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Sherwood Johnson

American jazz patron and restaurant owner

Sherwood "Shakey" Johnson (September 2, 1925 – October 31, 1998) was an American businessman, entrepreneur, and the founder of Shakey's Pizza, a pizza restaurant chain. Shakey's Pizza currently operates in both the United States and the Philippines.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Sherwood Johnson (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Sep 2, 1925, died Oct 31, 1998.1

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedSacramento City College3
  • Date not recordedChristian Brothers High School3
  • Date not recordedUniversity of California College of the Law, San Francisco3

Career

Occupation: jazz musician, banjoist.5

Pizza business

In 1954, Johnson founded Shakey's Pizza with "Big Ed" Plummer. Johnson was responsible for every detail in the original Shakey's experience, including the food, drink, the clever signs on the walls and tabletops, and especially the music. Johnson hosted live music nightly at the original parlor and insisted that it be jazz-oriented, perhaps Dixieland or ragtime, or old-time. He was named "Emperor of Jazz" at the first Jazz Jubilee in Sacramento.

Johnson contracted polio around 1960 from a polio inoculation and walked with a slight limp from then on.

Post business interests

Johnson sold out his interest in Shakey's Pizza to Colorado Milling and Elevator Co. in 1966 for $3 million. He retired to a ranch house he built on a 105-acre (0.42 km2) estate in Oregon House, California and continued to be a patron of jazz and Dixieland music. He was inducted into the Banjo Hall of Fame in Guthrie, Oklahoma, for his use of banjo music in his pizza parlors.

Johnson died of a heart attack on October 31, 1998, at the age of 73.

From Wikipedia’s article on Sherwood Johnson (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornSep 2, 1925, Sacramento6
  • CitizenshipUnited States7

Sources

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