The World's Greatest Athlete

The World's Greatest Athlete
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Scheerer
Written byDee Caruso
Gerald Gardner
Produced byBill Walsh
StarringTim Conway
Jan-Michael Vincent
John Amos
Roscoe Lee Browne
Dayle Haddon
Billy De Wolfe
Nancy Walker
CinematographyFrank V. Phillips
Edited byCotton Warburton
Music byMarvin Hamlisch
Production
company
Distributed byBuena Vista Distribution
Release date
  • February 1, 1973 (1973-02-01)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$22,583,370

The World's Greatest Athlete is a 1973 American sports comedy film directed by Robert Scheerer and starring John Amos, Roscoe Lee Browne, Tim Conway, Dayle Haddon, and Jan-Michael Vincent. Released by Walt Disney Productions, it is one of the few wide-release Hollywood sports films to look at the world of track and field. In the film, two coaches Sam Archer (Amos) and Milo Jackson (Conway) make use of jungle boy Nanu (Vincent) and have him make history by winning every event at the NCAA Track & Field Championship. The screenplay was by Dee Caruso and Gerald Gardner who also did a novelisation of the film. This film was also one of Billy De Wolfe's final roles before he died the following year.