Rafer Lewis Johnson (August 18, 1934 – December 2, 2020) was an American decathlete and film and television

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, having won silver in 1956. He had previously won a gold at the

1955 Pan American Games The 1955 Pan American Games, officially known as II Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mexico 1955 (), opened on March 12, 1955, at University Stadium in Mexico City, Mexico, in front of a capacity crowd of 100,000 spectators. A total ...

. Johnson was the U.S. team's flag bearer at the 1960 Olympics and lit the

Olympic cauldron The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony starts the Olymp ...

at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

. In 1968, Johnson, football player Rosey Grier, and journalist George Plimpton tackled

Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan Bishara Sirhan (; ; born March 19, 1944) is a Palestinian-Jordanian man who assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a younger brother of American president John F. Kennedy and a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1968 U ...

moments after he had fatally shot Robert F. Kennedy. After he retired from athletics, Johnson turned to acting, sportscasting, and public service and was instrumental in creating the California

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Ol ...

. His acting career included appearances in '' The Sins of Rachel Cade'' (1961), the

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

film '' Wild in the Country'' (1961), '' Pirates of Tortuga'' (1961), '' None but the Brave'' (1965), two

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

films with Mike Henry, '' The Last Grenade'' (1970), '' Soul Soldier'' (1970), '' Roots: The Next Generations'' (1979), the James Bond film ''

Licence to Kill ''Licence to Kill'' is a 1989 spy film, the sixteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as the MI6 agent James Bond (literary character), J ...

'' (1989), and '' Think Big'' (1990).

Biography

Johnson was born in

Hillsboro, Texas Hillsboro is a city in and the county seat of Hill County, Texas, United States. It is located between Dallas, Fort Worth and Waco, directly on Interstate 35 in North Central Texas. Hillsboro draws trade from throughout the county, and from Inte ...

on August 18, 1934. His family moved to Kingsburg, California, when he was aged nine. For a while, they were the only black family in the town. A versatile athlete, he played on Kingsburg High School's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

teams. He was also elected class president in both junior high and high school. The summer between his sophomore and junior years in high school (age 16), his coach Murl Dodson drove Johnson 24 miles (40 km) to Tulare and watched

Bob Mathias Robert Bruce Mathias (November 17, 1930 – September 2, 2006) was an American decathlete, politician, and actor. Representing the United States, he won two Olympic gold medals in the Decathlon, at the 1948 and the 1952 Summer Games. As a Re ...

compete in the 1952 U.S. Olympic decathlon trials. Johnson told his coach, "I could have beaten most of those guys." Dodson and Johnson drove back a month later to watch Mathias's victory parade. Weeks later, Johnson competed in a high school invitational decathlon and won the event. He also won the 1953 and 1954 California state high school decathlon meets. In 1954, as a freshman at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA), his progress in the event was impressive; he broke the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

in his fourth competition. He pledged Pi Lambda Phi fraternity, America's first non-sectarian fraternity, and was class president at UCLA. In 1955, in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, he won the title at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

. Johnson qualified for both the decathlon and the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

events for the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. However, he was hampered by an injury and forfeited his place in the long jump. Despite this handicap, he managed win silver in the decathlon behind compatriot Milt Campbell. It would turn out to be his last defeat in the event. Due to injury, Johnson missed the 1957 and 1959 seasons (the latter due to a car accident), but he broke the world record in 1958 and again in 1960. The crown to his career came at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. His most serious rival was Yang Chuan-Kwang (C. K. Yang) of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Yang also studied at UCLA; the two trained together under UCLA track coach Elvin C. "Ducky" Drake and had become friends. In the decathlon, the lead swung back and forth between them. Finally, after nine events, Johnson led Yang by a small margin, but Yang was known to be better in the final event, the 1500 m. According to ''The Telegraph'' (UK), "legend has it" that Drake gave coaching to both men, with him advising Johnson to stay close to Yang and be ready for "a hellish sprint" at the end, and advising Yang to put as much distance between himself and Johnson before the final sprint as possible. Johnson ran his personal best at 4:49.7 and finished just 1.2 sec slower than Yang, winning the gold by 58 points with an Olympic record total of 8,392 points. Both athletes were exhausted and drained and came to a stop a few paces past the finish line leaning against each other for support. With this victory, Johnson ended his athletic career. At UCLA, Johnson also played basketball under legendary coach

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...

and was a starter for the Bruins on their 1958–59 team. Wooden considered Johnson a great defensive player, but sometimes regretted holding back his teams early in his coaching career, remarking, "imagine Rafer Johnson on the astbreak." Johnson was selected by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

in the 28th round (333rd overall) of the 1959 NFL draft as a running back. Johnson was also selected as a guard by the Los Angeles Jets as one of their two territorial selections in the inaugural 1961 ABL draft alongside Gary Phillips. However, he would never play for either Los Angeles based team or in either professional sports league. Rafer Johnson 1960

While training for the 1960 Olympics, his friend

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. ...

told him about a part in ''

Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...

'' that Douglas thought might make him a star: the Ethiopian gladiator Draba, who refuses to kill Spartacus (played by Douglas) after defeating him in a duel. Johnson read for and got the role, but was forced to turn it down because the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

told him it would make him a professional and therefore ineligible for the Olympics under the rules of the time. The role eventually went to another UCLA great,

Woody Strode Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode (July 25, 1914 – December 31, 1994) was an American athlete, actor, and author. He was a decathlon, decathlete and American football, football star who was one of the first Black American players in the National ...

. In 1960, Johnson began acting in

motion pictures A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and working as a sportscaster. He made several film appearances, mostly in the 1960s. Johnson worked full-time as a sportscaster in the early 1970s. He was a weekend sports anchor on the local NBC affiliate in Los Angeles,

KNBC KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network ...

, but seemed uncomfortable in that position and eventually moved on to other things. Johnson worked on the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

campaign of

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

Robert F. Kennedy, and on June 5, 1968, with the help of Rosey Grier and George Plimpton, he apprehended

immediately after Sirhan had

assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Kennedy died the following day at Good Samaritan Hospital. Johnson discussed the experience in his autobiography, ''The Best That I Can Be'' (published in 1999 by Galilee Trade Publishing and co-authored with Philip Goldberg). Special Olympics with Rafer Johnson

Johnson served on the organizing committee for the first

competition in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1968, hosted by Special Olympics founder, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and the next year he led the founding of the California Special Olympics. Johnson, along with a small group of volunteers, founded California Special Olympics in 1969 by conducting a competition at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...

for 900 individuals with intellectual disabilities. Following the first California Games in 1969, Johnson became one of the original members of the board of directors. The board worked together to raise funds and offer a modest program of swimming and track and field. In 1983, Rafer ran for President of the Board to increase Board participation, reorganize the staff to most effectively use each person's talents, and expand fundraising efforts. He was elected president and served in the capacity until 1992, when he was named chairman of the Board of Governors.

Family

Johnson married Elizabeth Thorsen in 1971. They had two children and four grandchildren. Johnson's brother

Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

was a member of the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

and his daughter Jennifer competed in

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

at the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

following her collegiate career at UCLA. His son Joshua Johnson followed his father into track and field and had a podium finish in the javelin throw at the

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...

. Johnson participated in the Art of the Olympians program.

Death

Rafer Johnson died after suffering a stroke on December 2, 2020, in Sherman Oaks, California. He was 86.

Achievements

Johnson was named ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

s Sportsman of the Year in 1958 and won the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States in 1960, breaking that award's color barrier. In 1962, he received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

. He was chosen to ignite the

Olympic Flame The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

during the opening ceremonies of the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, becoming the first Black athlete in Olympic history to do so. In 1994, he was elected into the first class of the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame. In 1998, Johnson was named one of

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

's 100 Greatest North American Athletes of the 20th Century. In 2006, the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

named him one of the 100 Most Influential Student Athletes of the past 100 years. On August 25, 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger and

Maria Shriver Maria Owings Shriver ( ; born November 6, 1955) is an American journalist, author, a member of the prominent Shriver and Kennedy families, former First Lady of California, and the founder of the nonprofit organization The Women's Alzheimer's M ...

announced that Johnson would be one of 13

California Hall of Fame The California Hall of Fame is an institution created in 2006 by Maria Shriver to honor important Californians. The award was designed by Californian artists Robert Graham (sculptor), Robert Graham. The hall is located in The California Museum i ...

inductees in

The California Museum The California Museum is the List of U.S. state historical societies and museums, state history museum of the US state of California, located in its capital city of Sacramento and housed within the Secretary of State of California, Secretary of ...

's yearlong exhibit. The induction ceremony was on December 1, 2009, in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, California. Johnson was a member of

The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C. The Pigskin Club of Washington is an American sports organization based in the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia. Founded in 1938 by Dr. Charles B. Fisher, a former football player at Howard University, it is one of the oldest African Ameri ...

National Intercollegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll. Rafer Johnson Junior High School in Kingsburg, California is named in his honor, as are Rafer Johnson Community Day School and Rafer Johnson Children's Center, both in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...

. The latter school, which has classes for special education students from the ages of birth-5, also puts on an annual Rafer Johnson Day. Every year Johnson himself spoke at the event and cheered on hundreds of students with special needs as they participated in a variety of track and field events. In 2010, Johnson received the Fernando Award for Civic Accomplishment from the Fernando Foundation and in 2011, he was inducted into the Bakersfield City School District Hall of Fame. Additionally, Rafer acted as the athletic advisor to Dan Guerrero, Director of Athletics at UCLA. He was Inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, Class of 2016. In November 2014, Johnson received the Athletes in Excellence Award from The Foundation for Global Sports Development, in recognition of his community service efforts and work with youth. In 2005, Johnson was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) degree from

Whittier College Whittier College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Whittier, California. It is a Hispanic-serving institution, Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and, as of spring 2024, had 815 ...

Filmography

Actor

* '' The Sins of Rachel Cade'' (1960) – Kosongo * '' Sergeant Rutledge'' (1960) - uncredited * '' Wild in the Country'' (1961) – Davis * '' Pirates of Tortuga'' (1961) – John Gammel * ''

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 a ...

'' (1963) (Season 2 Episode 8: "The Cadaver") - Ed Blair * '' None but the Brave'' (1965) – Private Johnson * ''

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

'' (1965) (Season 2 Episode 4: "My Name Is Rawls") – Rawls * '' Tarzan and the Great River'' (1967) – Barcuma, Afro-Brazilian leader of the Jaguar Cult * '' Tarzan and the Jungle Boy'' (1968) – Nagambi, villain who hinders Tarzan's search for the Jungle Boy * '' The Last Grenade'' (1970) – Joe Jackson * '' Soul Soldier'' (1970) – Private Armstrong * '' The Games'' (1970) – Commentator * '' Mission Impossible'' (1971) – Jack Tully * '' Roots: The Next Generations'' (1979) * ''

'' (1989) – Mullens * '' Think Big'' (1990) – Johnson Source:

Production roles

* ''Billie'' (1965, technical advisor) * '' The Black Six'' (1973, associate producer)

Notes

References

External links

* *
Video clip from 1984 Summer Olympics, including Rafer Johnson lighting the Olympic Flame
at Olympic.org * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Rafer 1934 births 2020 deaths American male decathletes Male actors from California Male actors from Texas Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy Athletes (track and field) at the 1955 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics World record setters in athletics (track and field) James E. Sullivan Award recipients Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field UCLA Bruins men's basketball players UCLA Bruins men's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from California Track and field athletes from Texas Olympic cauldron lighters People from Hillsboro, Texas Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) People from Kingsburg, California Sportspeople from Fresno County, California American men's basketball players Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners Medalists at the 1955 Pan American Games Burials at Pacific View Memorial Park