Van Johnson
Encyclopedia
Van Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
studios during and after World War II
.
Johnson was the embodiment of the "boy-next-door wholesomeness (that) made him a popular Hollywood star in the '40s and '50s," playing "the red-haired, freckle-faced soldier, sailor or bomber pilot who used to live down the street" in MGM movies during the war years with such films as 30 Seconds over Tokyo, A Guy Named Joe
and The Caine Mutiny
. Johnson made occasional World War II movies through the end of the 1960s, and he played a military officer in one of his final feature films, in 1992. At the time of his death in December 2008, he was one of the last surviving matinee idol
s of Hollywood's "golden age."
; the only child of Loretta (née Snyder), a homemaker
, and Charles E. Johnson, a plumber
and later real-estate salesman. His father was born in Sweden and came to the United States as a young child), and his mother had German-American
Pennsylvania Dutch
ethnicity. His mother, an alcoholic, left the family when her son was a child; Johnson's relationship with his father was chilly.
Johnson performed at social clubs in Newport while in high school
. He moved to New York City
after graduating from high school in 1935 and joined an off-Broadway
revue, Entre Nous (1935).
After touring New England
in a theatre troupe as a substitute dancer, his acting career began in earnest in the Broadway
revue New Faces of 1936. Johnson returned to the chorus after that, and worked in summer resorts near New York City. In 1939, director and playwright George Abbott
cast him in Rodgers and Hart
's Too Many Girls
in the role of a college boy and as understudy for all three male leads. After an uncredited role in the film adaptation of Too Many Girls (which costarred Lucille Ball
and Desi Arnaz
), Abbott hired him as a chorus boy and Gene Kelly
's understudy in Pal Joey.
Johnson was about to move back to New York when Lucille Ball took him to Chasen's Restaurant
, where she introduced him to MGM casting director Billy Grady, who was sitting at the next table. This led to screen tests by Hollywood studios. His test at Columbia Pictures
was unsuccessful, but Warner Brothers put him on contract at $300 a week. His all-American good looks and easy demeanor were ill-suited to the gritty movies Warner made at the time, and the studio dropped him at the expiration of his six-month contract. Shortly before leaving Warner, he was cast as a cub reporter opposite Faye Emerson
in the 1942 film Murder in the Big House. His eyebrows and hair were dyed black for the role.
, who played the title role in the popular Dr. Kildare
movie series, was leaving to join the US Army
as a medical corpsman. Ayres had played a young doctor who assisted the crusty Dr. Gillespie, played by Lionel Barrymore
. Johnson was assigned to the new role of Dr. Randall Adams in Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant and Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case, and he appeared as a bit player in two other MGM features. At the same time he was given the classes in acting, speech, diction and other disciplines that were provided to all contract actors at MGM at the time.
He subsequently appeared in Pilot No. 5
(1943) and in William Saroyan
’s The Human Comedy
, which was produced in 1943, and in the title role in Two Girls and a Sailor
.
His big break was in A Guy Named Joe
, with Spencer Tracy
and Irene Dunne
, in which he played a young pilot who acquires a deceased pilot as his guardian angel. Midway through the movie's production in 1943, he was involved in a car crash that left him with a metal plate in his forehead and a number of scars on his face that the plastic surgery of the time could not completely correct or conceal; he used heavy makeup to hide them for years. Dunne and Tracy insisted that Johnson not be removed from the cast despite his long absence. The injury exempted Johnson from service in World War II.
With many actors now serving in the armed forces, the accident proved to be a major career break for Johnson. MGM built up his image as the all-American boy in war dramas and musicals, with his most notable starring role as Ted Lawson
in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
, which told the story of the Doolittle raid
on Tokyo in April 1942.
In 1945, Johnson tied with Bing Crosby
as the top of a list of box office stars chosen yearly by the National Association of Theater Owners. But he fell off the list as other top Hollywood stars returned from wartime service.
As a musical comedy performer, Johnson appeared in five films each with June Allyson
and Esther Williams
. His films with Allyson included the musical Two Girls and a Sailor
(1944), and the mystery farce Remains to Be Seen (1953). With Williams he made the comedy Easy to Wed
(1946) and the musical comedy Easy to Love
(1953). He also starred with Judy Garland in In the Good Old Summertime
(1949), and teamed with Gene Kelly
as the sardonic second lead of Brigadoon (1954).
Johnson continued to appear in war movies after the war ended, including his performance as Holley in Battleground (1949), an account of the Battle of the Bulge
, and in Go for Broke!
(1951), in which he played an officer leading Japanese-American troops of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Europe.
Unlike some other stars of that era, Johnson did not resent the restrictions of the studio system
. In 1985, he said his years at MGM were "one big happy family and a little kingdom". He said: "Everything was provided for us, from singing lessons to barbells. All we had to do was inhale, exhale and be charming. I used to dread leaving the studio to go out into the real world, because to me the studio was the real world."
with Elizabeth Taylor
and co-starring in Brigadoon. He enjoyed critical acclaim for his performance as Lt. Steve Maryk in The Caine Mutiny
in 1954. He refused to allow concealment of his facial scars when being made up as Maryk, believing they enhanced the character's authenticity. One commentator noted years later that "Humphrey Bogart
and Jose Ferrer
chomp up all the scenery in this maritime courtroom drama, but it’s Johnson’s character, the painfully ambivalent, not-too-bright Lieutenant Steve Maryk, who binds the whole movie together." Time
commented that Van Johnson "... was a better actor than Hollywood usually allowed him to be."
Johnson played himself in a walk-on role in I Love Lucy
, which, according to Benjamin Svetkey, "may have pioneered the cheesy sitcom walk-on
."
During the 1950s, Johnson continued to appear in films and also appeared frequently in television guest appearances. He received favorable critical notices for Miracle in the Rain
(1956), in which he starred with Jane Wyman
, and in 23 Paces to Baker Street
, in which he played a blind playwright
residing in London
. Johnson guest starred as Joe Robertson, with June Allyson
and Don Rickles
, in her CBS anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson
in the 1960 episode entitled "The Women Who." In 1961 Van Johnson came to England to star in Harold Fielding's production of "The Music Man" at London's Adelphi Theatre. The show enjoyed a successful run of almost a year with Van playing the arduous leading role of Harold Hill to great acclaim. He also guest-starred on Batman
as "The Minstrel" in two episodes in 1966, Here's Lucy
, Quincy, M.E.
, McMillan & Wife, Murder, She Wrote along with June Allyson, and The Love Boat
and in the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man
. He was nominated for an Emmy Award
for that role. He appeared as the title character of the 1957 made-for-television film The Pied Piper of Hamelin
, a musical version of Robert Browning
's poem. He turned down an opportunity to star as Eliot Ness
in The Untouchables
, which went on to become a successful TV series with Robert Stack
in the Ness role.
In the 1970s, after twice fighting bouts of cancer, Johnson began a second career in summer stock
and dinner theater
. In 1985, returning to Broadway
for the first time since Pal Joey, he was cast in the starring role of the musical La Cage aux Folles. In that same year he appeared in a supporting role in Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo
. At the age of 75, now grey and rotund, he toured in Show Boat
as Captain Andy. His last film appearance was in Clowning Around
(1992). In 2003, he appeared with Betsy Palmer
for three performances of A.R. Gurney's Love Letters at a theater in Wesley Hills, New York.
Johnson married former stage actress Eve Abbott (1914–2004) on January 25, 1947, the day after her divorce from actor Keenan Wynn
was finalized.In 1948, the newlyweds had a daughter, Schuyler. By this marriage, Johnson also had two stepsons, Edmond Keenan (Ned) and Tracy Keenan Wynn. After his death, The Independent
noted: "The marriages were the subject of much publicity and rumour in the 1940s
since, before marrying Evie, Johnson had been a best friend of the Wynns. Many of his fans were alienated when he married Evie the day after her divorce from Wynn, while those who were aware of Johnson's sexual ambivalence wondered how genuine the marriage could be."
The Johnsons separated in 1961 and their especially bitter divorce was finalized in 1968. According to Eve Johnson, her marriage to Johnson had been engineered by MGM: "They needed their 'big star' to be married to quell rumours about his sexual preferences and unfortunately, I was 'It'—the only woman he would marry."
Van Johnson lived in a penthouse in the Sutton Place area of 54th Street on Manhattan
's East Side
until 2002, when he moved to Tappan Zee Manor, an assisted living facility in Nyack, New York
. He died there of natural causes on December 12, 2008. He had been ill for the previous year and receiving hospice care. Wendy Bleisweiss, a close friend indicated he died of natural causes. His body was cremated.
obituary noted: ""Van Johnson, a film actor whose affable charm and boyish good looks helped turn him into a major Hollywood star during World War II, died Friday in Nyack, N.Y. He was 92. His death, at the Tappan Zee Manor assisted living facility, was announced by a spokesman, Daniel Demello, of Shirley Herz Associates in New York."
Johnson was one of several people interviewed by Lucie Arnaz
for her biopic of her parents, Lucille Ball
and Desi Arnaz
, "Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie" Other interviews included Carole Cook
, Bob Hope
, Fred Ball
and several others. For his contribution to the film industry
, Johnson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6600 Hollywood Blvd.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
studios during and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Johnson was the embodiment of the "boy-next-door wholesomeness (that) made him a popular Hollywood star in the '40s and '50s," playing "the red-haired, freckle-faced soldier, sailor or bomber pilot who used to live down the street" in MGM movies during the war years with such films as 30 Seconds over Tokyo, A Guy Named Joe
A Guy Named Joe
A Guy Named Joe is a 1943 film made by MGM, directed by Victor Fleming, produced by Everett Riskin, from a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, adapted by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan from a story by Chandler Sprague and David Boehm. It starred Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne and Van Johnson, with Esther Williams...
and The Caine Mutiny
The Caine Mutiny
The Caine Mutiny is a 1952 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Herman Wouk. The novel grew out of Wouk's personal experiences aboard a destroyer-minesweeper in the Pacific in World War II and deals with, among other things, the moral and ethical decisions made at sea by the captains of ships...
. Johnson made occasional World War II movies through the end of the 1960s, and he played a military officer in one of his final feature films, in 1992. At the time of his death in December 2008, he was one of the last surviving matinee idol
Matinee idol
Matinée idol is a term used mainly to describe film or theatre stars who are adored to the point of adulation by their fans.The term almost exclusively refers to male actors. Invariably the adulation was fixated on the actor's looks rather than performance...
s of Hollywood's "golden age."
Early life
Johnson was born Charles Van Dell Johnson in Newport, Rhode IslandNewport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
; the only child of Loretta (née Snyder), a homemaker
Homemaker
Homemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping or household management...
, and Charles E. Johnson, a plumber
Plumber
A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable water, sewage, and drainage in plumbing systems. The term dates from ancient times, and is related to the Latin word for lead, "plumbum." A person engaged in fixing metaphorical "leaks" may also be...
and later real-estate salesman. His father was born in Sweden and came to the United States as a young child), and his mother had German-American
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch refers to immigrants and their descendants from southwestern Germany and Switzerland who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries...
ethnicity. His mother, an alcoholic, left the family when her son was a child; Johnson's relationship with his father was chilly.
Career
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
. He moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
after graduating from high school in 1935 and joined an off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
revue, Entre Nous (1935).
After touring New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
in a theatre troupe as a substitute dancer, his acting career began in earnest in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
revue New Faces of 1936. Johnson returned to the chorus after that, and worked in summer resorts near New York City. In 1939, director and playwright George Abbott
George Abbott
George Francis Abbott was an American theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than nine decades.-Early years:...
cast him in Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist Lorenz Hart...
's Too Many Girls
Too Many Girls (musical)
Too Many Girls is a Broadway musical comedy and a 1940 film version of the show, starring Lucille Ball.-Broadway version:Too Many Girls opened October 18, 1939, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by George Marion Jr. It was produced by George Abbott...
in the role of a college boy and as understudy for all three male leads. After an uncredited role in the film adaptation of Too Many Girls (which costarred Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
and Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz was a Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer. While he gained international renown for leading a Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, he is probably best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the American TV series I Love Lucy, starring with Lucille Ball, to...
), Abbott hired him as a chorus boy and Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
's understudy in Pal Joey.
Johnson was about to move back to New York when Lucille Ball took him to Chasen's Restaurant
Chasen's
Chasen's was a restaurant in West Hollywood, California that was a hangout for entertainment luminaries. Located at 9039 Beverly Boulevard near Beverly Hills, it was the site of the Academy Awards party for many years and was also known for its chili. In 1962 Liz Taylor had several orders of...
, where she introduced him to MGM casting director Billy Grady, who was sitting at the next table. This led to screen tests by Hollywood studios. His test at Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
was unsuccessful, but Warner Brothers put him on contract at $300 a week. His all-American good looks and easy demeanor were ill-suited to the gritty movies Warner made at the time, and the studio dropped him at the expiration of his six-month contract. Shortly before leaving Warner, he was cast as a cub reporter opposite Faye Emerson
Faye Emerson
Faye Margaret Emerson was an American film actress and television interviewer, known as "The First Lady of Television". She acted in many Warner Brothers films beginning in 1941...
in the 1942 film Murder in the Big House. His eyebrows and hair were dyed black for the role.
Years at MGM
Fortuitously for Johnson, Lew AyresLew Ayres
Lew Ayres was an American actor, best known for starring as Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front and for playing Dr...
, who played the title role in the popular Dr. Kildare
Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare is a fictional character, the primary character in a series of American theatrical films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, an early 1950s radio series, a 1960s television series of the same name and a comic book based on the TV show, and a short-lived 1970s television series...
movie series, was leaving to join the US Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
as a medical corpsman. Ayres had played a young doctor who assisted the crusty Dr. Gillespie, played by Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
. Johnson was assigned to the new role of Dr. Randall Adams in Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant and Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case, and he appeared as a bit player in two other MGM features. At the same time he was given the classes in acting, speech, diction and other disciplines that were provided to all contract actors at MGM at the time.
He subsequently appeared in Pilot No. 5
Pilot no. 5
Pilot #5 is a 1943 propaganda war film starring Franchot Tone, Marsha Hunt, Gene Kellyand Van Johnson. It was directed by George Sidney.-Cast:*Franchot Tone as George Braynor Collins*Marsha Hunt as Freddie Andrews*Gene Kelly as Vito S...
(1943) and in William Saroyan
William Saroyan
William Saroyan was an Armenian American dramatist and author. The setting of many of his stories and plays is the center of Armenian-American life in California in his native Fresno.-Early years:...
’s The Human Comedy
The Human Comedy (film)
The Human Comedy is a 1943 drama film directed by Clarence Brown and adapted by Howard Estabrook. It is often thought to be based on the William Saroyan novel of the same name, but actually Saroyan wrote the screenplay first, was fired from the movie project, and quickly wrote the novel and...
, which was produced in 1943, and in the title role in Two Girls and a Sailor
Two Girls and a Sailor
Two Girls and a Sailor is a 1944 musical film about two singing sisters who are helped to set up a canteen to entertain soldiers by a mysterious wealthy admirer. It featured a host of celebrity performances, including Jimmy Durante doing his hallmark "Inka Dinka Doo", Gracie Allen, and Lena Horne...
.
His big break was in A Guy Named Joe
A Guy Named Joe
A Guy Named Joe is a 1943 film made by MGM, directed by Victor Fleming, produced by Everett Riskin, from a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, adapted by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan from a story by Chandler Sprague and David Boehm. It starred Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne and Van Johnson, with Esther Williams...
, with Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
and Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron , Theodora Goes Wild , The Awful Truth , Love Affair and I Remember Mama...
, in which he played a young pilot who acquires a deceased pilot as his guardian angel. Midway through the movie's production in 1943, he was involved in a car crash that left him with a metal plate in his forehead and a number of scars on his face that the plastic surgery of the time could not completely correct or conceal; he used heavy makeup to hide them for years. Dunne and Tracy insisted that Johnson not be removed from the cast despite his long absence. The injury exempted Johnson from service in World War II.
Ted W. Lawson
Major Ted W. Lawson was an American officer in the United States Army Air Forces, who is known as the author of Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, a memoir of his participation in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in 1942...
in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Thirty Seconds over Tokyo
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a 1944 MGM war film. It is based on the true story of America's first retaliatory air strike against Japan four months after the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The movie was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sam Zimbalist. The screenplay by...
, which told the story of the Doolittle raid
Doolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid, on 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after the...
on Tokyo in April 1942.
In 1945, Johnson tied with Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
as the top of a list of box office stars chosen yearly by the National Association of Theater Owners. But he fell off the list as other top Hollywood stars returned from wartime service.
As a musical comedy performer, Johnson appeared in five films each with June Allyson
June Allyson
June Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
and Esther Williams
Esther Williams
Esther Jane Williams is a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star.Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team...
. His films with Allyson included the musical Two Girls and a Sailor
Two Girls and a Sailor
Two Girls and a Sailor is a 1944 musical film about two singing sisters who are helped to set up a canteen to entertain soldiers by a mysterious wealthy admirer. It featured a host of celebrity performances, including Jimmy Durante doing his hallmark "Inka Dinka Doo", Gracie Allen, and Lena Horne...
(1944), and the mystery farce Remains to Be Seen (1953). With Williams he made the comedy Easy to Wed
Easy to Wed
Easy to Wed is a 1946 American musical comedy film directed by Edward Buzzell. The screenplay by Dorothy Kingsley is an updated adaptation of the screenplay of the 1936 film Libeled Lady by Maurine Dallas Watkins, Howard Emmett Rogers, and George Oppenheimer.-Plot:Financier J.B...
(1946) and the musical comedy Easy to Love
Easy to Love (film)
Easy to Love is a 1953 musical film directed by Charles Walters. It stars Esther Williams and Van Johnson.-Cast:*Esther Williams as Julie Hallerton*Van Johnson as Ray Lloyd*Tony Martin as Barry Gordton*John Bromfield as Hank...
(1953). He also starred with Judy Garland in In the Good Old Summertime
In the Good Old Summertime
In the Good Old Summertime is a 1949 musical film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. It starred Judy Garland, Van Johnson and S.Z. Sakall.The film is a musical adaptation of the 1940 film, The Shop Around the Corner, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, and starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, and...
(1949), and teamed with Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
as the sardonic second lead of Brigadoon (1954).
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
, and in Go for Broke!
Go for Broke! (1951 film)
Go for Broke! is a 1951 war film directed by Robert Pirosh, produced by Dore Schary and starred Van Johnson, several veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Henry Nakamura....
(1951), in which he played an officer leading Japanese-American troops of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Europe.
Unlike some other stars of that era, Johnson did not resent the restrictions of the studio system
Studio system
The studio system was a means of film production and distribution dominant in Hollywood from the early 1920s through the early 1960s. The term studio system refers to the practice of large motion picture studios producing movies primarily on their own filmmaking lots with creative personnel under...
. In 1985, he said his years at MGM were "one big happy family and a little kingdom". He said: "Everything was provided for us, from singing lessons to barbells. All we had to do was inhale, exhale and be charming. I used to dread leaving the studio to go out into the real world, because to me the studio was the real world."
Later career
Johnson was dropped by MGM in 1954, after appearing in The Last Time I Saw ParisThe Last Time I Saw Paris
The Last Time I Saw Paris is a 1954 romantic drama made by MGM. It is loosely based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "Babylon Revisited." It was directed by Richard Brooks, produced by Jack Cummings and filmed on locations in Paris and the MGM backlot. The screenplay was by Julius J. Epstein,...
with Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
and co-starring in Brigadoon. He enjoyed critical acclaim for his performance as Lt. Steve Maryk in The Caine Mutiny
The Caine Mutiny (film)
The Caine Mutiny is a 1954 American drama film set during World War II, directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Stanley Kramer. It stars Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson and Fred MacMurray, and is based on the 1951 Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Herman Wouk The Caine Mutiny. The film...
in 1954. He refused to allow concealment of his facial scars when being made up as Maryk, believing they enhanced the character's authenticity. One commentator noted years later that "Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
and Jose Ferrer
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
chomp up all the scenery in this maritime courtroom drama, but it’s Johnson’s character, the painfully ambivalent, not-too-bright Lieutenant Steve Maryk, who binds the whole movie together." Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
commented that Van Johnson "... was a better actor than Hollywood usually allowed him to be."
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
, which, according to Benjamin Svetkey, "may have pioneered the cheesy sitcom walk-on
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
."
During the 1950s, Johnson continued to appear in films and also appeared frequently in television guest appearances. He received favorable critical notices for Miracle in the Rain
Miracle in the Rain
Miracle in the Rain is a novella by American writer Ben Hecht, published in The Saturday Evening Post bimonthly magazine on April 3, 1943 and adapted by him into a feature film released on March 31, 1956.-Film version:...
(1956), in which he starred with Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
, and in 23 Paces to Baker Street
23 Paces to Baker Street
23 Paces to Baker Street is a 1956 American drama film released by 20th Century Fox. The Hitchcockian mystery thriller, filmed in Cinemascope on location in London, focuses on Philip Hannon, a blind playwright who overhears a partial conversation he believes is related to the planning of a kidnapping...
, in which he played a blind playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
residing in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Johnson guest starred as Joe Robertson, with June Allyson
June Allyson
June Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
and Don Rickles
Don Rickles
Donald Jay "Don" Rickles is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic....
, in her CBS anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
The DuPont Show with June Allyson is an American anthology drama series which aired on CBS from September 21, 1959 to April 3, 1961 with rebroadcasts continuing until June 12, 1961...
in the 1960 episode entitled "The Women Who." In 1961 Van Johnson came to England to star in Harold Fielding's production of "The Music Man" at London's Adelphi Theatre. The show enjoyed a successful run of almost a year with Van playing the arduous leading role of Harold Hill to great acclaim. He also guest-starred on Batman
Batman (TV series)
Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...
as "The Minstrel" in two episodes in 1966, Here's Lucy
Here's Lucy
Here's Lucy is Lucille Ball's third network television sitcom. It ran on CBS from 1968 to 1974.-Background:Though The Lucy Show was still hugely popular during the previous season, finishing in the top five of the Nielsen Ratings , Ball opted to end that series at the end of that season and create...
, Quincy, M.E.
Quincy, M.E.
Quincy, M.E., also called Quincy, is a United States television series from Universal Studios that aired from October 3, 1976, to September 5, 1983, on NBC...
, McMillan & Wife, Murder, She Wrote along with June Allyson, and 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...
and in the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man
Rich Man, Poor Man
Rich Man, Poor Man is a novel written by Irwin Shaw in 1969. It is the last of the novels of Shaw's middle period before he began to concentrate, in his last works such as Evening In Byzantium, Nightwork, Bread Upon The Waters, and Acceptable Losses, on the inevitability of impending death...
. He was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for that role. He appeared as the title character of the 1957 made-for-television film The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957 film)
The Pied Piper of Hamelin is an American ninety-minute musical color television special originally shown by NBC on November 26, 1957, as their Thanksgiving Day offering for that year...
, a musical version of Robert Browning
Robert Browning
Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
's poem. He turned down an opportunity to star as Eliot Ness
Eliot Ness
Eliot Ness was an American Prohibition agent, famous for his efforts to enforce Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois, and the leader of a legendary team of law enforcement agents nicknamed The Untouchables.- Early life :...
in The Untouchables
The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a...
, which went on to become a successful TV series with Robert Stack
Robert Stack
Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
in the Ness role.
Summer Stock
For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
and dinner theater
Dinner theater
Dinner theater is a form of entertainment that combines a restaurant meal with a staged play or musical. Sometimes the play is incidental entertainment, secondary to the meal, in the style of a sophisticated night club, or the play may be a major production with dinner less important, or in some...
. In 1985, returning to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
for the first time since Pal Joey, he was cast in the starring role of the musical La Cage aux Folles. In that same year he appeared in a supporting role in Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo
The Purple Rose of Cairo
The Purple Rose of Cairo is a 1985 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. Inspired by Sherlock, Jr., Hellzapoppin, and Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, it is the tale of a film character who leaves a fictional film of the same name and enters the real...
. At the age of 75, now grey and rotund, he toured in Show Boat
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
as Captain Andy. His last film appearance was in Clowning Around
Clowning Around
Clowning Around is an Australian family film that was shot on location in Perth, Western Australia and Paris, France.The film was produced by independent film company Barron Entertainment Films in Western Australia and educational film company WonderWorks in the United States, was directed by...
(1992). In 2003, he appeared with Betsy Palmer
Betsy Palmer
Betsy Palmer is an American actress, best known as a regular panelist on the game show I've Got a Secret, and later for playing Pamela Voorhees in the notorious slasher film Friday the 13th.-Life and career:...
for three performances of A.R. Gurney's Love Letters at a theater in Wesley Hills, New York.
Personal life
In contrast to his "cheery Van" screen image, Johnson was reputed to be morose and moody because of his difficult early life. He had little tolerance for unpleasantness and would stride into his bedroom at the slightest hint of trouble. He had a difficult relationship with his father and was estranged from his daughter at the time of his death.Johnson married former stage actress Eve Abbott (1914–2004) on January 25, 1947, the day after her divorce from actor Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn was an American character actor. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade, and though he rarely had a lead role, he got prominent billing in most of his film and TV parts....
was finalized.In 1948, the newlyweds had a daughter, Schuyler. By this marriage, Johnson also had two stepsons, Edmond Keenan (Ned) and Tracy Keenan Wynn. After his death, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
noted: "The marriages were the subject of much publicity and rumour in the 1940s
1940s
File:1940s decade montage.png|Above title bar: events which happened during World War II : From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day"; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurred during the war as Nazi Germany...
since, before marrying Evie, Johnson had been a best friend of the Wynns. Many of his fans were alienated when he married Evie the day after her divorce from Wynn, while those who were aware of Johnson's sexual ambivalence wondered how genuine the marriage could be."
The Johnsons separated in 1961 and their especially bitter divorce was finalized in 1968. According to Eve Johnson, her marriage to Johnson had been engineered by MGM: "They needed their 'big star' to be married to quell rumours about his sexual preferences and unfortunately, I was 'It'—the only woman he would marry."
Van Johnson lived in a penthouse in the Sutton Place area of 54th Street on Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's East Side
East Side (Manhattan)
The East Side of Manhattan refers to the side of Manhattan Island which abuts the East River and faces Brooklyn and Queens. Fifth Avenue, Central Park, and lower Broadway separate it from the West Side....
until 2002, when he moved to Tappan Zee Manor, an assisted living facility in Nyack, New York
Nyack, New York
Nyack is a village in the towns of Orangetown and Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of South Nyack; east of Central Nyack; south of Upper Nyack and west of the Hudson River, approximately 19 miles north of the Manhattan boundary, it is an inner suburb of New...
. He died there of natural causes on December 12, 2008. He had been ill for the previous year and receiving hospice care. Wendy Bleisweiss, a close friend indicated he died of natural causes. His body was cremated.
Legacy
Johnson was never nominated for an Academy Award and during the height of his career, was noted mainly for his cheerful screen presence. Reflecting on his career after his death, one critic observed that Johnson was "capable of an Oscar-worthy performance, and that’s more than most movie stars can claim."The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
obituary noted: ""Van Johnson, a film actor whose affable charm and boyish good looks helped turn him into a major Hollywood star during World War II, died Friday in Nyack, N.Y. He was 92. His death, at the Tappan Zee Manor assisted living facility, was announced by a spokesman, Daniel Demello, of Shirley Herz Associates in New York."
Johnson was one of several people interviewed by Lucie Arnaz
Lucie Arnaz
Lucie Désirée Arnaz is an American actress, singer, dancer and producer. She is the daughter of actors Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and is the sister of actor Desi Arnaz, Jr..- Early life :...
for her biopic of her parents, Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
and Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz
Desi Arnaz was a Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer. While he gained international renown for leading a Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, he is probably best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the American TV series I Love Lucy, starring with Lucille Ball, to...
, "Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie" Other interviews included Carole Cook
Carole Cook
Carole Cook is an American actress. She has appeared in many theatrical productions, in films and on television.Born as Mildred Frances Cook, she was a protege of Lucille Ball. Ball gave her the stage name of "Carole", after her friend Carole Lombard because, Ball reportedly told Cook, "you have...
, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Fred Ball
Fred Ball
Frederick Henry Ball was an American movie studio executive, actor, brother of comedienne Lucille Ball.-Early life:...
and several others. For his contribution to the film industry
Film industry
The film industry consists of the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking: i.e. film production companies, film studios, cinematography, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post production, film festivals, distribution; and actors, film directors and other film crew...
, Johnson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6600 Hollywood Blvd.
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Too Many Girls | Chorus boy #41 | Uncredited |
| 1942 | Somewhere I'll Find You Somewhere I'll Find You Somewhere I'll Find You is a film released by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer in 1942. The film stars Clark Gable and Lana Turner. The film took almost two years to complete. This was the last film Gable starred in before he enlisted in World War II... |
Lieutenant Wade Hall | Uncredited |
| 1942 | Murder in the Big House | Bert Bell | |
| 1942 | Michael Fitzpatrick | ||
| 1942 | Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant | Dr. Randall 'Red' Adams | |
| 1943 | Marcus Macauley | ||
| 1943 | Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case | Dr. Randall 'Red' Adams | |
| 1943 | Pilot No. 5 Pilot no. 5 Pilot #5 is a 1943 propaganda war film starring Franchot Tone, Marsha Hunt, Gene Kellyand Van Johnson. It was directed by George Sidney.-Cast:*Franchot Tone as George Braynor Collins*Marsha Hunt as Freddie Andrews*Gene Kelly as Vito S... |
Everett Arnold | |
| 1943 | Madame Curie Madame Curie (film) Madame Curie is a 1943 biographical film made by MGM. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sidney Franklin from a screenplay by Paul Osborn, Paul H. Rameau, and Aldous Huxley , adapted from the biography by Eve Curie.... |
Reporter | |
| 1943 | Ted Randall | ||
| 1944 | Two Girls and a Sailor Two Girls and a Sailor Two Girls and a Sailor is a 1944 musical film about two singing sisters who are helped to set up a canteen to entertain soldiers by a mysterious wealthy admirer. It featured a host of celebrity performances, including Jimmy Durante doing his hallmark "Inka Dinka Doo", Gracie Allen, and Lena Horne... |
John Dyckman Brown III | |
| 1944 | Sam Bennett | ||
| 1944 | 3 Men in White | Dr. Randall 'Red' Ames | |
| 1944 | Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo Thirty Seconds over Tokyo Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a 1944 MGM war film. It is based on the true story of America's first retaliatory air strike against Japan four months after the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The movie was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sam Zimbalist. The screenplay by... |
Ted Lawson | |
| 1945 | Between Two Women | Dr. Randall 'Red' Adams | |
| 1945 | Week-End at the Waldorf Week-End at the Waldorf Week-End at the Waldorf is a 1945 American comedy drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. The screenplay by Samuel and Bella Spewack is based on Guy Bolton's adaptation of the Vicki Baum novel Menschen im Hotel, which was filmed as Grand Hotel in 1932.-Plot:The film focuses on various guests... |
Captain James Hollis | |
| 1945 | Thrill of a Romance Thrill of a Romance Thrill of a Romance was an American romance film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1945, starring Van Johnson, Esther Williams and Carleton G. Young, with musical performances by opera singer Lauritz Melchior... |
Major Thomas Milvaine | |
| 1946 | Till the Clouds Roll By Till the Clouds Roll By Till The Clouds Roll By is a 1946 American musical film made by MGM. The film is a fictionalized biography of composer Jerome Kern, who was originally involved with the production of the film, but died before it was completed... |
Bandleader in Elite Club | |
| 1946 | No Leave, No Love No Leave, No Love No Leave, No Love is a 1946 American musical film directed by Charles Martin and starring Van Johnson, Keenan Wynn and Patricia Kirkwood. A soldier returns with his pal from fighting in the Pacific during World War II only to discover his fiancee has married someone else... |
Sergeant Michael Hanlon | |
| 1946 | Easy to Wed Easy to Wed Easy to Wed is a 1946 American musical comedy film directed by Edward Buzzell. The screenplay by Dorothy Kingsley is an updated adaptation of the screenplay of the 1936 film Libeled Lady by Maurine Dallas Watkins, Howard Emmett Rogers, and George Oppenheimer.-Plot:Financier J.B... |
Bill Chandler | |
| 1947 | High Barbaree High Barbaree (film) High Barbaree is a 1947 film directed by Jack Conway. It stars Van Johnson and June Allyson.-Cast:*Van Johnson as Alec Brooke*June Allyson as Nancy Frazier*Thomas Mitchell as Capt. Thad Vail*Marilyn Maxwell as Diana Case... |
Alec Brooke | |
| 1947 | Henry Carson | ||
| 1948 | Greg Rawlings | ||
| 1948 | State of the Union State of the Union (film) State of the Union is a 1948 film adaptation written by Myles Connolly and Anthony Veiller of the Russel Crouse, Howard Lindsay play of the same name. Directed by Frank Capra and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, the film is Capra's first and only project for MGM Pictures... |
Spike McManus | Alternative title: The World and His Wife |
| 1948 | Command Decision Command Decision (film) Command Decision is a 1948 war film starring Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson and Brian Donlevy and directed by Sam Wood, based on a stage play of the same name written by William Wister Haines, which he based on his best-selling novel. The screenplay for the film was written by George... |
Technical Sergeant Immanuel T. Evans | |
| 1949 | Mother Is a Freshman Mother Is a Freshman Mother Is a Freshman is a 1949 comedy motion picture directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Loretta Young and Van Johnson.The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Costume Design.-Principal cast:*Loretta Young - Mrs... |
Professor Richard Michaels | Alternative title: Mother Knows Best |
| 1949 | Scene of the Crime Scene of the Crime (1949 film) Scene of the Crime is a 1949 film noir starring Van Johnson as a Los Angeles police detective.-Plot:Detective Mike Conovan investigates when a former partner is found murdered and carrying $1,000 in cash.... |
Mike Conovan | |
| 1949 | In the Good Old Summertime In the Good Old Summertime In the Good Old Summertime is a 1949 musical film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. It starred Judy Garland, Van Johnson and S.Z. Sakall.The film is a musical adaptation of the 1940 film, The Shop Around the Corner, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, and starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, and... |
Andrew Delby Larkin | |
| 1949 | Battleground | Holley | |
| 1950 | ' | David Muldon | |
| 1950 | Duchess of Idaho Duchess of Idaho Duchess of Idaho is a musical romantic comedy produced in 1950 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard, it was the fourth film pairing Esther Williams and Van Johnson... |
Dick Layne | |
| 1951 | Grounds for Marriage Grounds for Marriage Grounds for Marriage is a 1951 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. Written and produced by Samuel Marx, the film stars Van Johnson and Kathryn Grayson.-Plot:... |
Dr. Lincoln I. Bartlett | |
| 1951 | Three Guys Named Mike Three Guys Named Mike Three Guys Named Mike is a 1951 American black-and-white film by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Charles Walters.Described as a "lighthearted and lightweight story" by Turner Classic Movies, Three Guys Named Mike chronicles the story of a flight attendant and three men.-Production:The credits... |
Mike Lawrence | |
| 1951 | Go for Broke! Go for Broke! (1951 film) Go for Broke! is a 1951 war film directed by Robert Pirosh, produced by Dore Schary and starred Van Johnson, several veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Henry Nakamura.... |
Lieutenant Michael Grayson | |
| 1951 | Too Young to Kiss Too Young to Kiss Too Young to Kiss is a 1951 comedy film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring June Allyson. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction Too Young to Kiss is a 1951 comedy film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring June Allyson. It was nominated for an Academy Award for... |
Eric Wainwright | |
| 1952 | Invitation Invitation (film) Invitation is a 1952 melodrama starring Van Johnson and Dorothy McGuire as a happily married couple, until the wife learns a secret about her husband. The film was based on the short story "R.S.V.P." by Jerome Weidman.-Plot:... |
Daniel I. "Dan" Pierce | |
| 1952 | When in Rome When in Rome (1952 film) When in Rome is a film starring Van Johnson, Paul Douglas, and Joseph Calleia. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and was based on a story by Robert Buckner, Dorothy Kingsley, and Charles Schnee. When in Rome was one of the last films directed by famed MGM director Clarence Brown.-Plot... |
Father John X. Halligan | |
| 1952 | Plymouth Adventure Plymouth Adventure Plymouth Adventure is a 1952 drama film with an ensemble cast starring Spencer Tracy, Gene Tierney, Van Johnson and Leo Genn, made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Clarence Brown, and produced by Dore Schary... |
John Alden | |
| 1954 | LT Stephen Maryk, USNR | ||
| 1954 | Brigadoon Brigadoon (film) Brigadoon is a 1954 MGM musical feature film made in CinemaScope and Ansco Color based on the Broadway musical of the same name by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli and stars Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, and Cyd Charisse... |
Jeff Douglas | |
| 1954 | Charles Wills | ||
| 1955 | Maurice Bendrix | ||
| 1956 | 23 Paces to Baker Street 23 Paces to Baker Street 23 Paces to Baker Street is a 1956 American drama film released by 20th Century Fox. The Hitchcockian mystery thriller, filmed in Cinemascope on location in London, focuses on Philip Hannon, a blind playwright who overhears a partial conversation he believes is related to the planning of a kidnapping... |
Phillip Hannon | |
| 1956 | Miracle in the Rain Miracle in the Rain Miracle in the Rain is a novella by American writer Ben Hecht, published in The Saturday Evening Post bimonthly magazine on April 3, 1943 and adapted by him into a feature film released on March 31, 1956.-Film version:... |
Pvt 1st class Arthur Hugenon | |
| 1957 | Slander | Scott Ethan Martin | |
| 1957 | Action of the Tiger Action of the Tiger Action of the Tiger is a 1957 British-American action film distributed by MGM, directed by Terence Young, and starring Van Johnson and Martine Carol.... |
Carson | |
| 1959 | Web of Evidence Web of Evidence Web of Evidence is a 1959 British film based on the novel, Beyond This Place, by A. J. Cronin. It was directed by Jack Cardiff and stars Van Johnson and Vera Miles. The original title was kept for the film's European release, though it was given an alternate title for the American release... |
Paul Mathry | Alternative title: Beyond This Place |
| 1967 | Divorce American Style Divorce American Style Divorce American Style is a 1967 American satirical comedy film directed by Bud Yorkin.Norman Lear produced the film and wrote the script based on a story by Robert Kaufman... |
Al Yearling | |
| 1968 | Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows is a movie comedy starring Rosalind Russell and Stella Stevens. The film is a sequel to The Trouble with Angels and was written by Blanche Hanalis from a story by Jane Trahey, and directed by James Neilson.... |
Father Chase | |
| 1968 | Yours, Mine and Ours Yours, Mine and Ours (1968 film) For the remake of this film starring Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo see Yours, Mine and Ours Yours, Mine and Ours is a 1968 film, directed by Melville Shavelson and starring Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda and Van Johnson... |
Warrant Officer Darrel Harrison | |
| 1969 | ' | President James Garfield | Alternative titles: La muerte de un presidente Texas |
| 1971 | Eye of the Spider Eye of the Spider Eye of the Spider is a 1971 Italian crime film directed by Roberto Bianchi Montero and starring Klaus Kinski.-Cast:* Klaus Kinski - Hans Fischer* Antonio Sabato - Paul Valéry / Frank Vogel* Van Johnson - Prof. Orson Krüger* Lucretia Love - Gloria... |
Professor Orson Krüger | Alternative title: L'occhio del ragno |
| 1979 | Concorde Affaire '79 Concorde Affaire '79 Concorde Affaire '79 , also known as The Concorde Affair, is an Italian action thriller directed by Ruggero Deodato and was written by Ernesto Gastaldi and Renzo Genta.- Summary :... |
Captain Scott | |
| 1979 | From Corleone to Brooklyn From Corleone to Brooklyn From Corleone to Brooklyn is an Italian crime thriller directed by Umberto Lenzi. The film was released in Italy on April 13, 1979 and stars Maurizio Merli, Mario Merola and Van Johnson.... |
Lieutenant Sturges | Alternative titles: Da Corleone a Brooklyn The Sicilian Boss |
| 1980 | Vice President Ethan Richards | ||
| 1985 | Larry | ||
| 1992 | Clowning Around Clowning Around Clowning Around is an Australian family film that was shot on location in Perth, Western Australia and Paris, France.The film was produced by independent film company Barron Entertainment Films in Western Australia and educational film company WonderWorks in the United States, was directed by... |
Mr. Ranthow | |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | I Love Lucy I Love Lucy I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System... |
Himself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1957 | Pied Piper/Truson | Television special | |
| 1959 | Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961.-Overview:Zane Grey Theatre was created by Luke Short and Charles A. Wallace... |
Frank Gilette | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1960 | General Electric Theater General Electric Theater General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:... |
Jimmy Devlin | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1960 | Terry Tyler | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1965 | Ben Casey Ben Casey Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, *, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph... |
Frank Dawson | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1966 | Batman Batman (TV series) Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to... |
The Minstrel | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1967 | Charlie Snow | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1971 | Alonzo | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1971 | Charlie Webb | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1971 | Love, American Style Love, American Style Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974... |
Don | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1972 | Maude Maude (TV series) Maude was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 12, 1972 until April 22, 1978.Maude starred Beatrice Arthur as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, middle-aged, politically liberal woman living in suburban Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York with... |
Henry | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1974 | McCloud | Dan Kiley | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1974 | McMillan & Wife | Harry Jerome | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1976 | Rich Man, Poor Man Rich Man, Poor Man (TV miniseries) Rich Man, Poor Man was a 1976 American television miniseries that aired on ABC in one-hour episodes at 10:00pm ET/PT on Monday night for twelve weeks, beginning February 1. It was produced by Universal Television and was the second time programming of this nature had been attempted. The first TV... |
Marsh Goodwin | Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1976 | Rich Man, Poor Man Book II Rich Man, Poor Man Book II Rich Man, Poor Man Book II is an American television miniseries that aired on ABC in one-hour episodes at 9:00pm ET/PT on Tuesday nights between September 21, 1976 and March 8, 1977... |
Marsh Goodwin | Miniseries |
| 1977 | Quincy, M.E. Quincy, M.E. Quincy, M.E., also called Quincy, is a United States television series from Universal Studios that aired from October 3, 1976, to September 5, 1983, on NBC... |
Al Ringerman | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1982 | One Day at a Time One Day at a Time One Day at a Time is an American situation comedy on the CBS network that aired from December 16, 1975 until May 28, 1984. It portrays Ann Romano, a divorced mother, played by Bonnie Franklin, her two teenage daughters Julie and Barbara Cooper and Schneider, their building superintendent .The show... |
Gus Webster | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1983 | Tales of the Unexpected Tales of the Unexpected (TV series) Tales of the Unexpected is a British television series originally aired between 1979 and 1988, made by Anglia Television for ITV. Filming began in 1978.The series was an anthology of different tales... |
Gerry T. Armstrong | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1984 | Murder, She Wrote | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 1988 | Art Bellasco | TV series, 1 episode | |