Tor Johnson
{{Short description|Swedish professional wrestler and actor (1903–1971)}}
{{confusion|Thor Johnson}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Tor Johnson
| image = Tor Johnson in The Beast of Yucca Flats (cropped).jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Johnson in The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961)
| birth_name = Karl Erik Tore Johansson
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|10|19|df=y}}
| birth_place = Brännkyrka, Stockholms län, Sweden
| death_date = {{death date and age|1971|5|12|1903|10|19|df=y}}
| death_place = San Fernando, California, U.S.
| resting_place = Plot 177, Eternal Valley Memorial Park, Newhall, Santa Clarita, California
| othername = {{ubl|Super Swedish Angel|Thor Johnson|King Kong}}
| occupation = Professional wrestler, actor
| years_active = 1934–1961
| spouse = Greta Maria Alfrida Johansson
| children = 1
}}
Karl Erik Tore Johansson (19 October 1903 – 12 May 1971), better known by the stage name Tor Johnson, was a Swedish professional wrestler and actor. As an actor, Johnson appeared in many B-movies, including some famously directed by Ed Wood. In professional wrestling, Johnson was billed as Thor Johnson and Super Swedish Angel.
Early life
Johnson was born on 19 October 1903 in Brännkyrka, Stockholms län, Sweden, the son of Karl Johan Johansson and Lovisa Kristina Pettersson. His death certificate and grave list 1903 as the year of his birth, contradicting published genealogy records.{{cite web |url=https://forum.genealogi.se/index.php?topic=76707.0 |title=Tor Johnson Genealogy |first=Elisabeth |last=Thorsell |website=Rötters Anbytarforum |language=Swedish |access-date=December 12, 2017}}
Career
File:PlanNine 10.jpg (1957)]]
Johnson stood {{height|ft=6|in=3|abbr=no}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0426363/bio|title=Tor Johnson|website=IMDb}} and weighed {{convert|440|lb|kg}} at his heaviest. He had a full head of blond hair, but shaved it to maintain an imposing and villainous appearance in his wrestling and acting work. He began getting bit parts in films upon moving to California, usually as the strongman or weightlifter, as early as 1934. In the same year, Johnson was one of over 50 wrestlers who took part in a two-month Los Angeles tournament for California's version of the world title. His film career ended in the early 1960s, after he appeared in a string of low-budget, poorly-rated films. However, he continued to make appearances on television and made a number of commercials.{{cite book |title=Character Actors in Horror and Science Fiction Films, 1930-1960 |url={{Google books|jqBllx5lyuwC|page=117|plainurl=yes}} |first=Lawrence |last=Raw |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2012 |pages=117–119 |isbn=978-0786444748}}
Tor Johnson used the ring name Super Swedish Angel to distinguish himself from Nils Phillip Olofsson who used the ring name Swedish Angel. The name was derived from wrestler Maurice Tillet, known as The French Angel.
During his career as an actor, Johnson befriended director Ed Wood, who directed him in a number of films, including Bride of the Monster and Plan 9 from Outer Space; writing for Turner Classic Movies, film critic Donald Liebenson described Johnson's performance in Plan 9 as "gonzo."{{cite web |last1=Liebenson |first1=Donald |title=Plan 9 from Outer Space Lands in TCM Classic Film Festival! |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/86783/plan-9-from-outer-space#articles-reviews?articleId=021336 |website=Turner Classic Movies |publisher=Turner Classic Movies Inc. |access-date=2022-04-18}} Johnson was very friendly to work with; actress Valda Hansen, who worked with Johnson in 1959's Night of the Ghouls, described him as "like a big sugar bun."{{cite web |url=http://comicsbeat.com/gift-guide-drew-friedmans-new-tor-johnson-print/ |title=Gift Guide: Drew Friedman's new Tor Johnson print |first=Heidi |last=MacDonald |author-link=Heidi MacDonald |website=ComicsBeat |date=23 November 2011}} During this period, Johnson appeared as a guest contestant on the quiz show You Bet Your Life, during which he showed the show's host, Groucho Marx, his "scariest face." Marx ran off the stage in mock terror, then returned and pleaded: "Don't make that face again!"
Death and legacy
Johnson died of heart failure in San Fernando, California, at the age of 67 and{{cite book |title=Biographical Dictionary of Professional Wrestling |url={{Google books|JyiSCgAAQBAJ|page=176|plainurl=yes}} |first=Harris M., III |last=Lentz |edition=2nd |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2003 |pages=176 |isbn=978-0786417544}} is buried at Eternal Valley Memorial Park, in Santa Clarita, California.{{cite news |last=Stephens |first=E.J. |date=5 April 2009 |title=Cinema history 'lives on' at Eternal Valley |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/335078499 |newspaper=The Signal |publisher=Ian Lamont |location=Santa Clarita, California |volume=93 |issue=95 |department=B |pages=1, 4 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Johnson was portrayed by wrestler George "The Animal" Steele in Tim Burton's film Ed Wood (1994).{{cite news |last=Sonnenberg |first=Maria |editor-last=Stover |editor-first=Bob |title=The Animal pins problems to the mat |date=27 July 2014 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/113534012/ |newspaper=Florida Today |publisher=Jeff Kiel |location=Cocoa, Florida |via=Newspapers.com |volume=49 |issue=133 |page=5E}}
Johnson was featured extensively in the early work of cartoonist Drew Friedman, where Johnson was depicted as "Tor", a slow-witted, white-eyed lummox based on Johnson's persona in Ed Wood's films.{{cite book|last1=Friedman|first1=Drew|last2=Friedman|first2=Josh Alan|title=Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead is Purely Coincidental|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xegiDAAAQBAJ&pg=PP4|date=30 April 2012|publisher=Fantagraphics Books|isbn=978-1-60699-521-1|pages=4, 21–36}} The first of the one-page comics, "Tor Johnson at Home", was published in a 1981 issue of Robert Crumb's Weirdo,Friedman, Drew. "Tor Johnson at Home," Weirdo #4 (Last Gasp, Feb. 1982). and the original artwork was purchased by television writer and producer Eddie Gorodetsky.{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Drew|title=The Fun Never Stops!: An Anthology of Comic Art 1991–2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ira2DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA17|date=1 January 2007|publisher=Fantagraphics Books|isbn=978-1-56097-840-4|page=17}}
A latex mask based on Johnson's face, sculpted by Pat Newman for Don Post Studios, is described as "the best-selling Halloween horror mask of the late 1960s-early 1970s".{{cite web |url=https://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/lw3638.htm |title = SCVHistory.com LW3638 {{!}} Film-Arts {{!}} Tor Johnson Latex Halloween Monster Mask, Don Post Studios 1977.}}
Filmography
=Film=
=Television=
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|0426363}}
- {{Find a Grave|3574}}
{{Portal bar|Sweden|Los Angeles|Film|Television|Biography}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Tor}}
Category:20th-century Swedish male actors
Category:Professional wrestlers from Los Angeles
Category:Swedish emigrants to the United States
Category:Sportspeople from Stockholm
Category:Swedish male film actors