People named Van Johnson

Van Johnson Biography Born August 25, 1916 in Newport, Rhode Island, USA Died December 12, 2008 in Nyack, New York, USA (natural causes) Birth Name Charles Van Dell Johnson Nicknames King of Dinner Theater The Voiceless Sinatra Height 6' 1" (1.85 m) Van Johnson was the well-mannered nice guy on screen you wanted your daughter to marry. This fair, freckled and invariably friendly-looking MGM song-and-dance star of the 40s emerged a box office favorite (1944-1946) and second only to heartthrob Frank Sinatra during what gossipmonger Hedda Hopper dubbed the "Bobby-Soxer Blitz" era. Johnson's musical timing proved just as adroit as his career timing for he was able to court WWII stardom as a regimented MGM symbol of the war effort with an impressive parade of earnest soldiers. He may have been a second tier musical star behind the likes of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, but his easy smile, wholesome, boy-next-door appeal and strawberry-blond good looks earned him a solid shot at box-office stardom while the big boys (i.e., MGM stars) were off to war. When they returned, Johnson amiably relinquished his "golden boy" pedestal, but his popularity did not wane. In retrospect, his dramatic talent seemed overly scrutinized...for he was very capable. Besides, he worked another three decades on stage, screen and TV...and always as a star. Johnson was born Charles Van Dell Johnson in Newport, Rhode Island, the only child of Loretta (Snyder) and Charles E. Johnson. His paternal grandparents were Swedish, and his mother was of German, and a small amount of Irish, ancestry. Johnson endured a lonely and unhappy childhood as the sole offspring of an extremely aloof father (who was both a plumber and real estate agent by trade) and an absentee mother (she abandoned the family when he was three, the victim of alcoholism). A paternal grandmother helped in raising the young lad. Happier times were spent drifting into the fantasy world of movies, and he developed an ardent passion to entertain. Taking singing, dancing and violin lessons during his high school years, he disregarded his father's wish to become a lawyer and instead left home following graduation to try his luck in New York. Early experiences included chorus lines in revues, at hotels and in various small shows around town. A couple of minor breaks occurred with his 40-week stint in the "New Faces of 1936" revue (making his Broadway debut) and in a vaudeville club act (based around star Mary Martin) called "Eight Young Men of Manhattan" that played the Rainbow Room. He served as understudy to the three male leads of Rodgers and Hart's popular musical "Too Many Girls" in October of 1939 and eventually replaced one of them (actor Richard Kollmar left the show to marry reporter Dorothy Kilgallen.) He also formed a lifelong and career-igniting friendship with one of the other leads, Desi Arnaz. Johnson made an inauspicious film debut with Arnaz in Too Many Girls (1940) when the musical was eventually lensed in Hollywood, but he was cast in a scant chorus boy part. Following a stint on Broadway in "Pal Joey" in 1940, Warner Bros. signed Van to a six-month contract. He went on to co-star with Faye Emerson in Murder in the Big House (1942), but they dropped him quickly feeling that his acting chops were lacking. It was Arnaz's wife Lucille Ball, who had recently signed with MGM, who introduced Van to Billy Grady, MGM's casting head, and instigated a successful screen test. With the studio's top male talent off to war, Van served as an earnest substitute donning fatigues in such stalwart movies as Somewhere I'll Find You (1942) The War Against Mrs. Hadley (1942) and The Human Comedy (1943). Van also replaced actor/war pacifist Lew Ayres in the "Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie" film series after Ayres was unceremoniously dumped by the studio for his unpopular beliefs. Stardom came, and at quite a price, for Van when he was cast yet again as a wholesome serviceman in A Guy Named Joe (1943). During the early part of filming, he was severely injured in a near-fatal car crash (he had a metal plate inserted in his skull, which instantly gave him a 4-F disqualification status for war service). Endangered of being replaced on the film, the two stars of the picture, Spencer Tracy (who became another lifelong friend) and Irene Dunne, insisted that the studio work around his convalescence or they would quit the film. The unusually kind gesture made Van a star following the film's popular release and resulting publicity. Van's career soared during the war years. His boyish charm and fair, attractive features made him the resident heartthrob and he rode on a crest of popularity not only in musicals (Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), Easy to Wed (1946)), but in airy comedies (Week-End at the Waldorf (1945)) and, of course, more war stories (Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)). When the big stars such as Clark Gable, James Stewart and Robert Taylor returned to reclaim post-war stardom, Van willingly resigned himself to second dramatic leads, but he remained a high profile musical star opposite the likes of June Allyson, Esther Williams and Judy Garland. He continued to demonstrate his dramatic skills in such well-regarded films as Command Decision (1948), State of the Union (1948), Battleground (1949), Brigadoon (1954) and The Caine Mutiny (1954). MGM's "golden age" phased out by the mid-1950s and, with it, Van's strong film career took a sharp decline. The studio released him after he co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor in The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954). While he continued to freelance and show strength in other pictures such as the English-made The End of the Affair (1955) with Deborah Kerr; Miracle in the Rain (1956) opposite Jane Wyman, The Bottom of the Bottle (1956) with Joseph Cotten, 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956) co-starring Vera Miles, Kelly and Me (1956) partnered with a dog, and Web of Evidence (1959), the bloom was falling off the rose. In the late 50s and early 1960s Van again capitalized on his musical talents by reinventing himself as a nightclub performer and musical stage star. He made a wonderful Harold Hill in several productions of "The Music Man" and graced a number of musical and light comedy vehicles on the regional and dinner theater circuits, including "Damn Yankees," "Guys and Dolls," "Bells Are Ringing," "On a Clear Day...," "Forty Carats," "Bye Bye Birdie," "There's a Girl in My Soup" and "I Do! I Do!" He never delved heavily into TV until the 1970s and then appeared on a number of shows, earning an Emmy nomination for his participation in the mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man (1976). In later years, he grew larger in girth but still continued to work. He earned respectable reviews after replacing Gene Barry as Georges in the smash gay musical "La Cage Aux Folles" in 1985. His last musical role was as Cap' Andy in "Show Boat" in 1991, and his last several movies were primarily filmed overseas in Italy and Australia. Van was married only once but it was constantly dissected under a microscope by the tabloids as well as the public. The marriage ended quite bitterly. Typically in the closet as a high-ranking actor of the 1940s, he was extremely close friends to MGM actor Keenan Wynn and his wife. However, Van wound up marrying Wynn's ex-wife, one-time stage actress Eve Abbott, right after the Wynns divorced (within four hours) in 1947. To an unsuspecting public, this seemed quite heartless of Van and Van's popularity suffered in its aftermath. In the meantime the tabloids continued to throw out innuendos that it was a studio-arranged "marriage". Whatever the intention, Van and Eve did have daughter Schuyler in 1948, and were a popular Hollywood couple before separating in 1962, after fifteen years of marriage. The marriage lingered on for another six acrimonious years before the final divorce decree. Van never married again and in later years Eve "spilled the beans" in a very bitter account of their marriage, which she admitted she went along with but maintained that it was an MGM-staged sham set up by Louis B. Mayer. Sadly, Van was estranged from his daughter Schuyler at the time of his death at age 92 at a senior living facility in Nyack, New York. In declining health, the popular actor had been residing there for several years. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / [contact link]

Van Dwayne Johnson of Normangee, Leon County, Texas was born on September 15, 1955, and died at age 51 years old on April 17, 2007.

Van Gene Johnson of Texas was born on January 21, 1952, and died at age 57 years old on June 18, 2009.

Van Johnson of Dallas, Dallas County, Texas was born on June 12, 1948, and died at age 57 years old on March 1, 2006.

Van E Johnson of Cullman, Cullman County, AL was born on January 14, 1920, and died at age 78 years old on April 28, 1998.

Van B Johnson of Hendersonville, Henderson County, North Carolina was born on February 5, 1917, and died at age 66 years old in November 1983.

Van M Johnson of Washington, District of Columbia County, Maryland was born on June 10, 1909, and died at age 71 years old in December 1980.

Van Dyke L Johnson of Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, MD was born on July 8, 1918, and died at age 85 years old on September 16, 2003.

Van Thi Johnson of San Diego, San Diego County, California was born on September 1, 1934, and died at age 73 years old on April 18, 2008. Van Johnson was buried at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery Section CBI Row 1 Site 88 P.o. Box 6237, in San Diego.

Van Leon Johnson Sr of Cairo, Alexander County, IL was born on August 22, 1918, and died at age 87 years old on January 21, 2006. Van Johnson was buried at Mound City National Cemetery - Il Section B Site 120 Junction - Highway 37 & 51, in Mound City.

Van David Johnson of Pensacola, Escambia County, FL was born on September 22, 1921, and died at age 64 years old on August 30, 1986. Van Johnson was buried at Barrancas National Cemetery Section 35 Site 1666 Naval Air Station, 1 Cemetery Road, in Pensacola.

Van Lear Johnson was born on January 10, 1918, and died at age 77 years old on January 27, 1995. Van Johnson was buried at Rocky Gap Veterans Cemetery Section I-4 Row 10 Site 10 14205 Pleasant Valley Road, Ne, in Flintstone, Md. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Van Lear Johnson.

Van Gregory Johnson Sr of Bunnell, Flagler County, FL was born on July 29, 1950, and died at age 55 years old on October 9, 2005. Van Johnson was buried at Crownsville Veterans Cemetery Section 6C1 Row 8 Site 25 1122 Sunrise Beach Road, in Crownsville, Md.

Van Anthony Johnson of Miami, Miami-Dade County, FL was born on August 16, 1956, and died at age 51 years old on April 26, 2008. Van Johnson was buried at South Florida National Cemetery Section 35 Site 793 6501 S. State Road 7, in Lake Worth.

Van Johnson was born on June 12, 1948, and died at age 57 years old on March 7, 2006. Van Johnson was buried at Dallas - Ft. Worth National Cemetery Section 77 Site 826 2000 Mountain Creek Pkwy, in Dallas, Tx. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Van Johnson.

Van Mc Kinley Johnson was born on July 26, 1952, and died at age 50 years old on June 26, 2003. Van Johnson was buried at Philadelphia National Cemetery Section T Site 105 Haines Street & Limekiln Pike, in Philadelphia, Pa. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Van Mc Kinley Johnson.

Van E Johnson was born on May 23, 1953, and died at age 49 years old on January 6, 2003. Van Johnson was buried at Quantico National Cemetery Section 18 Site 387 18424 Joplin Road (route 619), in Triangle, Va. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Van E Johnson.

Van Johnson was born on November 21, 1912, and died at age 42 years old on February 10, 1955. Van Johnson was buried at Beverly National Cemetery Section P Site 749 916 Bridgeboro Road - Bridgeboro Road, in Beverly, Nj. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Van Johnson.

Van T Johnson was born on March 11, 1902, and died at age 74 years old on October 19, 1976. Van Johnson was buried at Mountain Home National Cemetery Section PP Site 69 P.o. Box 8 - Va Medical Center, in Johnson City, Tn. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Van T Johnson.

Van Allen Johnson was born on August 15, 1945, and died at age 61 years old on March 14, 2007. Van Johnson was buried at Ft. Custer National Cemetery Section H Site 729 15501 Dickman Road - No. Entrance Svc Maintenance Bldg, in Augusta, Mi. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Van Allen Johnson.

Van Johnson was born on November 30, 1928, and died at age 57 years old in April 1986. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Van Johnson.

Van B Johnson of Marion, McDowell County, NC was born on May 25, 1925, and died at age 70 years old on February 23, 1996.

Van Johnson was born on December 10, 1979, and died at age 28 years old on September 24, 2008. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Van Johnson.

Van E Johnson of Washington, District of Columbia County, DC was born on May 23, 1953, and died at age 49 years old on January 6, 2003.

Van Johnson was born on November 12, 1949, and died at age 52 years old on February 20, 2002. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Van Johnson.

Van Johnson was born on December 7, 1945, and died at age 28 years old in September 1974. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Van Johnson.

Van N Johnson was born on June 13, 1962, and died at age 42 years old on February 8, 2005. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Van N Johnson.

Van R Johnson was born on July 29, 1950, and died at age 47 years old on March 9, 1998. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Van R Johnson.

Van Johnson of Shelton, Mason County, Washington was born on May 8, 1911, and died at age 63 years old in June 1974.