Richard Johnson

Early screen appearances Johnson made his screen debut in an adaptation of Tusitala for BBC Sunday-Night Theatre. He made his film debut with an uncredited part in Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951) and was also uncredited in Calling Bulldog Drummond (1951).

He was at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre from 1952 to 1957. "It was an electric time to be in that company", he later recalled.

Johnson played Mr. Wickham in a 1952 TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (with Peter Cushing as Darcy) and was D'Artagnan in a TV adaptation of The Three Musketeers (1952). He could be seen in Lady in the Fog (1952), "The Mayor of Torontal" for Wednesday Theatre (1952), The Heir of Skipton (1953), Saadia (1953) for MGM, A Party for Christmas (1954), The Queen Came By (1954), "The Rescue" for ITV Television Playhouse, "The Orderly" for Theatre Royal, and Plaintiff in a Pretty Hat (1955).

In 1955, he was in The Lark, by Jean Anouilh, with Dorothy Tutin.

He was Laertes to Paul Scofield's Hamlet in 1956. That was directed by Peter Brook who also directed Johnson in Heaven and Earth (1957).

In 1958, he and Tutin played Romeo and Juliet at Stratford.

MGM After Johnson's stage performances had received excellent reviews, MGM offered him a long-term contract in June 1959. His first work for the studio was in Never So Few (1959) with Frank Sinatra.

"I never took myself very seriously as a movie star", said Johnson later. "But it was thrilling to be among the idols I'd worshipped as a kid. I did a test with Gary Cooper, went to a party with Spencer Tracy, made a film with Frank Sinatra."

Johnson did Ondine on stage for the RSC with Leslie Caron and director Peter Hall (this was filmed in 1961). Also for TV he did productions of Journey's End, This Happy Breed, Sword of Vengeance and The Sponge Room.

In 1961–62, he portrayed Clive Root on Broadway in Graham Greene's The Complaisant Lover, which ran for 101 performances at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

Johnson was second-billed to George Sanders in Cairo (1963) for MGM-British. He co-starred with Claire Bloom in 80,000 Suspects (1963) for Val Guest.

He was then in The Haunting (1963) also featuring Claire Bloom and Julie Harris. It was directed by Robert Wise, who said Johnson has "the attack of the young Gable" and predicted he would be a big star.

Johnson wrote a play The Golden Age, composed from poems, diaries and speeches from the age of Queen Elizabeth I. It had a short run on Broadway in 1963.

In 1964 he did a Kingsley Amis script, A Question of Happiness #1: A Question About Hell for TV, followed by A Question of Happiness #2: Another Port, Another Storm.

Johnson had a support role in The Pumpkin Eater (1964) and went to France for The Other Woman (1964). He did episodes of Armchair Mystery Theatre, The Human Jungle, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He also portrayed Duncan Sandys in Operation Crossbow (1965).

Film stardom Johnson was second billed to Kim Novak in The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965), directed by Terence Young. When filming ended, Johnson and Novak were married. Around this time he expressed interest in writing and directing as well as acting.

Johnson was Colonel Stewart in Khartoum (1966) with Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier.

He was top billed in the Italian horror film The Witch (1966) then was cast as Bulldog Drummond in Deadlier Than the Male (1967) with Elke Sommer for director Ralph Thomas, a James Bond-style adventure.

He supported Anthony Quinn and Rita Hayworth in The Rover (1967), again directed by Young. He starred in another James Bond-type spy film, Danger Route (1967) for director Seth Holt. He announced he had formed his own company and would star in An Alibi for a Playboy but it was not made.

Johnson was Creon in Oedipus the King (1968) with Christopher Plummer, then starred in the adventure film A Twist of Sand (1968).

He was a Roman officer in Columna (1968) and Horatio Nelson in Emma Hamilton (1968), with Michèle Mercier. He reprised his role as Drummond in Some Girls Do (1969).

Johnson later recalled in 2000 that "It comes as a curious shock to me now to realise that I was making around £1m a year in today's money. And I managed to spend it all having a hell of a good time... I knew it wasn't going to last for ever, but I also knew I had to enjoy it while the time was right." Filmink argued "Richard Johnson never became a star despite producers trying to make him one for a decade" later suggesting "Despite all these chances as a leading man, Johnson’s essential problem as a movie star remained – he had the looks, the voice, the ability, the talent, but he lacked personality. He was an ideal foil, but he couldn’t carry a movie."

Johnson was in episodes of Quiller, Space: 1999, and Hart to Hart. He was in the films Aces High (1976), Take All of Me (1976) in Italy, The Four Feathers (1978) for Sharp, The Comeback (1978), Screamers (1979), Zombi 2 (1979), The Flame Is Love (1979), Island of the Fishmen (1979) and The Great Alligator (1979). He had the lead in A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (1979) directed by Thomas.

Producer In 1982, Johnson helped set up United British Artists, the film and theatre-producing company, along with fellow actors Albert Finney, Maggie Smith and Glenda Jackson. Johnson said, "In this profession it is mighty irritating always to be in the hands of other people, waiting on the end of a telephone, unable to guide your ship. When I propounded the idea that we all get together to do high-quality work on a continuing commercial basis, they were very enthusiastic."

Personal life By his first marriage, to Sheila Sweet, Johnson had two children, tabletop games designer son Jervis Johnson (b. 1959) and a daughter. His second wife was American actress Kim Novak, with whom he appeared in the film The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965); the marriage did not last long but they remained on friendly terms after the divorce. He also had another daughter by his third wife, Marie-Louise Norlund, Johnson then married Lynne Gurney on a beach in Goa, India, in 1989, following this with a discreet civil wedding at Kings Road, Chelsea, in 2004.

Johnson was the founder of It's a Green Green World, a global listing of environmentally friendly hotels.

Johnson died in 2015, aged 87, after a short illness at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, London.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1951 Captain Horatio Hornblower Macrae Uncredited Calling Bulldog Drummond Control Tower Operator 1952 Lady in the Fog Danny McMara 1953 Saadia Lieutenant Girard 1959 Never So Few Captain Danny De Mortimer