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Show - i younger brother, Billy, and bio two Olsten, Miry and Dora. The show, which is on tour of the West Coast and Intermountain States is coming to Preston because Johnnys mother, is from Franklin County. A picture of her taken from an old Weston High School yearbook is shown at left. Mother Brings The Hollywood Show Home , When The Johnny aker Show, who starred - Whit- starring the boy ta'the movie-Tom Sawyer and the television series A Family" Affair, is presented in Preston next week it will be a homecoming for his mother. The show will be sponsored by the Franklin County Bicentennial Commission. Johnny Whitakers mother is from. Clifton, Idaho, and his mother and father both attended Utah State. The only reason Preston was able to get the show which has played in auditoriums in Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Provo and Salt Lake was because Mrs. Whitaker wanted to play to the-bigge- r the old home town folks ft possible. is scheduled for the Preston High School starting at 8 p.m. gym-"hasiu- m Johnny, who has other film credits, is scheduled to be in Preston on Tuesday. He will firespeak at a side in the Preston South Stake Center at 8 p.m. The fireside is for all youth 12 to 18 years of age. two-stat- ke THE JOHNNY Whitaker is a family oriented variety show. The show focuses on slapstick comedy, e vaudeville, patriotism, Rock n Roll and Tom Sawyer America. Johnny, along with his two Show old-tim- younger sisters, Mary and Dora, and his younger brother Billy; sing and dance to-such songs as FYeebootin from the movie Tom SawYou Are My Lucky yer, Star, George M. Cohans Im a Yankee Doodle Crocodile Rock Dandy, of Elton John fame, and Swanee from the minstrel era of America. . Johnny brings with him a large group of talented and versatile singers, dancers, and a band to bring together an exciting evening in family fun. THE POPULAR comedy duo of Jaspering and Mahana open the show with v , wild and wolly sound effects of animals, guns, cars, and ,all sorts of - funny antics. ' Jaspering and Mahana also find themselves in numerous comedy sketches throughout the evening, doing everything from Vudeville Soft Show to good old Rock n - of California. His mother is the former Thelma Willis of Clifton. - Her parents were- Mr. and Mrs. John Willis. .. . Hie family moved from Clifton about 20 years ago when the farm was sold. One of the children, John Willis Jr. lives in Logan. The Willis family moved to Phoenix, Ariz., and Thelma, who married John Whitaker, moved to San Bemadina, California. Roll. Also featured in the show is Denny Crockett, contemporary composer, singer, and pianist. He Joins with the lovely vocal duo of Jacque Lake and Ten Crocket of JOHNNY WHITAKER has spent more than three quarters of his life before cameras. He recently celebrated his sixteenth birthday. That Johnny is a highly gifted actor, is not news to the millions of televiewers who dialed his weekly performance with Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot on Family Affair through six successful seasons. But, he also has a way with a song, as was demonstrated in his lead role performance of Tom Sawyer. While more than 1,000 youngsters were interviewed and several dozen actually screen-teste- d for the Tom Sawyer role, there was unanimity in the BYU Young Ambassador fame ina special segment featuring the popular music of today. Johnny is, of course, the star of the show, singing, acting, dancing and even performing some impressive magic. He recalls in song and dialogue his love for his home, his country, and especially his family. JOHNNY IS THE son of Mr. and Mrs. John Whitaker final selection of Johnny and the decision to grant him lop ..billing in. the lavish ..color production. The youngster made his professional debut in a TV commercial shortly after he turned three. We had no intention of starting Johnny on an acting career, his mother Thelma Whitaker, explains. When he was only three he was already singing solos in our Mormon church and people frequently remarked how much they enjoyed him. Eventually, we were advised to investigate the possibility of a professional career for him. Johnnys first TV commercial was for Chevrolet, and six months later he made his live acting debut in a program entitled Day in Court. He amazed everyone with his ability to cry with remarkable ease in a scene where his father was being jailed. He became a regular for a year on the soap opera, and General Hospital, guested on such shows as Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Lancer, The Virginian, Green Acres, The Dinah Shore Show, and Bewitched. HIS FILM credits include The Russians Are Coming, The Russions Are Coming with Alan Arkin, Johnathan Winters and Brian Keith then (who suggested Johnnys casting in Family .Affair), three films for Walt Disney Productions (The Biscuit Eater, with Earl Holliman and Lew Ayres, .Napolean and' Sa- with Michael Douglas and Will Greer and mantha, with "Snowball Express Vf rVTjkr. v.. L ' Dean Jones, Nancy Olsen and Mary Wickes) and the starring role in the Readers Digest Musical production of Tom Sawyer. Johnny also starred in the made-for-Tmovie Something Evil, for which he received exceptional response from the critics and audience alike. Johnny was born on December 13, 1959, in the Los Angeles suburb of Van Nuys. He has seven brothers and sisters, four older and three younger. His father is an industrial arts teacher at a nearby high school. All live in San Fernando today, which is not too far from Johnny's birthplace. Away & V t. ' I.- - fort-. w from the set. Johnny is active in the Boy Scouts, and studies piano in addition to his regular schooling. THE VARIETY show will feature songs of old times in a completely staged production by Ambassador Production of Hollywood and will include Vaudeville and Rock n Roll routines. I i I . ' 3 : |