Profile via TMDB · Courtesy of TMDB
Film & TV
Hillsboro, Texas, USA
Rafer Lewis Johnson (August 18, 1934 - December 2, 2020) was an American decathlete and actor.
Known for
- Jerry West: The Logo — Self (Archive Footage)2026
- Fists of Freedom: The Story of the '68 Summer Games — Self (archive footage)1999
- Think Big — Johnson1989
- Licence to Kill — Mullens1989
- The Stars Salute the U.S. Olympic Team — Self - Performer1984
- The Kid From Nowhere — Self1982
- Roots: The Next Generations — Nelson1979
- The Loneliest Runner — Himself1976
- Quincy, M.E.1976
- Free to Be… You and Me — Self (uncredited)1974
via TMDB
Key facts
- Full name
- Rafer Lewis Johnson
- Born
- ( 1934-08-18 ) August 18, 1934, Hillsboro, Texas , U.S.
- Died
- December 2, 2020 (2020-12-02) (aged 86), Sherman Oaks , California , U.S.
- Height
- 6 ft 3 in (1.90 m)
- Weight
- 201 lb (91 kg)
- Spouse
- Elizabeth Thorsen ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1971 )
- Sport
- Athletics
- Event
- Decathlon
- Club
- Southern California Striders, Anaheim
- 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 – 8392 (1960)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Lewis
- Family name
- Johnson
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Hillsboro
- Place of death
- Sherman Oaks
- Child
- Jenny Johnson Jordan
- Sibling
- Jimmy Johnson
- Political party
- Democratic Party (United States)
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- English language
- Participant in
- athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics
- Sport
- basketball
- Member of team
- UCLA Bruins men's basketball
- Country for sport
- United States
- Mass
- 91
- Image
- Rafer Johnson 1960.jpg
- Height
- 190
Show 11 more facts
- cause of death
- stroke
- date of birth
- 1935-08-18
- Commons category
- Rafer Johnson
- sports discipline competed in
- decathlon
- member of
- Peace Corps
- date of death
- 2020-12-02
- name in native language
- Rafer Johnson
- manner of death
- natural causes
- record held
- decathlon world record progression
- writing language
- English language
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
Sources (6)
via Wikidata · CC0
~12 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Rafer Lewis Johnson (August 18, 1934 – December 2, 2020) was an American decathlete and film and television actor. 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. Johnson was the U.S. team's flag bearer at the 1960 Olympics and lit the Olympic cauldron at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
In 1968, Johnson, football player Rosey Grier, and journalist George Plimpton tackled Sirhan Sirhan moments after he had fatally shot Robert F. Kennedy.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Rafer Johnson” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.