Rafer Johnson
Rafer Johnson at the 1960 Olympics
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Rafer Lewis Johnson |
| Born |
August 18, 1935 (age 81) Hillsboro, Texas, U.S. |
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Weight | 91 kg (201 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | Decathlon |
| Club | Southern California Striders, Anaheim |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | 100 m – 10.3 (1957) 220 yd – 21.0 (1956) 400 m – 47.9 (1956) 110 mH – 13.8 (1956) HJ – 1.89 m (1955) PV – 4.09 m (1960) LJ – 7.76 m (1956) SP – 16.75 m (1958) DT – 52.50 m (1960) JT – 76.73 m (1960) Decathlon – 7982 (1960) |
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Medal record
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Rafer Lewis Johnson (born August 18, 1935) is an American former decathlete and film actor. He was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist, after getting a silver in 1956 and a gold in the 1955 Pan American Games. He was also the flag bearer at the 1960 Olympics and lit the Olympic Flame when the Olympics came to Los Angeles in 1984.
In 1968, he, football player Rosey Grier and journalist George Plimpton tackled Sirhan Sirhan moments after he had fatally shot Robert F. Kennedy.
After the Olympics he turned his celebrity into acting, sportscasting and public service, and was instrumental in creating the California Special Olympics. His acting career included appearances in The Sins of Rachel Cade (1961), the Elvis Presley film Wild in the Country (1961), Pirates of Tortuga (1961), None but the Brave (1965), two Tarzan films with Mike Henry, The Last Grenade (1970),The Six Million Dollar Man, Roots: The Next Generations (1979), and the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill, opposite Timothy Dalton.
Johnson was born in Hillsboro, Texas, but the family moved to Kingsburg, California, when he was 5. For a while, they were the only black family in the town. A versatile athlete, he played on Kingsburg High School's football, baseball and basketball teams. He was also elected class president in both junior high and high school. At 16, he became attracted to the decathlon after seeing double Olympic champion Bob Mathias, the local hero from Tulare and 24 miles (40 km) from Kingsburg compete. He told his coach, "I could have beaten most of those guys."
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