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Lamont Johnson

{{short description|American actor}}

{{about|the filmmaker, director|other people|Lamont Johnson (disambiguation)}}

{{distinguish|Mont Johnson|Mount Johnson (disambiguation){{!}}Mount Johnson}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Lamont Johnson

| image = Lamont Johnson in Treasury Men in Action (Case of the Ready Guns.jpg

| caption = Johnson in an episode of Treasury Men in Action (1955)

| birth_date = {{birth date|1922|9|30}}

| birth_place = Stockton, California, U.S.

| birth_name = Ernest Lamont Johnson Jr.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2010|10|24|1922|9|30}}

| death_place = Monterey, California, U.S.

| occupation = Actor, director

| yearsactive = 1951–2000

| spouse = Toni Merrill (m. 1945)

| children = 3

| awards = DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television for My Sweet Charlie (1970)

Shared with Ralph Ferrin (assistant director) (plaque)

}}

Ernest Lamont Johnson Jr. (September 30, 1922 – October 24, 2010) was an American actor and film director who appeared in and directed many television shows and movies. He won two Emmy Awards.

Early years

Johnson was born in Stockton, California.{{cite web|title=Johnson, Lamont|url=http://www.museum.tv/eotv/johnsonlamo.htm|website=Museum of Broadcast Communications|access-date=6 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909004621/http://www.museum.tv/eotv/johnsonlamo.htm |archive-date=September 9, 2017}} He attended Pasadena Junior College and UCLA and was active in theatrical productions at both schools.{{cite news|last1=Thompson|first1=Ruth E.|title=Top Director Former Actor|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6910757/simpsons_leadertimes/|work=Simpson's Leader-Times|date=May 15, 1965|location=Pennsylvania, Kittanning|page=15|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = October 5, 2016}} {{Open access}}

Acting

When he was 16, Johnson began his career in radio, eventually playing the role of Tarzan in a popular syndicated series in 1951.[http://www.erblist.com/erbmania/dvo/vaults55.html ERBmania! – Adkins/DVO #55] He also worked as a newscaster and a disc jockey. Johnson was also one of several actors to play Archie Goodwin in The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe, opposite Sydney Greenstreet on NBC Radio. He then turned to films and television, first as an actor, then as a director.

Directing

Johnson's directing debut came in 1948 with the play Yes Is For a Very Young Man in New York.{{cite news|title=Quiet rise of a good director noted|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6912678/the_sedalia_democrat/|work=The Sedalia Democrat|date=May 5, 1974|location=Missouri, Sedalia|page=43|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = October 5, 2016}} {{Open access}} His television directing debut was on an episode of NBC Matinee Theater.

Johnson also directed productions of the operas The Man in the Moon (1959), Iphigénie en Tauride (1962), and Orfeo (1990), and he directed an installment of the series Felicity plus the TV movie The Man Next Door (1996).

Recognition

Johnson was nominated for nine Emmy Awards, winning twice, for Wallenberg: A Hero's Story (1985) and Lincoln (1988) — both for Outstanding Directing For A Miniseries Movie Or A Dramatic Special. He was nominated in the same category for Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232 (1992), Unnatural Causes (1987), Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter (1984), Fear on Trial (1975), The Execution of Private Slovik (1974) and That Certain Summer (1972). His other Emmy nomination was for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie, also for Wallenberg: A Hero's Story.{{cite web|title=("Lamont Johnson" search results)|url=http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominations/award-search?search_api_views_fulltext=Lamont+Johnson&submit=Search&field_celebrity_details_field_display_name=&field_show_details_field_nominee_show_nr_title=&field_show_details_field_network=All&field_show_details_field_production_company=All&field_nominations_year=1949-01-01+00%3A00%3A00&field_nominations_year_1=2016-01-01+00%3A00%3A00&field_award_category=All|website=Television Academy|access-date=6 October 2016}}

Johnson won five Directors Guild of America Awards, winning in the category Movies for Television and Mini-Series for Lincoln (1988) and for That Certain Summer (1972). He also won DGA Awards for Most Outstanding TV Director (1972) and for Television — My Sweet Charlie (1970) and "Oscar Underwood Story": Profiles in Courage (1964). Additionally, he was nominated for DGA Awards for Movies for Television and Mini-Series for Wallenberg: A Hero's Story (1985), Fear on Trial (1975) and The Execution of Private Slovik (1974). Another DGA Award nomination was for Dramatic Series for Birdbath (1971).{{cite web|title=("Lamont Johnson" search results)|url=http://www.dga.org/Awards/Explore.aspx|website=Directors Guild of America|access-date=6 October 2016}}

Personal life

Johnson married actress Toni Merrill in Paris in 1945. They had three children: Jeremy, Carolyn, and Christopher Anthony.

Death

Johnson died of heart failure in Monterey, California, October 24, 2010.{{cite news|last1=Vallance|first1=Tom|title=Lamont Johnson: Emmy-winning film and television director|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lamont-johnson-emmy-winning-film-and-television-director-2169717.html|access-date=6 October 2016|work=Independent|date=December 26, 2010}}

Filmography

=Actor=

=Director=

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

  • {{IMDb name|425593}}
  • [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/J/htmlJ/johnsonlamo/johnsonlamo.htm Lamont Johnson at the TV Museum]
  • {{The Interviews name}}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20071028110725/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/96200/Lamont-Johnson New York Times bio]
  • [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/arts/television/27johnson.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 New York Times obituary, October 27, 2010: Lamont Johnson, Emmy-Winning Director, Dies at 88]
  • {{Discogs artist|Lamont Johnson (4)}}

{{Lamont Johnson}}

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Category:1922 births

Category:2010 deaths

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male radio actors

Category:American television directors

Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners

Category:People from Stockton, California

Category:German-language film directors

Category:Directors Guild of America Award winners

Category:Film directors from California

Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni