Van Johnson

<html> <head> <title>Van Johnson</title> <meta name="googlebot" content="noodp"> <meta name="robots" content="noodp"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="/silly-nndb-icon.png" /><style type="text/css">  </style></head> <body bgcolor=#ffffff> <center> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td valign=top><table width=550 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td bgcolor=white><table width="100%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" background="/nndb.gif"> <tr> <td rowspan="2" align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.nndb.com/"><img src="/title.gif" width="260" height="50" border=0 alt="NNDB"></a></td> <td><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6"> <tr align="center"> <td width="25%" nowrap>This is a beta version of NNDB</td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="right" valign="middle"> <form action="http://search.nndb.com/search/nndb.cgi" method="get"> <input type="hidden" name="nndb" value="1"></input> Search: <select name="omenu"> <option value="unspecified" selected>All Names</option> <option value="living">Living people</option> <option value="dead">Dead people</option> <option value="bands">Band Names</option> <option value="books">Book Titles</option> <option value="movies">Movie Titles</option> <option value="fulltext">Full Text</option> </select> for <input name="query" value="" size=24 maxlength=96> <input type=submit value="Search"> </form></td> </tr> </table>        </td></tr><tr><td bgcolor=red height=2></td></tr><map name=fool><area coords="102,0,240,14" href="/people/654/000031561/bibliography/" alt="bibliography"></map><tr bgcolor=F0F0F0><td bgcolor=F0F0F0 style="padding: 0px 15px 15px 15px;"><img src="/red-profile-2.gif" align="right" height=15 width=240 border=0 usemap=#fool> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width=100%><tr><td bgcolor=F0F0F0>Van Johnson<img src="van-johnson-4-sized.jpg" height=293 width=240 align=right hspace=10 vspace=10 alt="Van Johnson">AKA Charles Van JohnsonBorn: <a href="/lists/755/000106437/" class=proflink>25-Aug</a>-<a href="/lists/915/000105600/" class=proflink>1916</a> Birthplace: <a href="/geo/628/000069421/" class=proflink>Newport, RI</a> Died: <a href="/lists/233/000106912/" class=proflink>12-Dec</a>-<a href="/lists/297/000166796/" class=proflink>2008</a> Location of death: <a href="/geo/536/000081293/" class=proflink>Nyack, NY</a> <a href="#FN1">[1]</a> Cause of death: Natural Causes Remains: Cremated Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: <a href="/lists/244/000069037/" class=proflink>Bisexual</a> Occupation: ActorNationality: United States Executive summary: The Caine MutinyVan Johnson was a baby-faced, redheaded, rather hammy film actor of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. He is perhaps best remembered as the executive officer who seized command from Captain Queeg (<a href="/people/837/000024765/">Humphrey Bogart</a>) in The Caine Mutiny. He also starred in Battleground with <a href="/people/748/000022682/">Ricardo Montalban</a>, and <a href="/people/459/000032363/">Frank Capra</a>'s State of the Union. His parents divorced when Johnson was a toddler, and his father was given custody due to the mother's alcoholism. Young Johnson was dancing in theatrical musicals while still attending high school, and made his Broadway debut as a chorus boy in 1936. He was still in the chorus for the 1939 Broadway production of <a href="/people/387/000094105/">Richard Rodgers</a>' Too Many Girls, and he made his film debut dancing the same role when the play was filmed with <a href="/people/558/000024486/">Lucille Ball</a>. For many years, Johnson was an extremely close friend of actor <a href="/people/604/000108280/">Keenan Wynn</a> and Wynn's wife, Eve. They had met when all three were struggling actors in New York in the late 1930s, and after Johnson and Wynn both signed with MGM and moved to Hollywood, the bachelor Johnson reportedly spent as much time at the Wynns' home as at his own residence. In 1943, the Wynns were passengers in Johnson's car when it was broadsided by another vehicle which ran a red light. Johnson was seriously injured, and had a metal plate installed in his head. He then recuperated for several months at the Wynns' home. The accident may have been a lucky break for Johnson, as it left him unsuitable for military duty during World War II. While many of his contemporaries were at war, Johnson rose to prominence playing military men in features like A Guy Named Joe with <a href="/people/979/000024907/">Spencer Tracy</a>, Two Girls and a Sailor with <a href="/people/980/000031887/">June Allyson</a> and <a href="/people/641/000092365/">Gloria DeHaven</a>, and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo with <a href="/people/827/000079590/">Robert Walker</a>. In 1947, the Wynns were divorced, and Johnson married the former Eve Wynn on the same day her divorce was finalized. They were separated in 1961 when, according to Johnson's stepson Ned Wynn, Johnson had an affair with a chorus boy during a stage production of The Music Man. In 1999, just a few years before her death, Eve Wynn Johnson told a reporter that her marriage to Johnson had been arranged at MGM's request, as the studio "needed their 'big star' to be married to quell rumors about his sexual preferences," and she was the only woman he would agree to marry.<hr width=25% size=1 align=left><a name="FN1">[1] Tappan Zee Manor, Nyack, NY. Father: Charles E Johnson (plumbing contractor) Mother: Loretta Johnson (housewife) Wife: Eve Lynn Abbott (m. 25-Jan-1947, sep. 1961, div. 1968, d. 19-Jul-2004, one daughter) Daughter: Schuyler Johnson (proofreader, b. 1948) Son: Ned Wynn (actor, stepson, b. 27-Apr-1941 to Abbott and <a href="/people/604/000108280/">Keenan Wynn</a>) Son: Tracy Keenan Wynn (screenwriter, stepson. b. 28-Feb-1945 to Abbott and Wynn)     High School: Rogers High School, Newport, RI     <a href="/event/807/000140387/">Draft Deferment: World War II</a>     Risk Factors: <a href="/lists/792/000180252/">Skin Cancer</a>     FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR     <a href="/films/395/000243663/">Clowning Around (1992)</a>     <a href="/films/177/000033078/">The Purple Rose of Cairo (1-Mar-1985)</a>     <a href="/films/344/000107023/">The Kidnapping of the President (15-Aug-1980)</a>     <a href="/films/364/000208737/">The Concorde Affair (23-Mar-1979)</a>     <a href="/films/825/000119468/">Getting Married (17-May-1978)</a>     <a href="/films/224/000208597/">Superdome (9-Jan-1978)</a>     <a href="/films/150/000083898/">Rich Man, Poor Man (1-Feb-1976)</a>     <a href="/films/552/000253790/">Company of Killers (1970)</a>     <a href="/films/404/000245666/">Eagles Over London (20-Sep-1969)</a>     <a href="/films/081/000035973/">Yours, Mine and Ours (24-Apr-1968)</a>     <a href="/films/494/000038380/">Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (10-Apr-1968)</a> · Fr. Chase     <a href="/films/351/000033252/">Divorce American Style (21-Jun-1967)</a> · Al Yearling     <a href="/films/375/000268568/">The Doomsday Flight (13-Dec-1966)</a>     <a href="/films/832/000231139/">Wives and Lovers (28-Aug-1963)</a> · Bill Austin     <a href="/films/437/000267633/">Subway in the Sky (Nov-1959)</a>     <a href="/films/886/000221223/">Web of Evidence (28-Apr-1959)</a>     <a href="/films/752/000122386/">The Last Blitzkrieg (30-Jan-1959)</a>     <a href="/films/175/000355107/">The Pied Piper of Hamelin (26-Nov-1957)</a>     <a href="/films/347/000107026/">Action of the Tiger (30-Aug-1957)</a>     <a href="/films/517/000261731/">Kelly and Me (1957)</a>     <a href="/films/030/000082781/">23 Paces to Baker Street (18-May-1956)</a> · Phillip Hannon     <a href="/films/071/000082822/">Miracle in the Rain (31-Mar-1956)</a>     <a href="/films/259/000204644/">The Bottom of the Bottle (1-Feb-1956)</a>     <a href="/films/971/000129584/">The End of the Affair (23-Feb-1955)</a> · Maurice Bendrix     <a href="/films/700/000035595/">The Last Time I Saw Paris (18-Nov-1954)</a> · Charles Wills     <a href="/films/140/000036032/">Brigadoon (8-Sep-1954)</a> · Jeff Douglas     <a href="/films/673/000032577/">The Caine Mutiny (24-Jun-1954)</a> · Lt. Steve Maryk     <a href="/films/380/000119023/">Men of the Fighting Lady (7-May-1954)</a>     <a href="/films/335/000203723/">The Siege at Red River (2-Apr-1954)</a>     <a href="/films/345/000107024/">Easy to Love (26-Nov-1953)</a> · Ray Lloyd     <a href="/films/628/000035523/">Remains to be Seen (15-May-1953)</a>     <a href="/films/555/000261769/">Confidentially Connie (13-Mar-1953)</a> · Joe Bedloe     <a href="/films/837/000091564/">Plymouth Adventure (14-Nov-1952)</a> · John Alden     <a href="/films/104/000203492/">Washington Story (1-Jul-1952)</a>     <a href="/films/254/000224579/">When in Rome (11-May-1952)</a> · Fr. John     <a href="/films/195/000171679/">Invitation (29-Jan-1952)</a> · Dan I. Pierce     <a href="/films/062/000209432/">Too Young to Kiss (22-Nov-1951)</a> · Eric Wainwright     <a href="/films/016/000256245/">It's a Big Country (20-Nov-1951)</a> · Adam Burch     <a href="/films/847/000038733/">Go for Broke! (24-May-1951)</a> · Lt. Michael Grayson     <a href="/films/351/000107030/">Three Guys Named Mike (1-Mar-1951)</a> · Michael Lawrence     <a href="/films/056/000203444/">Grounds For Marriage (11-Jan-1951)</a>     <a href="/films/346/000107025/">Duchess of Idaho (14-Jul-1950)</a> · Dick Layne     <a href="/films/594/000135189/">The Big Hangover (26-May-1950)</a>     <a href="/films/304/000033205/">Battleground (9-Nov-1949)</a> · Holley     <a href="/films/149/000038035/">In the Good Old Summertime (29-Jul-1949)</a> · Andrew Delby Larkin     <a href="/films/348/000107027/">Scene of the Crime (28-Jul-1949)</a>     <a href="/films/346/000236635/">Mother Is a Freshman (12-Mar-1949)</a>     <a href="/films/014/000066813/">Command Decision (23-Dec-1948)</a> · Tech. Sgt. Immanuel T. Evans     <a href="/films/824/000033725/">State of the Union (30-Apr-1948)</a> · Spike McManus     <a href="/films/343/000107022/">The Bride Goes Wild (3-Mar-1948)</a>     <a href="/films/353/000107032/">The Romance of Rosy Ridge (4-Aug-1947)</a>     <a href="/films/267/000171751/">High Barbaree (May-1947)</a> · Alec Brooke     <a href="/films/965/000034863/">Till the Clouds Roll By (5-Dec-1946)</a> · Bandleader     <a href="/films/508/000208881/">No Leave, No Love (3-Oct-1946)</a>     <a href="/films/349/000107028/">Easy to Wed (11-Jul-1946)</a> · Bill Stevens Chandler     <a href="/films/649/000138235/">Weekend at the Waldorf (5-Oct-1945)</a> · Capt. James Hollis     <a href="/films/352/000107031/">Thrill of a Romance (23-May-1945)</a> · Maj. Thomas Milvaine     <a href="/films/869/000262083/">Between Two Women (28-Mar-1945)</a>     <a href="/films/307/000033208/">Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (15-Nov-1944)</a> · Ted Lawson     <a href="/films/747/000254982/">Three Men in White (25-May-1944)</a>     <a href="/films/043/000032944/">The White Cliffs of Dover (11-May-1944)</a> · Sam Bennett     <a href="/films/615/000035510/">Two Girls and a Sailor (27-Apr-1944)</a> · John Dyckman Brown III     <a href="/films/704/000041581/">A Guy Named Joe (23-Dec-1943)</a> · Ted Randall     <a href="/films/934/000079697/">Madame Curie (15-Dec-1943)</a> · Reporter     <a href="/films/844/000225169/">Pilot #5 (24-Jun-1943)</a> · Everett Arnold     <a href="/films/068/000231372/">Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case (May-1943)</a> · Dr. Adams     <a href="/films/868/000079631/">The Human Comedy (2-Mar-1943)</a> · Marcus Macauley     <a href="/films/414/000268607/">Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant (Nov-1942)</a>     <a href="/films/243/000213601/">The War Against Mrs. Hadley (7-Aug-1942)</a> · Michael Fitzpatrick     <a href="/films/674/000219017/">Murder in the Big House (11-Apr-1942)</a> Appears on the cover of: Modern Screen, May-1945, DETAILS: "That's My Boy!" by Van Johnson's Dad Do you know something we don't? <a href="http://commentary.nndb.com/submit/feedback/?id=31561" rel="nofollow">Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile</a> Copyright ©2019 Soylent Communications </td></tr></table> </td></tr> </table> </td> <td width=180 align="center" valign="top" style="padding: 0px 0px 8px 25px;"></td></tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>

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Van Johnson