Famous Like Me > Actor > J > Van Johnson
Profile of Van Johnson
on Famous Like Me |
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| Name: |
Van Johnson |
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| Date of Birth: |
25th August 1916 |
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| Place of Birth: |
Newport, Rhode Island, USA |
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| Profession: |
Actor |
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From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Van Johnson (born Charles Van Johnson on August 25, 1916, in Newport, Rhode Island) is an American film and television actor.
Johnson was born to parents Charles E. Johnson (who was born in Sweden) and Loretta, who was of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. His acting career fully began in earnest in 1936, just as the United States was negotiating to enter World War II, in the Broadway revue New Faces of 1936. In 1939 he landed a part in Rodgers and Hart's Too Many Girls in the role of a college boy (after being Gene Kelly's understudy in Pal Joey). RKO then signed him to a short-term contract to star in the film adaptation of the play which became Johnson's film debut. MGM picked up his contract from RKO soon after and cast him in several bit parts. In 1942, while en route to a preview screening for Keeper of the Flame, he was involved in a car crash that left him with a metal plate in his forehead. This left him exempt from service in World War II. After this incident, MGM built up his image as the "all-american boy" by co-starring him in films with June Allyson and Esther Williams, among others. He also had his fair share of serious roles in films such as A Guy Named Joe and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.
When the studio system declined in the mid-1950's, Johnson's popularity did also due to his heavier-set appearance. He then left MGM for Columbia Pictures to co-star in The Caine Mutiny (1954) to much acclaim (His scar from the car crash is very visible in this film). Since 1960, his film career has been inconsistent.
Johnson has guest-starred on television shows such as Batman, Here's Lucy, and The Love Boat.
In 1963, he underwent treatment for skin cancer.
In 1985, he enjoyed a sort-of comeback. He toured with the hit Broadway musical La Cage aux Folles and appeared in a supporting role in Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo.
At the moment, he is enjoying a quiet life in retirement in Nyack, New York with his current partner. He is estranged from his daughter, Schuyler Johnson, from his marriage to the late Eve Lynn Abbott, who was formerly married to the late actor, Keenan Wynn. She married Johnson under pressure from MGM Chief Louis B. Mayer (due to rumours regarding Johnson's sexual orientation) on the day her divorce from Wynn was finalized, January 25, 1947. Their daughter was born a year later and they divorced in 1968.
Filmography
- Too Many Girls (1940)
- Personalities (1942) (short subject)
- Murder at the Big House (1942)
- For the Common Defense! (1942) (short subject)
- The War Against Mrs. Hadley (1942)
- Somewhere I'll Find You (1942)
- Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant (1942)
- The Human Comedy (1943)
- Pilot #5 (1943)
- Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case (1943)
- Madame Curie (1943)
- A Guy Named Joe (1943)
- Three Men in White (1944)
- Main Street Today (1944) (short subject) (appears in photograph)
- Two Girls and a Salior (1944)
- The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)
- Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
- Between Two Women (1945)
- Thrill of a Romance (1945)
- Week-End at the Waldorf (1945)
- American Creed (1946) (short subject)
- Ziegfeld Follies (1946) (scenes deleted)
- Easy to Wed (1946)
- No Leave, No Love (1946)
- Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
- High Barbaree (1947)
- The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947)
- The Bride Goes Wild (1948)
- State of the Union (1948)
- Command Decision (1948)
- Mother Is a Freshman (1949)
- Scene of the Crime (1949)
- In the Good Old Summertime (1949)
- Battleground (1949)
- The Big Hangover (1950)
- Duchess of Idaho (1950)
- Grounds for Marriage (1951)
- Three Guys Named Mike (1951)
- Go for Broke! (1951)
- It's a Big Country (1951)
- Too Young to Kiss (1951)
- Invitation (1952)
- When in Rome (1952)
- Washington Story (1952)
- Plymouth Adventure (1952)
- Confidentially Connie (1953)
- Remains to Be Seen (1953)
- Easy to Love (1953)
- The Siege at Red River (1954)
- Men of the Fighting Lady (1954)
- The Caine Mutiny (1954)
- Brigadoon (1954)
- The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)
- The End of the Affair (1955)
- The Bottom of the Bottle (1956)
- Miracle in the Rain (1956)
- 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956)
- Slander (1956)
- Kelly and Me (1957)
- Action of the Tiger (1957)
- The Last Blitzkrieg (1959)
- Web of Evidence (1959)
- Subway in the Sky (1959)
- The Enemy General (1960)
- Wives and Lovers (1963)
- Divorce American Style (1967)
- Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1968)
- Yours, Mine and Ours (1968)
- Eagles Over London (1969)
- The Price of Power (1969)
- Eye of the Spider (1971)
- The Condcorde Affair '79 (1979)
- From Corleone to Brooklyn (1979)
- The Kidnapping of the President (1980)
- Murder in an Etruscan Cemetery (1982)
- The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
- Down There in the Jungle (1986)
- Taxi Killer (1988)
- Killer Crocodile (1989)
- Delta Force Commando II: Priority Red One (1991)
- Clowning Around (1992)
External link
- Van Johnson at the Internet Movie Database
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