Van Johnson

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Birth name Charles Van Johnson
Nationality USA
Birth 25 august 1916 at Newport (USA)
Death 12 december 2008 (at 92 years) at Nyack (USA)

Van Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, A Guy Named Joe and The Human Comedy. 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 idols of Hollywood's "golden age."

Biography

Johnson married former stage actress Eve Abbott (6 May 1914 – 10 October 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 had two stepsons, Edmond Keenan (Ned) and Tracy Keenan Wynn. The Johnsons separated in 1961 and their divorce was finalized in 1968. According to a statement by his ex-wife that was first published after his death at age 92, their marriage had been engineered by MGM: "They needed their 'big star' to be married to quell rumors about his sexual preferences and unfortunately, I was 'It'—the only woman he would marry." Johnson's biographer, Ronald L. Davis, has written that the actor's homosexual proclivities were well known within the film industry, but that these were covered up due to a general regard for the privacy of a fellow performer and studio executive Louis B. Mayer's efforts to quash any scandal.

In contrast to his "cheery Van" screen image, Johnson was reputed by his ex-wife to be morose and moody because of his difficult early life. She reported that 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.

Best films

Battleground

(1949)
(Actor)

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo

(1944)
(Actor)

Plymouth Adventure

(1952)
(Actor)

Usually with

Cedric Gibbons
(31 films)

Leon Ames
(10 films)

Warren Newcombe
(9 films)

June Allyson
(8 films)

Buster Keaton
(4 films)

Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Van Johnson (86 films)

Display filmography as detailed form

Year	Name	Job	Roles
2009	The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka	Actor
1991	Clowning Around	Actor	Mr. Ranthow
1990	Flight from Paradise	Actor	Erzähler
1989	Killer Crocodile	Actor	Judge
1985	The Purple Rose of Cairo	Actor	Larry
1982	Scorpion with Two Tails	Actor	Mulligan - Joan's father
1982	Scorpion with Two Tails	Actor	Mulligan - Joan's father
1980	The Kidnapping of the President	Actor	Vice President Ethan Richards
1979	Concorde Affair	Actor	Captain Scott
1979	From Corleone to Brooklyn	Actor	Lieutenant Sturges
1978	Getting Married	Actor	Phil Lawrence
1978	Superdome	Actor	Chip Green
1976	Rich Man, Poor Man (TV miniseries)	Actor	Marsh Goodwin
1974	That's Entertainment!	Actor	(archive footage)
1972	Man in the Middle	Actor
1971	Eye of the Spider	Actor	Prof. Orson Krüger
1969	Eagles Over London	Actor	Air Marshal George Taylor
1969	The Price of Power	Actor	President James A. Garfield
1968	Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows	Actor	Father Chase: The 'In' Group
1968	Yours, Mine and Ours	Actor	Darrel Harrison
1967	Divorce American Style	Actor	Al Yearling
1966	The Doomsday Flight	Actor	Capt. Anderson
1963	Wives and Lovers	Actor	Bill Austin
1963	Hollywood Without Make-Up	Actor	Self (archive footage)
1959	Subway in the Sky	Actor	Major Baxter Grant
1959	Web of Evidence	Actor	Paul Mathry
1959	The Last Blitzkrieg	Actor	Hans Von Kroner / Leonard Richardson
1957	Action of the Tiger	Actor	Carson
1957	The Pied Piper of Hamelin	Actor	Pied Piper / Truson
1957	Slander	Actor	Scott Ethan Martin
1957	Kelly and Me	Actor	Len Carmody
1956	23 Paces to Baker Street	Actor	Phillip Hannon
1956	The Bottom of the Bottle	Actor	Donald Martin / Eric Bell
1956	Miracle in the Rain	Actor	Pvt. Arthur 'Art' Hugenon
1955	The End of the Affair	Actor	Maurice Bendrix
1954	Brigadoon	Actor	Jeff Douglas
1954	The Last Time I Saw Paris	Actor	Charles Wills
1954	The Caine Mutiny	Actor	Lt. Stephen Maryk
1954	Men of the Fighting Lady	Actor	Lt. Thayer
1954	The Siege at Red River	Actor	Capt. James S. Simmons / Jim Farraday
1953	Easy to Love	Actor	Ray Lloyd
1953	Confidentially Connie	Actor	Joe Bedloe
1953	Remains to Be Seen	Actor	Waldo Williams
1952	Plymouth Adventure	Actor	John Alden
1952	The Greatest Show on Earth	Actor
1952	Invitation	Actor	Dan Pierce
1952	When in Rome	Actor	Father John X. Halligan
1952	Washington Story	Actor	Joseph T. Gresham
1951	It's a Big Country	Actor	Rev. Adam Burch
1951	Go for Broke!	Actor	Lt. Michael Grayson
1951	Grounds for Marriage	Actor	Dr. Lincoln I. Bartlett
1951	Too Young to Kiss	Actor	Eric Wainwright
1951	Three Guys Named Mike	Actor	Michael Lawrence
1950	The Big Hangover	Actor	David Maldon
1950	Duchess of Idaho	Actor	Dick Layne
1950	The Big Hangover	Actor	David Maldon
1949	In the Good Old Summertime	Actor	Andrew Delby Larkin
1949	Battleground	Actor	Holley
1949	Mother Is a Freshman	Actor	Professor Richard Michaels
1949	Scene of the Crime	Actor	Mike Conovan
1948	State of the Union	Actor	Spike McManus
1948	Command Decision	Actor	Technical Sergeant Immanuel T. Evans
1948	The Bride Goes Wild	Actor	Greg Rawlings
1947	High Barbaree	Actor	Alec Brooke
1947	The Romance of Rosy Ridge	Actor	Henry Carson
1946	Easy to Wed	Actor	William "Bill" Stevens Chandler
1946	Till the Clouds Roll By	Actor	Bandleader in Elite Club
1946	No Leave, No Love	Actor	Michael Hanlon
1945	Thrill of a Romance	Actor	Thomas Milvaine
1945	Week-End at the Waldorf	Actor	James Hollis
1945	Between Two Women	Actor	Dr. Randall Adams
1944	Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo	Actor	Ted Lawson
1944	Madame Curie	Actor	Reporter
1944	A Guy Named Joe	Actor	Ted Randall
1944	The White Cliffs of Dover	Actor	Sam Bennett
1944	Two Girls and a Sailor	Actor	John Dyckman Brown III
1944	3 Men in White	Actor	Dr. Randall Adams
1944	3 Men in White	Actor	Dr. Randall Adams
1943	The Human Comedy	Actor	Marcus Macauley
1943	Pilot #5	Actor	Everett Arnold
1943	Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case	Actor	Dr. Randall Adams
1942	Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant	Actor	Dr. Randall Adams
1942	Somewhere I'll Find You	Actor	Wade Hall
1942	The War Against Mrs. Hadley	Actor	Michael Fitzpatrick
1942	Murder in the Big House	Actor	Bert Bell
1940	Too Many Girls	Actor	Chorus Boy