Van Johnson Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family
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 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 Thirty 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 idols of Hollywood's "golden age."
Full Name
Van Johnson
Net Worth
$250,000
Date Of Birth
August 25, 1916
Died
December 12, 2008, Nyack, New York, United States
Place Of Birth
Newport, Rhode Island, USA
Height
1.85 m
Occupation
Actor, dancer, singer
Profession
Actor, Singer, Dancer
Education
Rogers High School
Nationality
American
Spouse
Evie Wynn Johnson
Children
Schuyler Johnson
Parents
Loretta Snyder, Charles E. Johnson
Nicknames
Van Johnson, Johnson, Van
IMDB
Movies
The Last Time I Saw Paris, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, The Caine Mutiny, Brigadoon, In the Good Old Summertime, A Guy Named Joe, Battleground, Two Girls and a Sailor, Go for Broke!, State of the Union, Yours, Mine and Ours, The Purple Rose of Cairo, The Human Comedy, Easy to Wed, Till the Clouds Roll...
TV Shows
MGM: When the Lion Roars
Star Sign
Virgo
#
Trademark
1
Always wears red socks
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Quote
1
[on Joan Crawford and the book "Mommie Dearest"]: Some people said that Joan was better off being dead when Mommie Dearest came out, because it would have broken her heart, and this way she was spared all that pain. I'm not one of those people. I totally disagree. They didn't know Joan. I wish the book had never happened. But if it had happened when Joan was still alive, and not too sick, I know her well enough to know she would have fought back, in her way. She had a quiet strength, but she was strong, and she was determined. Nothing wishy-washy about her. I think if she could have, Joan would have protected her life and her body of work against that viper she had taken to her bosom.
2
I never turned down anybody for an autograph. I think it's up to the fans; it's up to the public. No amount of photoplay magazines or layouts puts you over the public unless the public buys you.
3
[on the vast number of soldiers he played on film during World War II] By war's end, I'd been in every branch of the service, all at MGM.
4
I am the luckiest guy in the world. All my dreams came true. I was in a wonderful business, and I met great people all over the world.
5
[MGM] was one big happy family and a little kingdom. 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.
6
[on Audrey Hepburn] She's a lady. When she participates in the Academy Awards, she makes all those starlets look like tramps. Thank you for your class, Audrey, you're quite a lady. If anyone said anything derogatory about her, I'd push them in the river.
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Fact
1
Referenced in the second episode of American Horror Story (2011). Jessica Lange's character says that her husband looked like Van Johnson.
2
Van is referenced in the song "Prehistoric Man" from the musical On the Town (1949).
3
His mother, Loretta (Snyder) Johnson, was born February 5, 1893, in Tremont, Pennsylvania. She died January 1978 in Palo Alto, California.
4
His bobbysoxer popularity was such that he was nicknamed "The Voiceless Sinatra".
5
Was stagestruck himself and was often found with an autograph book in his hand.
6
Lucille Ball was good friends with him for decades. Van guest-starred on her classic television show on one of her "trip to Hollywood" episodes where they dueted on the song "How About You?". Ball later insisted he take a prime role in her film Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) with Henry Fonda.
7
Was once considered for the lead role on the television series The Untouchables (1959) but turned it down. Robert Stack became a television star as a result.
8
While on the nightclub act tour in 1963, he was forced to stop after having to undergo operations for skin cancer on his left thigh. A second operation to remove a lymph gland was successful in curbing the disease.
9
It was Rosalind Russell who helped him overcome his fear of live audiences after goading him into performing in nightclubs. He made his Las Vegas debut in the 1950s.
10
His father was a plumber and later real estate salesman. His mother was a homemaker and had been a dietitian at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
11
Parents were Loretta (Snyder) and Charles E. Johnson.
12
His mother, Loretta Neumann was an alcoholic who abandoned him as a child. In November 1954, she resurfaced and sued him for nine hundred dollars monthly support. He fought back, saying she did not help raise him so, although he was willing to give her money, she was not entitled to court-ordered support. It was eventually settled out of court and he agreed to pay her four hundred dollars a month.
Has one daughter: Schuyler V. Johnson (born January 6, 1948).
15
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6600 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.
16
The scars from the injury received in a car crash described in his biography are very evident in The Caine Mutiny (1954).
17
His wife, Eve, was first married to Keenan Wynn. She married Johnson on the very day of her divorce from Wynn, only four hours after that divorce was finalized. Johnson had spent more a month recuperating from his near-fatal car accident at the Wynn's home (Keenan was his best friend) during his recovery and word got back to Louis B. Mayer that sparks had flown. The film mogul saw this relationship as a way to dispel rumors circulating about Johnson's sexuality. Despite Mayer's earlier attempts at matchmaking (he would arranged dates with Gloria DeHaven, June Allyson and even Sonja Henie without making a love connection) only Evie Wynn appealed to him. Although they were genuinely in love, Mayer cemented the deal by providing unusual career concessions for Keenan: a better contract, no standard 12-week layoffs, and better roles... all areas that would benefit her and her children. He later left her for her male tennis instructor according to her son, Ned Wynn.
18
After Van Heflin turned down the role of Elliot Ness on The Untouchables (1959) it was offered to Johnson. He turned it down as well.
He was driving to a special screening of Keeper of the Flame (1942) when he was involved in the road accident that left him with a metal plate in his forehead.
21
He was Gene Kelly's understudy in the Broadway production of "Pal Joey".
22
He made his Broadway debut in 1936 in "New Faces of 1936", (an annual revue that had also introduced Imogene Coca and Henry Fonda in 1934). Van would appear in a total of seven Broadway shows to date, including the original cast production of "Pal Joey" in 1940-41 and last appearing in "La Cage aux Folles" in 1987.
Daniel Hannigan / Elliot Robinson / Daniel O'Brien
Delta Force Commando II: Priority Red One
1990
Gen. McCailland
Flight from Paradise
1990
Old Narrator
Killer Crocodile
1989
Judge
Coming of Age
1989
TV Series
Red Pepper
Taxi Killer
1988
Capt.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1988
TV Series
Art Bellasco
Down There in the Jungle
1988
The Purple Rose of Cairo
1985
Larry Wilde
The President of Love
1984
TV Movie
P. Lazlo Plum
Glitter
1984
TV Series
Mark Hughes
Tales of the Unexpected
1983
TV Series
Gerry T. Armstrong
Fantasy Island
1983
TV Series
Charles Woodruff
The Forgotten Story
1983
TV Series
Perry
The Scorpion with Two Tails
1982
Mulligan - Joan's father
The Love Boat
1978-1982
TV Series
Victor Moncrief / Bert Wilder
One Day at a Time
1982
TV Series
Gus Webster
Aloha Paradise
1981
TV Series
The Kidnapping of the President
1980
Vice President Ethan Richards
Da Corleone a Brooklyn
1979
Sturges
Concorde Affaire '79
1979
Captain Scott
Getting Married
1978
TV Movie
Phil Lawrence
Black Beauty
1978
TV Mini-Series
Horace Tompkins
Superdome
1978
TV Movie
Chip Green
Quincy M.E.
1977
TV Series
Al Ringerman
Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II
1976
TV Series
Marsh Goodwin
Rich Man, Poor Man
1976
TV Mini-Series
Marsh Goodwin
McMillan & Wife
1974
TV Series
Harry Jerome
The Girl on the Late, Late Show
1974
TV Movie
Johnny Leverett
McCloud
1974
TV Series
Dan Kiley
Maude
1972
TV Series
Henry
Man in the Middle
1972
TV Movie
Wheeler and Murdoch
1972
TV Movie
Buddy Shore
Call Her Mom
1972
TV Movie
President Chester Hardgrove
Love, American Style
1971
TV Series
Don (segment 'Love and the House Bachelor')
L'occhio del ragno
1971
Prof. Orson Krüger
The Doris Day Show
1970-1971
TV Series
Charlie Webb
Company of Killers
1971
TV Movie
Sam Cahill
The Virginian
1971
TV Series
Alonzo Worth
Nanny and the Professor
1971
TV Series
Uncle Bob Everett
The Red Skelton Hour
1968-1970
TV Series
Harry Haynes / Movie Director
San Francisco International Airport
1970
TV Series
Lester Scott
The Name of the Game
1968-1970
TV Series
Jack Newell / Sullivan
The Price of Power
1969
President James Garfield
Eagles Over London
1969
Air Marshal George Taylor
Yours, Mine and Ours
1968
Warrant Officer Darrel Harrison
Where Angels Go Trouble Follows!
1968
Father Chase: The 'In' Group
The Danny Thomas Hour
1967
TV Series
Charlie Snow
Divorce American Style
1967
Al Yearling
The Doomsday Flight
1966
TV Movie
Capt. Anderson
Batman
1966
TV Series
The Minstrel
Ben Casey
1965
TV Series
Frank Dawson
American in Paris
1964
TV Movie
James Devlin
Wives and Lovers
1963
Bill Austin
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1960
TV Series
Joe Robertson
The Ann Sothern Show
1960
TV Series
Terry Tyler
The Enemy General
1960
Allan Lemaire
General Electric Theater
1960
TV Series
Jimmy Devlin
Web of Evidence
1959
Paul Mathry
Subway in the Sky
1959
Maj. Baxter Grant
Zane Grey Theater
1959
TV Series
Frank Gilette
The Last Blitzkrieg
1959
Sgt. Hans Von Kroner / Sgt. Leonard Richardson
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
1957
TV Movie
Pied Piper / Truson
Action of the Tiger
1957
Carson
Slander
1957
Scott Ethan Martin
Kelly and Me
1957
Len Carmody
23 Paces to Baker Street
1956
Phillip Hannon
Miracle in the Rain
1956
Pvt. Arthur 'Art' Hugenon
The Bottom of the Bottle
1956
Donald Martin / Eric Bell
The End of the Affair
1955
Maurice Bendrix
The Last Time I Saw Paris
1954
Charles Wills
Brigadoon
1954
Jeff Douglas
The Caine Mutiny
1954
Lt. Steve Maryk
Men of the Fighting Lady
1954
Lt. (jg) Howard Thayer
Siege at Red River
1954
Capt. James S. Simmons / Jim Farraday
Easy to Love
1953
Ray Lloyd
Remains to Be Seen
1953
Waldo Williams
Confidentially Connie
1953
Joe Bedloe
Plymouth Adventure
1952
John Alden
Washington Story
1952
Joseph T. Gresham
When in Rome
1952
Father John X. Halligan
Invitation
1952
Daniel I. 'Dan' Pierce
The Greatest Show on Earth
1952
Spectator (unconfirmed, uncredited)
Too Young to Kiss
1951
Eric Wainwright
It's a Big Country: An American Anthology
1951
Rev. Adam Burch
Go for Broke!
1951
Lt. Michael Grayson
Three Guys Named Mike
1951
Michael Lawrence
Grounds for Marriage
1951
Dr. Lincoln I. Bartlett
Duchess of Idaho
1950
Dick Layn
The Big Hangover
1950
David Muldon
Battleground
1949
Holley
In the Good Old Summertime
1949
Andrew Delby Larkin
Scene of the Crime
1949
Mike Conovan
Mother Is a Freshman
1949
Professor Richard Michaels
Command Decision
1948
Tech. Sgt. Immanuel T. Evans
State of the Union
1948
'Spike' McManus
The Bride Goes Wild
1948
Greg Rawlings
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
1947
Henry Carson
High Barbaree
1947
Alec Brooke
Till the Clouds Roll By
1946
Bandleader in Elite Club
No Leave, No Love
1946
Sgt. Michael Hanlon
Easy to Wed
1946
William Stevens 'Bill' Chandler
Week-End at the Waldorf
1945
Captain James Hollis
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
MGM: When the Lion Roars
1992
TV Mini-Series documentary performer - 1 episode
The Dean Martin Show
1968
TV Series performer - 1 episode
The Hollywood Palace
1967
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Batman
1966
TV Series performer - 2 episodes
The Frank Sinatra Show
1958
TV Series performer - 1 episode
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
1957
TV Movie performer: "In The Hall of the Mountain King", "How Can I Tell You?", "Feats of the Piper", "Flim Flam Floo", "Fool's Gold", "How Can I Tell You?" reprise
Kelly and Me
1957
performer: "SINGING A VAGABOND SONG", "BILL BAILEY, WON'T YOU PLEASE COME HOME?", "SIDE BY SIDE"
Miracle in the Rain
1956
performer: "I'll Always Believe in You", "Cindy" uncredited, "La Marseillaise" uncredited
Brigadoon
1954
performer: "I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean" - uncredited
