---
name: "Van Johnson"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/van-johnson"
fi1m_id: "van-johnson"
imdb_id: "nm0004496"
tmdb_id: 37446
wikidata_id: "Q436638"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "25 August 1916"
died: "12 December 2008"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-09-20T02:36:09.393860+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Van Johnson

## Identity

Van Johnson

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/van-johnson
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** van-johnson
- **IMDb ID:** nm0004496
- **TMDB ID:** 37446
- **Wikidata ID:** Q436638
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Johnson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q436638, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004496/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/37446

Actor. Born 25 August 1916 in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. Died 12 December 2008.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 25 August 1916, Newport, Rhode Island, USA
- **Died:** 12 December 2008
- **Active:** 1943–1985
- **Also known as:** Charles Van Dell Johnson, Ван Джонсон, ون جانسون
- **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as actor, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 73 (3), 1950s 76 (1), 1980s 84 (1)
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 1 of 5 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Romance 2, War 2, Action 1, Comedy 1, Family 1
- **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $36m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Johnson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q436638, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004496/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/37446

## Streaming the US now

- **Pluto TV:** [*The Purple Rose of Cairo*](https://film.one/film/the-purple-rose-of-cairo.md) (84)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Caine Mutiny*](https://film.one/film/the-caine-mutiny.md) (76)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Van Johnson

> The red-haired soldier MGM put in front of wartime audiences again and again. Johnson was pleasant, earnest and easy to like, and the studio rarely asked him for more; the few times somebody did, he had more to give.

Put Van Johnson in uniform and he looks like the boy who writes home every week. Red hair, freckles, a grin that arrives a beat before the line, and no sense that anything in the world means him harm. MGM saw this in 1942 and used it for twelve years. In *The Human Comedy* (1943) his Marcus Macauley sits in an army camp and tells a friend about the town he came from, in a scene written as a hymn to the place and played as one. We watched it wanting him to hesitate, to be embarrassed by his own sincerity for even a second, and he never is. That is partly Clarence Brown's direction and partly a young actor who had not yet been given a reason to doubt a line.

He had come up as a chorus dancer and understudy on Broadway in the 1930s, standing behind Gene Kelly among others, and passed briefly through Warner Bros. before MGM signed him. *A Guy Named Joe* (1943) made him a star, after a serious car accident during production that might have ended things instead. From then on he was the soldier, the sailor, the bomber pilot: *Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo* (1944), *Two Girls and a Sailor* (1944), later *Battleground* (1949). The bobby-soxers called him the Voiceless Sinatra, which tells you what he was for. He made four films each with June Allyson and Esther Williams, and Spencer Tracy, who made two with him, took his side. He would describe the studio later as a little kingdom where all anyone had to do was inhale, exhale and be charming.

The case for him as an actor rather than a face rests on the dramatic parts, and critics have been steady about which ones: *Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo*, and after he left MGM, *The Caine Mutiny* (1954), where he insisted the scars from the accident stay visible on screen. What he could do, when a director let him, was show a decent man frightened, and he was better at the fear than the decency, because the decency cost him nothing. The complaint, then and since, is that the studio seldom let him, and he knew it. "How long can you go on being the boy next door?" he asked in later years.

He left MGM in 1954, the year of *Brigadoon* with Kelly, and worked in films, on television and on stage for nearly four more decades. The one late part we have written about is Larry in *The Purple Rose of Cairo* (1985), a small role in a film whose supporting players we found thinly drawn, about a woman who escapes into the pictures, which is what he had been made for. See *The Human Comedy* and you will see exactly what a studio wanted in 1943. Whether that was all he had is a question MGM never got round to, and he never stopped asking it.

## Biography

Van Johnson (1916–2008) was an American actor, singer and dancer. He began his career on Broadway in the 1930s before making his film debut in the early 1940s.

He became a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after the Second World War, appearing in musicals and war films including *Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo* (1944), *Battleground* (1949), *Brigadoon* (1954) and *The Caine Mutiny* (1954). Later credits included guest roles in series such as *Murder, She Wrote* and *Batman*, and a supporting part as Larry in Woody Allen’s *The Purple Rose of Cairo* (1985).

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *The Purple Rose of Cairo* (1985), Fi1m 84, as Larry — [page](https://film.one/film/the-purple-rose-of-cairo.md)
- *The Caine Mutiny* (1954), Fi1m 76, as Lt. Stephen Maryk — [page](https://film.one/film/the-caine-mutiny.md)
- *Battleground* (1949), Fi1m 80, as Holley — [page](https://film.one/film/battleground.md)
- *Madame Curie* (1943), Fi1m 72, as Reporter — [page](https://film.one/film/madame-curie.md)
- *The Human Comedy* (1943), Fi1m 66, as Marcus Macauley — [page](https://film.one/film/the-human-comedy.md)

## Complete filmography (122)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Boy from Mercury* (1996), as Game Show Contestant (Archive Footage)
- *Three Days to a Kill* (1992), as Comm. Howard
- *MGM: When the Lion Roars* (1992), series, Actor
- *Clowning Around* (1991), as Mr. Ranthow
- *Clowning Around* (1991), series, as Mr. Ranthow
- *Delta Force Commando II: Priority Red One* (1990), as Gen. McCailland
- *Flight from Paradise* (1990), as Erzähler
- *Killer Crocodile* (1989), as Judge
- *Going Hollywood: The War Years* (1988), Actor
- *Down There in the Jungle* (1988), as The professor
- *Taxi Killer* (1988), as Captain
- *The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents* (1985), series, as Art Bellasco
- *The Purple Rose of Cairo* (1985), as Larry — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/the-purple-rose-of-cairo.md)
- *Murder, She Wrote* (1984), series, as Elliot Robinson, Daniel Hannigan, Daniel O'Brien
- *Showbiz Goes to War* (1982), as (archive footage)
- *Scorpion with Two Tails* (1982), as Mulligan - Joan's father
- *Aloha Paradise* (1981), series, Actor
- *The Kidnapping of the President* (1980), as Vice President Ethan Richards
- *From Corleone to Brooklyn* (1979), as Lieutenant Sturges
- *Tales of the Unexpected* (1979), series, as Gerry T. Armstrong
- *Concorde Affair* (1979), as Captain Scott
- *Getting Married* (1978), as Phil Lawrence
- *Black Beauty* (1978), series, as Horace Tompkins
- *Superdome* (1978), as Chip Green
- *The Love Boat* (1977), series, as Bert Wilder, Victor Moncrief
- *Quincy, M.E.* (1976), series, as Al Ringerman
- *Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II* (1976), series, as Marsh Goodwin
- *Rich Man, Poor Man* (1976), series, as Marsh Goodwin
- *One Day at a Time* (1975), series, as Gus Webster
- *That's Entertainment!* (1974), as (archive footage) (uncredited)
- *The Girl on the Late, Late Show* (1974), as Johnny Leverett
- *Maude* (1972), series, as Henry
- *Call Her Mom* (1972), as President Hardgrove
- *Eye of the Spider* (1971), as Prof. Orson Krüger
- *McMillan & Wife* (1971), series, as Harry Jerome
- *San Francisco International* (1970), as Lester Scott
- *Company of Killers* (1970), as Sam Cahill
- *McCloud* (1970), series, Actor
- *Nanny and the Professor* (1970), series, Actor
- *The Price of Power* (1969), as President James A. Garfield
- *Love, American Style* (1969), series, Actor
- *Eagles Over London* (1969), as Air Marshal George Taylor
- *Here's Lucy* (1968), series, as Van Johnson
- *The Name of the Game* (1968), series, as Sullivan, Jack Newell
- *Yours, Mine and Ours* (1968), as Darrel Harrison
- *Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows* (1968), as Father Chase: The 'In' Group
- *Divorce American Style* (1967), as Al Yearling
- *The Doomsday Flight* (1966), as Capt. Anderson
- *Batman* (1966), series, as The Minstrel
- *American in Paris* (1964), as James Devlin
- *Wives and Lovers* (1963), as Bill Austin
- *Vacation Playhouse* (1963), series, Actor
- *Ben Casey* (1961), series, Actor
- *The Enemy General* (1960), as Allan Lemaire
- *Subway in the Sky* (1959), as Major Baxter Grant
- *The DuPont Show with June Allyson* (1959), series, as Joe Robertson
- *Web of Evidence* (1959), as Paul Mathry
- *The Last Blitzkrieg* (1959), as Hans Von Kroner / Leonard Richardson
- *The Ann Sothern Show* (1958), series, as Terry Tyler
- *The Pied Piper of Hamelin* (1957), as Pied Piper / Truson
- *Action of the Tiger* (1957), as Carson
- *Kelly and Me* (1957), as Len Carmody
- *Slander* (1957), as Scott Ethan Martin
- *Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre* (1956), series, as Frank Gilette
- *23 Paces to Baker Street* (1956), as Phillip Hannon
- *Miracle in the Rain* (1956), as Pvt. Arthur 'Art' Hugenon
- *The Bottom of the Bottle* (1956), as Donald Martin / Eric Bell
- *MGM Parade* (1955), series, Actor
- *The End of the Affair* (1955), as Maurice Bendrix
- *The Last Time I Saw Paris* (1954), as Charles Wills
- *Brigadoon* (1954), as Jeff Douglas
- *The Caine Mutiny* (1954), as Lt. Stephen Maryk — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/the-caine-mutiny.md)
- *Men of the Fighting Lady* (1954), as Lt. Thayer
- *The Siege at Red River* (1954), as Capt. James S. Simmons / Jim Farraday
- *Easy to Love* (1953), as Ray Lloyd
- *Remains to Be Seen* (1953), as Waldo Williams
- *Confidentially Connie* (1953), as Joe Bedloe
- *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, as Jimmy Devlin
- *Plymouth Adventure* (1952), as John Alden
- *Washington Story* (1952), as Joseph T. Gresham
- *When in Rome* (1952), as Father John X. Halligan
- *Invitation* (1952), as Dan Pierce
- *Too Young to Kiss* (1951), as Eric Wainwright
- *It's a Big Country* (1951), as Rev. Adam Burch
- *I Love Lucy* (1951), series, as Van Johnson
- *Go for Broke!* (1951), as Michael Grayson
- *Three Guys Named Mike* (1951), as Michael Lawrence
- *Grounds for Marriage* (1951), as Dr. Lincoln I. Bartlett
- *Duchess of Idaho* (1950), as Dick Layne
- *The Big Hangover* (1950), as David Maldon
- *Battleground* (1949), as Holley — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/battleground.md)
- *In the Good Old Summertime* (1949), as Andrew Delby Larkin
- *Scene of the Crime* (1949), as Mike Conovan
- *Mother Is a Freshman* (1949), as Professor Richard Michaels
- *Command Decision* (1948), as Technical Sergeant Immanuel T. Evans
- *State of the Union* (1948), as Spike McManus
- *The Bride Goes Wild* (1948), as Greg Rawlings
- *The Romance of Rosy Ridge* (1947), as Henry Carson
- *High Barbaree* (1947), as Alec Brooke
- *Till the Clouds Roll By* (1946), as Bandleader in Elite Club
- *Easy to Wed* (1946), as Bill Chandler
- *No Leave, No Love* (1946), as Michael Hanlon
- *Week-End at the Waldorf* (1945), as James Hollis
- *Thrill of a Romance* (1945), as Thomas Milvaine
- *Between Two Women* (1945), as Dr. Randall Adams
- *Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo* (1944), as Ted Lawson
- *Two Girls and a Sailor* (1944), as John Dyckman Brown III
- *3 Men in White* (1944), as Dr. Randall Adams
- *The White Cliffs of Dover* (1944), as Sam Bennett
- *A Guy Named Joe* (1944), as Ted Randall
- *Twenty Years After* (1944), as (archive footage)
- *Madame Curie* (1943), as Reporter — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/madame-curie.md)
- *Pilot #5* (1943), as Everett Arnold
- *Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case* (1943), as Dr. Randall Adams
- *The Human Comedy* (1943), as Marcus Macauley — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/the-human-comedy.md)
- *Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant* (1942), as Dr. Randall Adams
- *Somewhere I'll Find You* (1942), as Wade Hall
- *The War Against Mrs. Hadley* (1942), as Michael Fitzpatrick
- *For the Common Defense!* (1942), as Agent Pritchard
- *Murder in the Big House* (1942), as Bert Bell
- *Personalities* (1942), as (uncredited)
- *Too Many Girls* (1940), as Chorus Boy (uncredited)

## Gallery

- ![Van Johnson](https://film.one/media/person/118394/gallery-f82271f4b951.jpg) Van Johnson — László Josef Willinger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Van_Johnson_with_a_bust_of_himself%2C_1946.jpg/1280px-Van_Johnson_with_a_bust_of_himself%2C_1946.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Rialto Theater (1948)](https://film.one/media/person/118394/gallery-45b9952f89b9.jpg) Rialto Theater (1948) — Self Scanned, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/1948_-_Rialto_Theater_-_20_Apr_MC_-_Allentown_PA.jpg/1280px-1948_-_Rialto_Theater_-_20_Apr_MC_-_Allentown_PA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Apollo Cinerama, Zürich: Première von "Porgy and Bess": von links.: Lys Assia, Moses LaMarr, Eunice Gayson, Anton Eric Scotoni, Sophia Loren, Van Johnson, Alice (1960)](https://film.one/media/person/118394/gallery-0eb7badb2355.jpg) Apollo Cinerama, Zürich: Première von "Porgy and Bess": von links.: Lys Assia, Moses LaMarr, Eunice Gayson, Anton Eric Scotoni, Sophia Loren, Van Johnson, Alice (1960) — Bildcode:
Com_L09-0086-0002-0014
Fotograf:
Gerber, Hans
Titel:
Première von "Porgy and Bess" im Kino Apollo
Beschreibung:
V.l.: Lys Assia, Moses LaMarr, Eunice Gayson, Anton Eric Scotoni, Sophia Loren, Van Johnson, Alice Scott, Richard Widmark, Trevor Howard
Datierung:
27.4.1960
Bildnachweis:

ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv / Fotograf: Gerber, Hans / Com_L09-0086-0002-0014 / CC BY-SA 4.0, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Apollo_Cinerama_Com_L09-0086-0002-0014.jpg/1280px-Apollo_Cinerama_Com_L09-0086-0002-0014.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![USS Kearsarge (CVA-33) cruise book, 1953 - Caine Mutiny filming.](https://film.one/media/person/118394/gallery-9439a70275a2.jpg) USS Kearsarge (CVA-33) cruise book, 1953 - Caine Mutiny filming. — U.S. Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Caine_Mutiny_Cruisebook_Panorama.jpg/1280px-Caine_Mutiny_Cruisebook_Panorama.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Press photo of (from left) Lane Nakano and Van Johnson for the 1951 film Go for Broke!](https://film.one/media/person/118394/gallery-5a4d26cb24fb.jpg) Press photo of (from left) Lane Nakano and Van Johnson for the 1951 film Go for Broke! — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Go_for_Broke%21_%281951%29_Press_Photo_of_Lane_Nakano_and_Van_Johnson.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Van Johnson](https://film.one/media/person/118394/gallery-7cd7a3e33e83.jpg) Van Johnson — Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Handprints_of_Van_Johnson2.jpg/1280px-Handprints_of_Van_Johnson2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/van-johnson