Johnson rose to popularity when he landed the leading role of Charles 'Chuck' Tchobanian on the dramatic television series
Street Legal in 1987. The show went on to become one of the most successful TV series in Canadian history. It ran for eight years and Johnson received four consecutive
Gemini nominations for
Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role. Following the success of
Street Legal, Johnson was cast as a regular on the family series
Mysterious Island. In 1998 he starred alongside
Ted Danson,
Jennifer Jason Leigh and
Brian Dennehy in the feature film
Thanks of a Grateful Nation, an examination of the aftermath of
Operation Desert Storm and its effects on the men and women who served in the Gulf War. Johnson has guest starred on numerous TV series including
The Best Years,
Zoe Busiek: Wild Card,
The Dresden Files and starred in several television movies including
The Julie Posey Story (on
Lifetime),
The Man Who Saved Christmas with
Jason Alexander and
Ed Asner (CBS) and
Terminal Invasion (
Sci-Fi Channel). He has been an occasional guest host of the current events program
As It Happens on
CBC Radio One. Johnson made his professional theatre debut with
Theatre New Brunswick where he starred in such productions as
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,
Misery,
Sleuth and in
Peter Pan as Captain Hook. He has performed for over thirty years in theatres across Canada and has appeared on the stages of prominent Canadian theatre companies. He has worked extensively at the
National Arts Centre in Ottawa. At
Soulpepper in Toronto, he won rave reviews for his performances in such productions as
The Way of the World,
Jitters, and ''The Play's the Thing
for which he received a Dora Award nomination. At the Stratford Festival, Johnson played Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Among his other noteworthy roles there, he also played Speed, the clownish servant in Two Gentlemen of Verona''. In 2010, he made his Broadway debut as Bob in the musical
Priscilla: Queen of the Desert. In 2019, he appeared in the television series
Diggstown. ==Filmography==