Richard Johnson

Richard Johnson (30 July 1927 – 6 June 2015) was an English actor, writer and producer, who starred in several British films of the 1960s and also had TV roles and a distinguished stage career. His last known film appearance was in Radiator (2014).

Spouses:

Sheila Sweet (2 children)
Kim Novak (1965–1966; divorced)
Mary Louise Norlund (1 child)
Lynne Gurney (2004-2015; his death)

Early life and acting career

Johnson was born in Upminster, Essex, the son of Frances Louisa Olive (née Tweed) and Keith Holcombe Johnson. Johnson went to Felsted School, then trained at RADA and made his first professional appearances on stage with John Gielgud's company.

During the Second World War he served in the Royal Navy, and made his film debut in 1959, when he appeared in a major co-star role in the MGM film Never So Few, starring Frank Sinatra and Gina Lollobrigida. Subsequently he was contracted by MGM to appear in 1 film per year over 6 years. His biggest successes as a film actor came with The Haunting (1963), opposite Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier in Khartoum (1966), the spy film Danger Route (1967), and as Bulldog Drummond (reimagined as a 007-type hero) in Deadlier Than the Male (1967) and its sequel Some Girls Do (1969).

Johnson was director Terence Young's choice for the role of James Bond, but he turned the role down as he did not favour a lengthy contract. He also appeared in several Italian films, including Lucio Fulci's cult classic, Zombi 2 and Sergio Martino's L'isola degli uomini pesce (aka Island of the Fishmen). At the same time, he was a stage actor, appearing in the title role in Tony Richardson's production of Pericles, Prince of Tyre in 1958. His stage career was extensive and distinguished. His early work in the London theatre attracted the attention of the director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. He appeared in many important productions at that theatre in the late 1950s and early 1960s, making notable successes as Romeo, Orlando, Pericles and Mark Antony in Julius Caesar.

In 1958 he appeared in Sir Peter Hall's first production at the theatre, Cymbeline, and the following year in Twelfth Night (as Sir Andrew Aguecheek). Hall took over the direction of the company in 1959 - it was renamed the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), and he invited Johnson to be part of the first group of actors to be named an Associate Artist of the RSC, a position he retained until his death. He continued to act with the RSC from time to time. His most notable role in this respect was Antony in Antony and Cleopatra, which he played on two occasions (in 1971–72 and in 1991–92). He played the role in ITV's production in 1974.

He continued to appear on film and television in the first decade of the 21st century. His films during this period included Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. He also appeared in several TV films: in 2005 he appeared as Stanley Baldwin in Wallis & Edward, in 2007 as Earl Mountbatten in Whatever Love Means, and in 2009 in Lewis. He contributed to British episodic TV, including Spooks, Waking the Dead, twice in Midsomer Murders, and twice in Doc Martin (as Colonel Gilbert Spencer). From 2007, he led the cast of the BBC's award-winning hit radio comedy series Bleak Expectations which attained its 4th series in 2010.

Other work

Throughout his career Johnson continued to teach young actors and students. He toured American universities and taught summer schools at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He was appointed to the Council of RADA in 2000, and served as a Council Member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in the 1970s. Johnson wrote the original story for the 1975 thriller, Hennessy.

Johnson founded the British production company United British Artists (UBA) in 1981, and served as the company's CEO until 1990, when he resigned in order to resume his acting career. During his tenure at UBA he produced the films Turtle Diary (starring Glenda Jackson and Ben Kingsley, with a screenplay commissioned from Harold Pinter), and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne. In London, he produced Pinter's Old Times, a revival of Serjeant Musgrave's Dance (Old Vic), and for theatre and television, the docudrama Biko, about the death of Steven Biko.

Johnson wrote travel articles regularly for the London mass-circulation newspaper The Mail on Sunday. His kept a blog and teaching website called The Shakespeare Masterclass.

Personal life

By his first marriage, to Sheila Sweet, Johnson had two children, tabletop games designer Jervis Johnson (b. 1959) and actress Sorel Johnson (aka photographer, Sukey Parnell). Johnson's most famous wife (his second) was American actress Kim Novak, with whom he appeared in the 1965 film The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders; they had no children. He also had another daughter, Jennifer Johnson, by his third wife, Mary Louise Norlund, and a fourth child, Nicholas Johnson, by Francoise Pascal. Johnson then married Lynne Gurney in 1989 on a beach in Goa, India, 2004 following this with a discreet legal wedding at Kings Road, Chelsea.

Johnson was the founder of It's a Green Green World, a global listing of environmentally friendly hotels.

Richard Johnson died on 6 June 2015, at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, London.