at
Walt Disney World's
Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park Johnson performed at social clubs in Newport while in high school. He moved to New York City after graduation in 1935 and joined the off-Broadway revue
Entre Nous. In 1939, director and playwright
George Abbott cast him in
Rodgers and Hart's
Too Many Girls in the role of a college boy and as understudy for all three male leads. He had an uncredited role in the
film adaptation of
Too Many Girls, which costarred
Lucille Ball and
Desi Arnaz, then Abbott hired him as a chorus boy and
Gene Kelly's understudy in
Pal Joey.
Warner Bros. Johnson was about to move back to New York when Lucille Ball took him to
Chasen's Restaurant, where she introduced him to MGM casting director Billy Grady who was sitting at the next table. This led to screen tests by Hollywood studios. His test at
Columbia Pictures was unsuccessful, but
Warner Brothers put him on contract at $300 a week. He was cast as a cub reporter opposite
Faye Emerson in the 1942 film
Murder in the Big House. His eyebrows and hair were dyed black for the role. Johnson's all-American good looks and easy demeanor were ill-suited to the gritty movies that Warner made at the time, and the studio dropped him at the expiration of his six-month contract.
MGM Johnson was soon signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The studio provided him with classes in acting, speech, and diction. He then had an uncredited part as a soldier in ''
Somewhere I'll Find You (1942). He attracted attention in a small part in The War Against Mrs. Hadley'' (1942), and this encouraged MGM to cast him in their long-running series
Dr. Kildare. These films had starred
Lew Ayres as Dr. Kildare and
Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie; Ayres' career was hurt due to being a conscientious objector, so the series focused on Dr. Gillespie mentoring new doctors. Johnson played Dr. Randall Adams in ''
Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant'' (1942). MGM then cast Johnson as
Mickey Rooney's soldier brother in
The Human Comedy (1943), a huge hit. He returned as Randall Adams in ''
Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case (1943) and was in uniform again for Pilot No. 5 (1943). He had a small role as a reporter in Madame Curie'' (1943).
A Guy Named Joe and stardom Johnson's big break was in
A Guy Named Joe starring
Spencer Tracy and
Irene Dunne, in which he played a young pilot, who acquires a deceased pilot as his guardian angel. During the film's production in 1943, Johnson was involved in a serious car accident that left him with a metal plate in his forehead and a number of scars on his face that plastic surgery could not completely correct or conceal. He wore heavy makeup to hide the scars for the rest of his career. MGM wanted to replace him in
A Guy Named Joe, but Tracy insisted that he be allowed to finish the picture, despite his long absence. The film was a great hit, earning a profit of over one million dollars and launching Johnson as a star. Johnson's injuries from the car accident exempted him from service in World War II. Many other actors were serving in the armed forces, so the accident greatly benefited Johnson's career. MGM built up Johnson's image as the all-American boy in war dramas and musicals. His first top-billed role in an "A" picture was the musical
Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) which was a big success; it was his first film with
June Allyson. He had a smaller part in
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944), then reprised his role as Dr. Adams in
3 Men in White (1944). and Van Johnson from the film,
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo 1944
Post-war career peak Johnson played
Ted Lawson in
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) which told the story of the
Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April 1942. He played Dr. Adams one last time in
Between Two Women (1945). He starred in
Thrill of a Romance (1945), a musical with
Esther Williams, and
Week-End at the Waldorf (1945), a musical remake of
Grand Hotel with
Lana Turner,
Walter Pidgeon, and
Ginger Rogers. In 1945, he tied with
Bing Crosby as the top box office stars. He supported
Spencer Tracy and
Katharine Hepburn in
State of the Union (1948), and he supported
Clark Gable and Pidgeon in the war drama
Command Decision (1948). and
Esther Williams in
Thrill of a Romance (1945).
MGM under Dore Schary 20th Century Fox borrowed Johnson to make the comedy
Mother Is a Freshman (1948) with
Loretta Young. Back at MGM, he was given a role in the film noir
Scene of the Crime (1949). In 1949, he starred with
Judy Garland in
In the Good Old Summertime, which also marked the first film appearance of
Liza Minnelli as Garland's and Johnson's young daughter. He next worked in
Battleground (1949), a movie about the
Battle of the Bulge produced by MGM's new studio head
Dore Schary. '' (1949). Johnson made the comedy
The Big Hangover (1950), then was reunited with Williams in
Duchess of Idaho (1951). He appeared in the romantic comedy
Three Guys Named Mike (1951). He played an officer leading Japanese-American troops of the famed
442nd Regimental Combat Team in Europe in the Schary-produced film
Go for Broke! (1951). He had a small part in ''
It's a Big Country (1951) and was reunited with Allyson for Too Young to Kiss (1951). MGM lent him to Columbia for The Caine Mutiny'' (1954) in the role of Stephen Maryk. He refused to allow concealment of his facial scars when being made up as Maryk, believing that they enhanced the character's authenticity.
Herman Wouk describes Maryk as having "ugly but not unpleasant features" in the novel. One commentator noted years later that "
Humphrey Bogart and
Jose Ferrer chomp up all the scenery in this maritime courtroom drama, but it's Johnson's character, the painfully ambivalent, not-too-bright Lieutenant Steve Maryk, who binds the whole movie together." Johnson next teamed with
Gene Kelly as the sardonic second lead of
Brigadoon (1954). '' (1954) was his most notable post-MGM role. Unlike some other stars of that era, Johnson did not resent the restrictions of the
studio system. In 1985, he said that his years at MGM were "one big happy family and a little kingdom". "Everything was provided for us, from singing lessons to barbells. All we had to do was inhale, exhale and be charming. I used to dread leaving the studio to go out into the real world, because to me the studio was the real world." The program was so successful it spawned a record album and was repeated in 1958. Syndicated to many local stations, it was rerun annually for many years in the tradition of other holiday specials. On February 19, 1959, Johnson appeared in the episode "Deadfall" of
CBS's ''
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre'' in the role of Frank Gilette, a former outlaw falsely charged with bank robbery. He is framed by Hugh Perry, a corrupt prosecutor played by
Harry Townes, and Deputy Stover, portrayed by
Bing Russell. Convicted of the robbery, Gilette is captured by outlaws while on his way to prison, and the sheriff, Roy Lamont, portrayed by
Grant Withers, is killed. In 1959, Johnson turned down an opportunity to star as
Eliot Ness in
The Untouchables, which went on to become a successful television series with
Robert Stack as Ness. Johnson guest-starred as Joe Robertson, with
June Allyson and
Don Rickles, in the 1960 episode "The Women Who" of the CBS
anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson. In 1961 Johnson traveled to England to star in
Harold Fielding's production of
The Music Man at the
Adelphi Theatre in London. The show enjoyed a successful run of almost a year, with Johnson playing the arduous leading role of Harold Hill to great acclaim. In 1968 he was in the successful MGM film
Yours, Mine and Ours along with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda. Johnson also guest-starred on
Batman as "The Minstrel" in two episodes (39 and 40) in 1966. From the late 1960s, he appeared in Italian-produced
genre films. In the 1970s, he appeared on ''
Here's Lucy, Quincy, M.E., McMillan & Wife and Love, American Style. He played a lead character in the 1976 miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man'', and was nominated for a prime time
Emmy Award for that role. In the 1980s, he appeared on an episode of
Angela Lansbury's
Murder, She Wrote along with June Allyson. He also appeared in a special two-part episode of
The Love Boat, "The Musical: My Ex-Mom; The Show Must Go On; The Pest, Parts 1 and 2" which aired on February 27, 1982, and co-starred
Ann Miller,
Ethel Merman,
Della Reese,
Carol Channing, and
Cab Calloway. In the 1970s, after twice fighting bouts of cancer, Johnson began a second career in
summer stock and
dinner theater. In 1985, returning to
Broadway for the first time since
Pal Joey, he was cast in the starring role of the musical
La Cage aux Folles. In that same year he appeared in a supporting role in
Woody Allen's
The Purple Rose of Cairo. At the age of 75, then grey and rotund, he toured in
Show Boat as Captain Andy. His last film appearance was in
Three Days to a Kill (1992). In 2003, he appeared with
Betsy Palmer for three performances of
A. R. Gurney's
Love Letters at a theater in
Wesley Hills, New York. ==Personal life==