Arch Johnson
![]() | This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2013) |
Arch Johnson | |
---|---|
Johnson in 1961. | |
Born | Archibald Winchester Johnson March 14, 1922 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
Died | October 9, 1997 Snow Hill, Maryland, U.S. | (aged 75)
Occupation | Stage, film, and television actor |
Years active | 1953–1990 |
Spouse(s) | Yvonne Saccard (1957–1966; divorced; 2 children) Eleanor M. Willey (1969–1971; divorced) Joyce Johnson (?–1981; divorced; 3 children) Jean D. Heibeck (1994–1997; his death) |
Archibald Winchester "Arch" Johnson (March 14, 1922 – October 9, 1997) was an American actor who appeared on Broadway and in more than one hundred television programs.
Early years[]
Johnson was born in Minneapolis.[citation needed] and attended the University of Pennsylvania.[1]
Career[]
Starting out in Philadelphia in the 1940s through 1950s, Johnson worked in Community Theater both as an actor and director.
He began acting with the Plays and Players Theatre in Philadelphia and was part of the world premiere of Stalag 17 while there. After he left Philadelphia, he studied for two years at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York.[1]
A stage actor as well as a prolific television character actor, he was in the original production of West Side Story (1957) on Broadway and the revival of that show in 1980, again on Broadway.[2]
He was the only actor from the original stage version who returned for the revival,[3] and he toured Europe with the show. He was in the original version of Other People's Money on Broadway and originated the Role of "Jorge" that Gregory Peck played in the film version. His first love was theatre, where he began his career, and he returned to that genre before he retired in the late 1990s.[citation needed]
Johnson had a prolific television career. Among his numerous roles, he was a regular on the 1961 series The Asphalt Jungle as police Captain Gus Honochek,[4] on the 1955-1956 comedy series It's Always Jan,[4]:516 on the 1960-1961 comedy seriesl Peter Loves Mary,[4]:827 and on the 1965–1966 series Camp Runamuck as Commander Wivenhoe.[4]:155-156
In 1963, he portrayed the role of Harry Johanson in the episode "Incident at Paradise" on CBS's Rawhide. He made five appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of murder victim Karl Magovern in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Travelling Treasure", as murder victim Gerald Thornton in the 1963 episode, "The Case of the Golden Oranges", and as Marvin Fremont in the 1964 episode, "The Case of the Ice-Cold Hands". He played murderer John Ruskin in the 1960 episode "Th Case of the Singular Double". He made four appearances on Daniel Boone and Gunsmoke, five on Bewitched, four on The F.B.I., and scores of others on many other television offerings, including The Twilight Zone, Decoy, Johnny Ringo, Hennesey, Bat Masterson,The Roaring 20s, Lawman, Going My Way, Mr. Novak, and Empire and its successor series, Redigo, both with Richard Egan.[citation needed]
In 1963, Johnson appeared on NBC's western series Laramie, with John Smith and Robert Fuller as Slim Sherman and Jess Harper, respectively. He was cast as the outlaw Sam Wellman in the episode "No Place to Run". In the story line, Wellman forces a likeable safecracker who is trying to go straight, Gandy Ross, portrayed by Don Durant, formerly Johnny Ringo, to open the safe in the bank at fictitious Granite City. Ellen Burstyn and Tom Skerritt play the roles of Amy and Price in the episode, as Jess Harper rescues his friend Ross from the clutches of Wellman.[5]'
In 1961, Johnson appeared as his Gus Honochek character from The Asphalt Jungle in the theatrical film The Lawbreakers.
In 1973, Johnson played the part of Combs in the movie The Sting.
Death[]
Johnson died of cancer on October 9, 1997, in Snow Hill in Worcester County in southeastern Maryland.
Filmography[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1953 | Niagara | Taxi Driver | Uncredited | |
1954 | Garden of Eden | |||
1956 | Somebody Up There Likes Me | Heldon | ||
1957 | Gun Glory | Gunn | ||
1960 | G.I. Blues | Sgt. McGraw | ||
1960 | Bat Masterson | Mr Smith | "The Big Gamble" S2E35 | |
1961 | The Explosive Generation | Mr. George Sommers | ||
1961 | The Lawbreakers | Chief Inspector Gus Honochek | ||
1962 | Gunsmoke | Feester | "Wagon Girls" (S7E27) | |
1962 | The Twilight Zone | Jesse James | Episode "Showdown with Rance McGrew" | |
1962-1967 | Bonanza | Gavin / E.J. Butler / A.Z. Wheelock | 3 episodes | |
1963 | The Virginian | as Dr. Ashley | Episode "A Killer in Town" | |
1963 | Twilight of Honor | Mac McWade | ||
1964 | The Munsters | Mr. Taggert | Episode "Tin-Can Man" (Nov 1964) | |
1966 | The Monkees | as General Harley Vandenberg | Episode "The Chaperone" | |
1968-1971 | Bewitched | Bo Callahan / Harlan Mossler / Bo Braddock / John Harrison / Rudolph Kosko | 5 episodes | |
1970 | The Liberation of L.B. Jones | Stanley Bumpas | ||
1970 | The Cheyenne Social Club | Marshal Anderson | ||
1972 | Napoleon and Samantha | Chief of Police | ||
1973 | Walking Tall | Buel Jaggers | ||
1973 | Gentle Savage | Beaumont | ||
1973 | The Sting | Vince Combs | ||
1975 | Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins | Smitty | ||
1975 | The Hindenburg | Captain B.F. Farley, N.Y.P.D. | Uncredited | |
1978 | The Buddy Holly Story | Mr. Lawrence Holly | ||
1983 | Easy Money | Vendor at Armory | ||
1985 | Death Mask | Dr. Robert Riordan |
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Lawler, Sylvia (February 15, 1983). "Arch Johnson's enduring career is reflected in his familiar face". The Morning Call. Pennsylvania, Allentown. p. D - 1. Retrieved May 15, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Arch Johnson". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ "Johnson". The Morning Call. Pennsylvania, Allentown. February 15, 1983. p. D 2. Retrieved May 16, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
- ^ "Laramie: "No Place to Hide," February 5, 1963". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
External links[]
- 1922 births
- 1997 deaths
- American male stage actors
- American male film actors
- American male television actors
- Male actors from Minneapolis
- Male actors from New York City
- Male actors from Los Angeles
- People from Snow Hill, Maryland
- Deaths from cancer in Maryland
- 20th-century American male actors
- Western (genre) television actors