Van Johnson

American actor (1916–2008)

Person · Open Library

Works: 3

Top works

Tackle the Impossible and Win, Even When It Seems You're Losing
The Houndsman
Legal Lynching of a Black Psychiatrist

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Film & TV

Acting · Newport, Rhode Island, USA

Van Johnson (1916–2008) was an American film, television theatre and radio actor, singer, and dancer. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II.

Known for

Lucille Ball: Finding Lucy — Self2000
The Boy from Mercury — Game Show Contestant (Archive Footage)1996
Roger Moore: A Matter of Class — Self (archive footage)1995
Three Days to a Kill — Comm. Howard1992
MGM: When the Lion Roars1992
Clowning Around — Mr. Ranthow1991
Burt Reynolds' Conversations with... — Self1991
Clowning Around — Mr. Ranthow1991
Delta Force Commando II: Priority Red One — Gen. McCailland

~18 min read

Article

Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American actor and dancer. He had a prolific career in film, television, theatre and radio, which spanned over 50 years, from 1940 to 1992. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II, known for his upbeat and "all-American" screen persona, often playing young military servicemen, or in musicals.

Originally a Broadway dancer, Johnson achieved his breakthrough playing a rookie bomber pilot in A Guy Named Joe (1943). Throughout the war years, he became a popular Hollywood star, as the embodiment of the "boy-next-door wholesomeness" playing "the red-haired, freckle-faced soldier, sailor, or bomber pilot who used to live down the street" in such films as The Human Comedy (also 1943) and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944). After World War II, he continued to play similar heartthrob and military characters, equal parts in serious dramas like The Caine Mutiny (1954), and in light musicals like Brigadoon (1954).