VAN JOHNSON BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Van Johnson was born on August 25th, 1916 in Newport, Rhode Island with the birth name Charles Van Dell Johnson.  His father worked as a plumber and real estate agent and his family was of Swedish decent.  He grew up an only child and not a very happy childhood.  His father was not very involved in his life and his mother abandoned him when he was only three years old to deal with her addiction to alcohol.  His grandmother played a big role in raising him and he became very interested in movies and the entertainment world at a young age.

Johnson took up singing, dancing and violin lessons while in High School and instead of following his fathers goals for him to become a lawyer, directly after he graduated from High School, he moved to New York in pursuit of a career as an actor.

He began with finding employment with chorus lines in revues at hotels and small production shows.  He made his Broadway debut in 1936 on, "New Faces of 1936" and also worked in a vaudeville club act. in October 1939, he was working as an understudy when he got to replace one of the male actors in the production of, "Too Many Girls".  He then got offered another Broadway role on, "Pal Joey" (1940) in which directly afterwards, Warner Brothers offered him a six month contract.

His first film with Warner Brothers was in, "Murder in the Big House" (1942) but sadly, directly after the film released he was dropped from his contract as Warner Brothers felt he lacked decent acting skills.  His friend Amaz was married to Lucille Ball whom introduced Johnson to Billy Grady with MGM.  After a successful screen test, Johnson was given another chance.  Under MGM he worked on such films as, "Somewhere I'll Find You" (1942), "The War Against Mrs. Hadley" (1942) and "The Human Comedy" (1943).

When filming his next role, "Guy Named Joe" (1943), Johnson was in a very bad car accident and had to have a metal plate interested into his skull.  It was his fellow actors that convinced MGM to keep him in the film, and the film ended up being a huge success and the big start to his career.  Since he was unable to serve in World War II after the accident, while many popular actors were off serving their country, Johnson was getting more and more film offers. 

He did a variety of musicals for MGM and with his good looks, charming manner boy next door appeal he was becoming quite popular.  Some of his work during the 1940's were on such films as, "Two Girls and a Sailor" (1944), "Easy to Wed" (1946) and "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" (1944).

When some of the top actors returned from the war, Johnson remained working as an actor, but the lead roles that he had been fulfilling were being offered to higher well known actors such as Clark Gable, James Stewart and Robert Taylor.  He did however work on a couple more films that did reach a decent level of success such as, "State of the Union" (1948), "Battle Ground" (1949), "Brigadoon" (1954) and "The Caine Mutiny" (1954).   

By the mid 1950's his career was beginning to slow down and MGM dropped his contract.  Johnson remained in the acting industry as a freelance actor on such films as, "Miracle in the Rain" (1956), "The Bottom of the Bottle" (1956) and "Web of Evidence" (1959). 

With film roles declining into the 1960's, Johnson returned back to musical theater, stage productions and even working as a nightclub performer.  He had never really tried working in television so in the 1970's he decided to take his career in that direction.  He even earned an Emmy nomination for his role on the mini-series, "Rich Man, Poor Man" (1976).  The rest of his career was primarily spent working on stage and a couple films done overseas.

Van Johnson married once only to Evie Wynn Johnson from January 25th, 1947 through May 3rd 1968 having one daughter together, Schuyler born in 1948.  The marriage however was never very stable and Johnson and his wife's marriage was always in the tabloids. 

On December 12th, 2008, Van Johnson passed away in Nyack, New York from natural causes.      
 
 
 
Filmography

1992   Three Days to a Kill 
1992   Clowning Around 
1990   Delta Force Commando II: Priority Red One 
1984-1990  Murder, She Wrote
1990   Flight from Paradise 
1989   Killer Crocodile 
1988   Alfred Hitchcock Presents 
1988   Taxi Killer 
1986   Down There in the Jungle 
1985   The Purple Rose of Cairo
1984   The President of Love
1984   Glitter 
1983   Tales of the Unexpected
1983   Fantasy Island
1983   The Forgotten Story
1982   The Scorpion with Two Tails
1978-1982  The Love Boat
1982   One Day at a Time
1981   Aloha Paradise
1980   The Kidnapping of the President 
1979   Da Corleone a Brooklyn 
1979   Concorde Affaire '79
1978   Getting Married 
1978   Black Beauty
1978   Superdome
1977   Quincy M.E.
1976   Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II  
1976   Rich Man, Poor Man 
1974   McMillan & Wife
1974   The Girl on the Late, Late Show
1974   McCloud
1973   Wheeler and Murdoch
1972   Maude 
1972   Man in the Middle
1972   Call Her Mom 
1971   Love, American Style
1971   L'occhio del ragno 
1970-1971  The Doris Day Show 
1971   Company of Killers
1971   The Virginian
1971   Nanny and the Professor 
1968-1970  The Red Skelton Hour 
1970   San Francisco International Airport
1968-1970  The Name of the Game
1969   The Price of Power
1969   Eagles Over London
1968   Yours, Mine and Ours  
1968   Where Angels Go Trouble Follows!
1967   The Danny Thomas Hour  
1967   Divorce American Style 
1966   The Doomsday Flight
1966   Batman 
1965   Ben Casey
1964   American in Paris 
1963   Wives and Lovers 
1960   The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1960   The Ann Sothern Show 
1960   The Enemy General 
1960   G.E. True Theater
1959   Subway in the Sky
1959   Web of Evidence 
1959   Zane Grey Theater
1959   The Last Blitzkrieg
1957   The Pied Piper of Hamelin
1957   Action of the Tiger 
1957   Kelly and Me 
1957   Slander  
1956   23 Paces to Baker Street 
1956   Miracle in the Rain  
1956   The Bottom of the Bottle
1955   The End of the Affair
1954   The Last Time I Saw Paris
1954   Brigadoon  
1954   The Caine Mutiny
1954   Men of the Fighting Lady 
1954   Siege at Red River
1953   Easy to Love  
1953   Remains to Be Seen 
1953   Confidentially Connie 
1952   Plymouth Adventure 
1952   Washington Story 
1952   When in Rome
1952   Invitation
1952   The Greatest Show on Earth
1951   Too Young to Kiss
1951   It's a Big Country
1951   Go for Broke! 
1951   Three Guys Named Mike  
1951   Grounds for Marriage 
1950   Duchess of Idaho  
1950   The Big Hangover 
1949   Battleground 
1949   In the Good Old Summertime 
1949   Scene of the Crime 
1949   Mother Is a Freshman  
1948   Command Decision 
1948   State of the Union 
1948   The Bride Goes Wild 
1947   The Romance of Rosy Ridge 
1947   High Barbaree 
1946   Till the Clouds Roll By 
1946   No Leave, No Love
1946   Easy to Wed 
1945   Week-End at the Waldorf
1945   Ziegfeld Follies  
1945   Thrill of a Romance 
1945   Between Two Women
1944   Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo 
1944   3 Men in White
1944   The White Cliffs of Dover 
1944   Two Girls and a Sailor
1943   A Guy Named Joe 
1943   Madame Curie 
1943   Pilot #5 
1943   Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case 
1943   The Human Comedy 
1942   Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant
1942   Somewhere I'll Find You  
1942   The War Against Mrs. Hadley  
1942   For the Common Defense!
1942   Murder in the Big House 
1942   Personalities 
1940   Too Many Girls