Bayn Johnson is a former American actress, singer, and dancer best known as Kelly, the female blonde-haired member of the Short Circus in the PBS children's television series The Electric Company from 1973-1975.

Early career

Johnson got her first career break in the late 1960s appearing opposite Bernadette Peters

Bernadette Peters

Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...

 as the title character in the off-Broadway musical Curley McDimple

Curley McDimple

Curley McDimple is a musical with music and lyrics by Robert Dahdah and book by Robert Dahdah and Mary Boylan. The play is a spoof of Depression-era Shirley Temple movies and was presented in a black and white design. This was one of two musicals in which Bernadette Peters appeared that spoofed...

, a pseudo-satirical tribute to Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...

 movies. Johnson also recorded a Christmas novelty song entitled "Christmas Teddy Bear". In 1969, she appeared as "Happy Hollywood" in the television show What's It All About, World?.

The Short Circus

In 1973, 14-year-old Johnson became a member of the Short Circus on the PBS television show The Electric Company. As "Kelly", Johnson replaced the recently departed Denise Nickerson

Denise Nickerson

Denise Nickerson is an American former child actress best known for her roles as the gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Amy Jennings in the soap opera Dark Shadows.-Career:...

, ultimately appearing in over 250 episodes of the show.

Johnson's stage experience proved an asset to The Electric Company, as her natural stage presence allowed her to sing lead on the song "Freeze". She could also handle vaudeville-styled numbers with ease, performing "Buddy and Kelly" alongside co-star Stephen Gustafson and "The 'Or' Song" with Short Circus mainstay June Angela

June Angela

June Angela is an actress, singer, and dancer best known as Julie, the mainstay member of the Short Circus in the PBS children's television series The Electric Company during its entire six-year run.-The Short Circus:...

.

Later career

After outgrowing The Electric Company in 1975 (she was replaced by another blonde, Janina Mathews as "Gail"), Johnson made television appearances on The Love Boat

The Love Boat

The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...

, Police Woman

Police Woman (TV series)

Police Woman is an American television police drama starring Angie Dickinson that ran on NBC for four seasons, from September 13, 1974, to March 29, 1978.-Synopsis:...

and Switch

Switch

In electronics, a switch is an electrical component that can break an electrical circuit, interrupting the current or diverting it from one conductor to another....

.

Johnson attended New York University and earned a degree in Journalism. As of 2009, she is doing commercial voice-over work.

External links

• Johnson appearing as Curley McDimple, March 1, 1969