Johnson, (Charles) Van

▪ 2009

      American actor

born Aug. 25, 1916, Newport, R.I.

died Dec. 12, 2008, Nyack, N.Y.

was one of Hollywood's biggest stars during the early part of his six-decade career, particularly during his 12-year tenure (1942–54) at MGM studios, where he made nearly 50 films. Johnson's clean-cut good looks and easygoing “boy-next-door” charm made him especially popular with swooning bobby-soxers, which led to his nickname “the Voiceless Sinatra,” and in 1945 he ranked second only to Bing Crosby on the list of Top 10 Box Office Stars. Johnson's career began in the Broadway musicals New Faces of 1936 (1936), Too Many Girls (1939), and Pal Joey (1940), in which he served as understudy to Gene Kelly, later his costar in the movie Brigadoon (1954). Johnson made his film debut in Murder in the Big House (1942); later that year he was put under contract by MGM. During his years with that studio, Johnson starred in several war films, notablyA Guy Named Joe (1943), Thirty Seconds over Tokyo (1944), Command Decision (1948), and Battleground (1949). His versatility and boyish appeal also led to leading roles in comedies and musicals, including Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), The Bride Goes Wild (1948), In the Good Old Summertime (1949), and Duchess of Idaho (1950). He occasionally revealed his dramatic talents, notably in The Caine Mutiny (1954). After his film career waned, Johnson continued to act in local theatre and on television, though he periodically returned to the big screen, as in Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985).

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