Kay Johnson
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Kay Johnson (November 29, 1904 – November 17, 1975) was an actress who performed on the stage and in Hollywood films beginning in 1929.
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[edit] Family
Katharine Johnson was born in Mount Vernon, New York in 1904. Her father was architect Thomas R. Johnson who designed several noteworthy buildings in the New York City. Among these include the Woolworth Building, the New York Customs House, and library buildings. The actress once commented that her father's death in 1914 was hastened by his not having receiving credit for his work on the Woolworth Building.[citation needed] Kay, as she was known, resolved to become an actress after leaving boarding school in Ohio. Her mother reluctantly permitted her to take a course at the American Academy of Dramatic Art.
[edit] Stock Actress
Her first leading role was in a play called Beggar on Horseback. Her first stage work of note was in the production of R.U.R. in Chicago. She moved to California after appearing in The Little Accident in Providence, Rhode Island. She was accompanied on her trip west by her soon to-be-husband John Cromwell who worked as a director in Hollywood. They wed in October 1928.
[edit] Film career
Kay Johnson was signed to a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by Cecil B. DeMille following a performance of the The Silver Cord at the Repertory Theater in Los Angeles, California. The play was produced by Simeon Gest of the Figueroa Playhouse. Her film debut came in Dynamite (1929). DeMille praised her work in this feature, comparing her to silent film star Gloria Swanson, as the Swanson of voice. Dynamite was written by Jeanie Macpherson and featured Charles Bickford and Conrad Nagel. Johnson played the feminine lead despite having been delayed for a bit because of an operation to remove her appendix.
She went on to appear in The Ship From Shanghai (1930), This Mad World (1930), Billy the Kid (1930), The Spoilers (1930) with Gary Cooper and Betty Compson (the film was remade in 1942 with Marlene Dietrich in Compson's part and John Wayne in Cooper's role), Madame Satan (1930), Thirteen Women (1932), Of Human Bondage (which starred Leslie Howard and Bette Davis), The Call of the Wild (1935) and The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944). Johnson was cast opposite Warner Baxter in a screen adaptation of Such Men Are Dangerous by Elinor Glyn. The story was adapted to the screen by Fox Film.
Johnson's film career continued until 1954 when her final appearance came in the UK film Jivaro (aka Lost Treasure of the Amazon).
[edit] Death
Kay Johnson died in Waterford, Connecticut, aged 70.
[edit] Family
She and her husband, director John Cromwell are the parents of actor James Cromwell.
[edit] References
- Los Angeles Times, Demille Features Child Actor, January 17, 1929, Page A10.
- Los Angeles Times, Kay Johnson Under Knife, March 3, 1929, Page C15.
- Los Angeles Times, Kay Johnson Continues, May 30, 1929, Page A6.
- Los Angeles Times, Kay Johnson, as Genteel Heroine of Cecil B. DeMille, Plays First Screen Role, July 21, 1929, Page B13.
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