USA
DEATH 2 Dec 2020 (aged 85)
Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles County, California, USA

Actor, Olympic Gold Medalist Athlete. Born Rafer Lewis Johnson, he was raised in California where attended Kingsburg High School. During this period, he excelled as a multi sport athlete who participated in baseball, football, basketball and track and field. It would be the latter in which he achieved world stage fame. He enrolled at UCLA and qualified for a spot on the Men’s US Olympic Track and Field Team at the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, however injuries prevented him from participating.

Rafer Johnson Birhh 18 Aug 1935

He was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year in 1958 and two years later, he received the James E. Sullivan Award as the Most Outstanding Amateur Athlete in the United States for his accomplishments in the decathlon. That same year (1960), he earned a spot on the Men’s US Track and Field team and went on to win a gold medal for the decathlon during the Summer Games in Rome, Italy.

Rafer Johnson Death 2 Dec 2020 (aged 85)

Johnson was chosen by the Los Angeles Rams during the 28th round of the 1959 NFL Draft, however he forgo a professional football career to focus on the Olympics. He enjoyed a three-decade career in a wide range of film and television roles. Among his motion picture credits are “The Sins of Rachel Cade” (1961), “The Fiercest Heart” (1961), “Wild in the Country” (1961), “None But the Brave” (1965), “Tarzan and the Great River” (1967), “Tarzan and the Jungle Boy” (1968), “The Last Grenade” (1970) and “License to Kill” (1989).

His television credits include “Lassie,” “Daniel Boone,” “Dragnet 1967,” “Mission: Impossible” and “The Six Million Dollar Man.” Johnson held such historic notes as being a member of the Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s party during the presidential candidate’s assassination in 1968 and was the Olympic torch bearer who ignited the torch for the start of the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. His younger brother Jimmy Johnson was a Hall of Fame professional football player (cornerback) with the San Francisco 49ers. He was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974. He died of complications from a stroke.