Van Johnson, '40s Heartthrob, Dies At 92

Source: Huffington Post

NEW YORK — Van Johnson, whose boy-next-door wholesomeness made him a popular Hollywood star in the '40s and '50s with such films as "30 Seconds over Tokyo," "A Guy Named Joe" and "The Caine Mutiny," died Friday of natural causes. He was 92. Johnson died at Tappan Zee Manor, an assisted living center in Nyack, N.Y., said Wendy Bleisweiss, a close friend.

With his tall, athletic build, handsome, freckled face and sunny personality, the red-haired Johnson starred opposite Esther Williams, June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor and others during his two decades under contract to MGM.

He proved to be a versatile actor, equally at home with comedies ("The Bride Goes Wild," "Too Young to Kiss"), war movies ("Go for Broke," "Command Decision"), musicals ("Thrill of a Romance," "Brigadoon") and dramas ("State of the Union," "Madame Curie").

More recently, he had a small role in 1985 as a movie actor in Woody Allen's "The Purple Rose of Cairo.". . .

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/12/van-johnson-40s-heartthro_n_150627.html

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Whoa. I thought he would last forever. Did a lot of TV, from "I Love Lucy" to "Murder She Wrote." Quite a career. My favorite was "The Caine Mutiny" role he played as second in command to Bogart's Queeg.

I met him when I was ushering at a local theater in south Florida in the late 60's. I happened to be working both the matinee and the evening shows backstage before the performance, and he looked over at me and said, "God, they've got you working BOTH performances today? Rest up!"

Today, such a comment might not mean much. But to a 17-year-old, it meant one hell of a lot and I've never forgotten it. Thank you, Mr. Johnson.

That was a great show. They sang
that great song, I like it, how
about you?

I used to just love watching all
those old Van Johnson movies.

My fave was Miracle in the Rain
with Jane Wyman.. cried buckets
and just loved it.

Sue

one of the classic Lucy episodes -- but then they were all classics . . .

RIP, Van Johnson . . . dance on the clouds . . .

in his work. Shiny. A certain everyday elegance....

May the spirits carry you to that great set in eternity.

"The Caine Mutiny" is a great film with a great cast. Van Johnson more than held his own against such pros as Bogie, Jose Ferrer and Fred MacMurray. His personal appearances on the late-night talk shows and on "Lucy" were funny. He could poke fun at himself with warm humor. RIP to a nice guy.

Bogie, Ferrer, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray (especially), E.G. Marshall, and Robert Francis as the young guy. He was a stiff. Tragically, he soon died in a plane crash. But can you imagine if a young Paul Newman had been cast in that pivotal role?

The Caine Mutiny would be universally acclaimed as one of the top 10 movies of all time.

He seemed to be able to do nearly everything. He always seemed like he enjoyed himself.

mark

And he was in a lot of good movies, that he made better.

I'm sorry to see him go.

Sad but true. Great to see Olivia DeHavilland get a presidential honor last week, even from Bush. She looked super.

We lost Betty Paige today also.

His character was essentially an atheist.

He was my favorite character in that film. It was a sappy story already - the saccharine level would have peaked my meter without him in it... that movie is a guilty pleasure - silliness and all.

But I never heard anything....

His stepson, Ned Wynn (son of Keenan Wynn and grandson of Ed Wynn) wrote book, We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills, in which he talked about Van stealing his best friend Keenan's wife Evie, then later divorcing her to live with another man.

This is touched upon in the NYT obit, in which his stepson is also quoted on other aspects of Van's life:

(snip)

Mr. Johnson shocked MGM and dismayed his fans in 1947 when he stole the wife of his best friend, the MGM character actor Keenan Wynn. But by the time he married Evie Wynn, he was too big a star for the studio to punish. They had a daughter, Schuyler, in 1948, separated in 1962 and were divorced in 1968. Mr. Johnson did not remarry.

The actor’s screen image was all laughter and sunshine. “Cheery Van,” he later defined himself ironically. Actually, the deprivations of his childhood cast long shadows, and he was, by nature, moody and morose. “His tolerance of unpleasantness was minuscule,” his stepson wrote. “If there was the slightest hint of trouble with one of the children, or with the house, the car, the servants, the delivery of the newspaper, the lack of ice in the silver ice bucket, the color of the candles on the dining room table, Van immediately left the couch, the dinner table, the pool, the tennis court, the party, the restaurant, the vacation, and strode off to his bedroom.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/13/movies/13johnson.html?_r=1&hp

on Murder, She wrote.

He was a very nice man! His theme color was red - he always had red socks on, even if he had to hide them under black socks at my insistence. He did his crossword puzzles in red felt tip marker, and was tickled when I asked him to sign two, one for my mother, the other for my wife's mom. He signed them with his name and a red smiley face. My MIL had hers framed on the wall of her TV room. For years we sent him a red birthday card, and once or twice my wife sent him red cashmere socks. Once, he called my Dad's house, inviting me to go visit him in New York. My Mom answered the phone, and was completely surprised and delighted that "Van Johnson was on the phone!!".

He was a vivid, larger than life Movie Star of the Old School. I will miss him.

I met Van Johnson in the late '60s. He seemed child-like, rather simple-minded, but -- as you point out -- very nice. Did you see anything like that in his mental abilities? I really thought there was something wrong with him, developmentally. His behavior was rather bizarre.

He would have been around 74 years old. I never noticed anything like what you mentioned. You could describe him as childishly exuberant, but he did not have any trouble with his lines or acting. Angela was very fond of him - he did three Murder, She wrote episodes - but she acknowledged that he was a pretty vivid character and it was difficult to find parts for him.

He was at the Ambassador East Hotel in Chicago, a guest. He wore a ton of makeup and what smelled like very heavy perfume. He hung out at the hotel desk where I worked and seemed to be fascinated with what he saw as the "complicated" (though it was extremely simple) method of getting guest mail into the appropriate mailboxes. He kept asking me questions about how I knew what went where (it was just a matter of matching the addresses on the envelopes to the room numbers on the individual mailboxes). It was so odd that this very basic task seemed like rocket science to him. He watched me work for quite a while as if there was nowhere else in the world he wanted to be, and he was asking a lot of questions and seeming to be in a state of awe. It'd be akin to watching someone put files in a file drawer and thinking the person doing it was performing brain surgery. It was the combination of the makeup, the perfume, and the child-like sense of wonder that made me think there was something extremely off about him.

It was New Year's Eve and I saw him and his boyfriend(?) in Pat O'Brien's.
They appeared to be quite affectionate, but even back then, in New Orleans 'anything goes'.

Girls State in Salem, Oregon but she missed it. One of her life's regrets, she loved him so. They are together now and I *know* my Mama got her autograph. :evilgrin: