American actor (1924-2014)
Russell David Johnson
(November 10, 1924 ? January 16, 2014) was an American actor. He played
Professor Roy Hinkley
in
Gilligan's Island
and Marshal Gib Scott in
Black Saddle
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Johnson was born in
Ashley, Pennsylvania
, on November 10, 1924,
[1]
[2]
to Russell Kennedy Johnson (1901?1932) and Marion Wenonah Smink Johnson (1902?1976).
Johnson was the eldest of seven siblings: Kenneth Walter Johnson (1925?2012), David Reed Johnson (1926?1976), Lois Marion Johnson (1927?1928), Lorraine Johnson Crosby (1928-2015), Marion Joan Johnson Reeves (1930?2010), and Paul Wesley Johnson (1932?1933).
[2]
His father Russell died of lobar pneumonia and influenza on December 13, 1932, and his brother Paul also died of lobar pneumonia on January 5 the following year. His mother Minnie remarried after 10 years
to Thomas S. Lewis.
As a teenager, Johnson attended
Girard College
, a private
boarding school
for fatherless boys, located in
Philadelphia
.
[1]
Military career
[
edit
]
After graduating from high school, Johnson enlisted in the
United States Army Air Forces
as an aviation cadet. On completing his training, he was commissioned as a
second lieutenant
. He flew 44 combat missions in the Pacific Theater during
World War II
as a
bombardier
in
B-25
twin-engined medium bombers.
[3]
On March 4, 1945, while flying as a navigator in a B-25 with the
100th Bombardment Squadron
,
42nd Bombardment Group
, 13th Air Force, Johnson's B-25 and two others were shot down during a low-level bombing and strafing run against Japanese military targets in the
Philippine Islands
. The B-25s encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire, and all three had to ditch in the sea off
Zamboanga
. Johnson broke both his ankles in the landing, and his bomber's co-pilot was killed. Johnson received a
Purple Heart
for his injuries. He was also awarded the
Air Medal
, the
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
with three campaign stars, the
Philippine Liberation Ribbon
with one campaign star, and the
World War II Victory Medal
.
Johnson was honorably discharged as a
first lieutenant
on November 22, 1945, then joined the
United States Air Force Reserve
.
[4]
Movie, television, and radio career
[
edit
]
After his honorable discharge from the military, Johnson used the
G.I. Bill
to pay for his acting studies at the
Actors' Lab
in Hollywood.
[5]
Johnson became a close friend of
Audie Murphy
and later appeared with him in three of his films,
Column South
and
Tumbleweed
in 1953 and
Ride Clear of Diablo
in 1954. Johnson's
Hollywood
career began in 1952, with the college
fraternity
hazing
expose
For Men Only
, and with
Loan Shark
, also released in 1952 and starring
George Raft
.
His early roles were primarily in
Westerns
such as
Rancho Notorious
(1952, starring
Marlene Dietrich
),
Seminole
(1953),
Law and Order
(1953, opposite
Ronald Reagan
), and
Badman's Country
(1958), and
science fiction
films such as
It Came from Outer Space
(1953),
This Island Earth
(1955),
Attack of the Crab Monsters
(1956), and
The Space Children
(1958). He also appeared in a
Ma and Pa Kettle
vehicle,
Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki
(1955), as well as in
Roger Corman
's rock-'n'-roll crime drama
Rock All Night
(1957). In 1955, he had a role in
Many Rivers to Cross
along with
Alan Hale Jr.
, later the Skipper from
Gilligan's Island
. Johnson and Hale also appeared together in an episode of the TV series
Casey Jones
, Season 1 Episode 20 "The Track Walker".
During the 1950s, he played the head of a gang of crooks in episode 17 of season one of
The Adventures of Superman
(originally broadcast in January 1953, filmed in 1951). Johnson was also cast on the religion
anthology series
Crossroads
.
In 1957 he played a ruthless and heartless murdering outlaw named "Stragger" on the TV Western
Gunsmoke
in the episode "Bloody Hands" (S2E21), where he almost convinces Matt Dillon to quit from guilt because of his own constant need to kill. He returned to that series in 1959 as “Harry Webb” in the episode “The Bear”. He also played the Sundown Kid in an episode of the 1958
NBC
's Western series
Jefferson Drum
and guest-starred in another NBC Western series,
The Californians
. He appeared in episodes of
Wagon Train
,
[6]
[7]
"The Beauty Jamison Story" and "The Cliff Grundy Story."
He appeared four times on the first-run syndicated military drama
The Silent Service
, based on actual stories of the
submarine
section of the
United States Navy
. He was cast as Hugh Grafton in episode 28, "The Gar Story", as the executive officer Beach in the 1957 "Tirante Plays a Hunch", appeared twice as submarine officer and later author
Edward L. Beach Jr.
, and as Tom Richards in two 1960 episodes, "Intermission" and "The Desperate Challenge", and twice with
June Allyson
on her
CBS
anthology series
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
. Also, he guest-starred with
William Shatner
in "The Hungry Glass", a 1961 episode of
Thriller
, and with
Joan Evans
and
Harvey Stephens
in "The Sky Diver", the unaired pilot episode of
Ripcord
of that same year. Then he was cast as John T. Metcalf in the 1962 episode "Mile-Long Shot to Kill" of the CBS anthology series
GE True
, hosted by
Jack Webb
. Also, in 1962, he was cast as Bob Murkland in the 6 March Season 3, episode 22 of Laramie, 'The Dynamiters'. In April of that same year, he was cast as Doctor Ross in the episode "Allergies Anonymous" of
The Real McCoys
. Also that year he played a role in
Tales of Wells Fargo
. Then in 1963, he was cast in the episode "Mutiny at Fort Mercy" of the short-lived
ABC
/
Warner Bros.
' Western series
The Dakotas
, and later he performed in the premiere of another short-lived ABC show,
Breaking Point
, a
medical drama
series starring
Paul Richards
and
Eduard Franz
.
From January 1959 to May 1960, Johnson co-starred as Marshal Gib Scott on the television series
Black Saddle
, which lasted two seasons?its first on NBC and its second on ABC.
Twilight Zone
and
Outer Limits
episodes
[
edit
]
Johnson appeared in two episodes of
The Twilight Zone
. His character brings a murderer from 1880 into the present via a time machine in the season-one episode "
Execution
". In the season-two episode "
Back There
", his character, Peter Corrigan, attempts to prevent the
assassination of Abraham Lincoln
. The plot of both episodes involved
time travel
from the 20th to the 19th centuries. Johnson also appeared on
The Outer Limits
in 1964, playing a crewmember on a United States
space station
in the episode "
Specimen: Unknown
".
"The Professor" on
Gilligan's Island
[
edit
]
Johnson was best known for playing Professor Roy Hinkley (usually called the "
Professor
"), the very knowledgeable
polymath
who could build all sorts of inventions out of the most rudimentary materials available on the island. As Johnson himself pointed out, though, he could not fix the hole in the boat. In the first episode of the show, the radio announcer describes the Professor as a research scientist and well-known
Scoutmaster
.
Gilligan's Island
aired from 1964 to 1967, but has been shown in reruns continuously ever since. Johnson reprised this character in three
Gilligan's Island
made-for-television movies:
Rescue from Gilligan's Island
(1978),
The Castaways on Gilligan's Island
(1979), and
The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island
(1981), and two animated series:
The New Adventures of Gilligan
from 1974-77 and
Gilligan's Planet
from 1982-83. In a 2004 interview, Johnson commented about the role and shared his perspective regarding
Gilligan's Island
and the
situation comedy's
place in television history:
It used to make me upset to be typecast as the Professor...But as the years have gone by, I've given in. I am the Professor, and that's the way it is...Besides, the show went into syndication and parents are happy to have their children watch the reruns. No one gets hurt. There are no murders, no car crashes. Just good, plain, silly fun. It's brought a lot of joy to people, and that's not a bad legacy.
[8]
After
Gilligan's Island
[
edit
]
After
Gilligan's Island
, Johnson found himself somewhat typecast, making portraying more unsophisticated roles other than his signature role as the Professor more difficult. Nevertheless, he was able to resume a sufficient acting career,
[8]
appearing in several other movies and television shows, especially the latter. He appeared as a guest star in several dramatic series, including
The Big Valley
with
Peter Breck
(marking a reunion of sorts, since they co-starred together in
Black Saddle
, an earlier Four Star Productions series),
The Invaders
,
Death Valley Days
,
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
,
Lassie
,
That Girl
,
Ironside
,
The F.B.I
,
Mannix
[9]
and
Gunsmoke
.
He was cast in the miniseries
Vanished
, based on a novel by
Fletcher Knebel
(1971), the TV horror movie
The Horror at 37,000 Feet
(1973), uncredited in the
Robert Redford
spy thriller
Three Days of the Condor
(1975), the low-budget thriller
Hitch Hike to Hell
(1977), and appeared on the episode "Coffee, Tea or Cyanide" on
McMillan and Wife
in 1977, and on the NBC
soap opera
Santa Barbara
.
Johnson had a brief appearance in
MacArthur
(1977), in which he played
United States Navy
Admiral
Ernest J. King
, and he appeared in the 1978 made-for-television movies
The Ghost of Flight 401
and
The Bastard
. Russell provided the narration for the animated-short episodes of
The Adventures of Stevie and Zoya
that appeared on MTV during the mid-1980s.
In an interview with
Starlog
magazine in the early 1980s, Johnson said that he had wanted to appear in the original
Star Trek
during its run on NBC from 1966 to 1969, but he was never cast. An episode of CBS'
Newhart
in 1986 featured the Beavers (a men's organization) watching a
Gilligan's Island
episode on television. When they are suddenly evicted from the room, one of them, portrayed by Johnson, protests, "I want to see how it ends!" He is assured that the castaways do not get off the island. Johnson also played the sheriff in a season 9 episode of
Dallas
. His character in that series did not return in season 10, however, as season 9 turned out to be the infamous "dream season". In the late 1980s horror TV series
Monsters
, Johnson played an elder scientist in the episode
Sleeping Dragon
, in which he tries communicating with an ancient humanoid dinosaur that was awakened after a 65 million years-long slumber. His other appearances included a reprisal of his Gilligan's Island character in episodes of
ALF
and
Meego
, as well as appearances in
The Jeffersons
,
Knots Landing
and
Roseanne
.
Johnson entertained fans at the 1996
MST3K
Conventio-Con-Expo-Fest-a-Rama 2: Electric Boogaloo on the "Celebrity Panel". Johnson was invited for his role in the movie-within-a-movie of
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
,
This Island Earth
, but spent most of the time answering questions about his
Gilligan's Island
days. He shared an amusing anecdote:
[
citation needed
]
I was at a speaking engagement for
MIT
... and I said ... the Professor has all sorts of degrees, including one from this very institution! And that's
why
I can make a radio out of a coconut, and
not
fix a hole in a boat!
?
Russell Johnson
Johnson once participated in the
Ig Nobel
award presentation ceremony, credited as "The Professor Emeritus of Gilligan's Island".
Johnson had a number of guest roles in the radio series
The Adventures of Harry Nile
, one of the "Imagination Theater" series produced by Jim French.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Johnson was married three times. His first marriage, to Edith Cahoon in 1943, ended in divorce in 1948.
[2]
In 1949 he married his second wife,
Kay Cousins
, whom he had met while at the
Actors' Lab
in Hollywood. Together they had a daughter, Kim, and a son, David. Cousins died on January 20, 1980, in
Century City, California
.
In 1982, Johnson married Constance "Connie" Dane, and became stepfather to her son, Courtney Dane.
[10]
It was here that Johnson collaborated with writer
Steve Cox
on the memoir,
Here on Gilligan's Isle
, published in 1993.
[2]
[11]
Russell's son David Johnson died of
AIDS
-related complications on October 27, 1994.
[12]
After his son's diagnosis with AIDS, Johnson frequently helped raise money for AIDS charities.
[13]
Death
[
edit
]
Johnson died from kidney failure at his home in
Bainbridge Island, Washington
, on January 16, 2014, aged 89.
[14]
His remains were cremated. Johnson's memorial service was held a month later.
[15]
Filmography
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Weber, Bruce (2014-01-16).
"Russell Johnson, the Professor On 'Gilligan's Island', Dies at 89"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
2014-01-19
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Bernstein, Adam (2014-01-16).
"Russell Johnson, actor who played the Professor on 'Gilligan's Island,' dies at 89"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
2019-07-12
.
- ^
"Russell Johnson, Professor on Gilligan's Island, and WWII Hero Passes at 89"
.
Guardian Of Valor
. 2014-01-16
. Retrieved
2018-02-23
.
- ^
"Russell David Johnson"
.
Together We Served
. Retrieved
June 22,
2022
.
- ^
Weber, Bruce (January 17, 2014),
"Russell Johnson, 89, of 'Gilligan's Island' dies on Bainbridge"
,
The Seattle Times
- ^
"
"Wagon Train" the Beauty Jamison Story (TV Episode 1958) - IMDb"
.
IMDb
.
- ^
The Beauty Jamison Story
- ^
a
b
Kashatus, William C.
"Ashley native Russell Johnson rose to fame on Gilligan's Island"
.
The Citizens' Voice
. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
. Retrieved
June 22,
2022
.
- ^
"Mannix"
.
TVGuide.com
. Retrieved
2024-05-16
.
- ^
Lowe, Lindsay (2014-01-16).
"Gilligan's Island Actor Russell Johnson, 'The Professor', Dies at 89"
.
Parade
. Retrieved
2019-07-12
.
- ^
Thomas, Bob; et al. (2016-03-25).
"Russell Johnson Obituary"
.
Legacy.com
. Retrieved
2019-07-12
.
- ^
"Dave Johnson, 39; L.A.'s First AIDS Coordinator, Writer on Gay Issues"
.
Los Angeles Times
. 1994-10-29. Archived from
the original
on 2014-02-19
. Retrieved
2014-01-19
.
- ^
Chappell, Bill (2019-01-19).
"Gilligan's 'The Professor' Has Died; Russell Johnson Was 89"
.
NPR
. Retrieved
2019-07-12
.
- ^
Messer, Lesley (January 16, 2014).
"
Gilligan's Island
Star Russell Johnson Dies of Kidney Failure"
.
ABC News
. Retrieved
16 January
2014
.
- ^
"Memorial service announced for Russell Johnson, the Professor"
.
Bainbridge Island Review
. 2014-01-31
. Retrieved
November 11,
2017
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Johnson, Russell and Cox, Steve.
Here on Gilligan's Isle.
New York: Perennial, 1993.
External links
[
edit
]
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