Russell Johnson
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Russell David Johnson (born November 10, 1924, in Ashley, Pennsylvania), is an American television and film actor best known as "The Professor" on the CBS television sitcom Gilligan's Island.
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[edit] Military career
Johnson joined the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. He had a very distinguished record and was highly decorated for his service. He flew 44 combat missions as a gunner in B-24 Liberator bombers, receiving a Purple Heart for injuries sustained when his plane was shot down over the Philippines. When the war ended, he joined the Army Reserves and used the GI Bill to fund his acting studies.
[edit] Movie and television career
He became a close friend of Audie Murphy and later appeared with him in one of his films. Johnson's Hollywood career began in 1952, with the college fraternity hazing exposé For Men Only. His early roles were primarily in westerns and science fiction such as It Came from Outer Space (1953), This Island Earth (1955), Attack of the Crab Monsters (1956), and The Space Children (1958). He also appeared in a Ma and Pa Kettle vehicle, Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki (1955).
[edit] Twilight Zone episodes
Johnson appeared in two episodes of note in The Twilight Zone. He attempted to prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in the time-travel episode "Back There". He also appeared as a college Professor in the episode "Execution".
[edit] "The Professor" on Gilligan's Island
He is best known to the public as "The Professor", the erudite polymath who could build all sorts of inventions out of the most rudimentary materials available on the island, but could not seem to find a way to get the castaways rescued. Gilligan's Island aired from 1964 to 1967, but has been shown in reruns continuously ever since.
Johnson was asked to take off his shirt when auditioning for the Gilligan's Island role; he refused, but still got the job.
Before accepting the role of "Roy Hinkley", he made Gilligan's Island producer Sherwood Schwartz promise him that when he made scientific statements that they would be accurate.
Johnson was typecast, but willingly participated in all the reunion movies, cartoons, and other events related to the program. When recognized as "The Professor" in public, he is gracious and friendly, and doesn't object to being addressed as such. He has also appeared at least once alongside Nobel Prize-winning scientists as part of the awards presentation panel at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremonies.
[edit] After Gilligan's Island
After Gilligan's Island, he appeared in several other movies and television shows, perhaps most notably the miniseries Vanished, based on a novel by Fletcher Knebel (1971), uncredited in the Robert Redford spy thriller, Three Days of the Condor (1975), and on the NBC soap opera Santa Barbara.
An episode of the show Newhart featured the Beavers (a men's organization) watching a Gilligan's Island marathon on TV. When they are suddenly evicted from the room, one of them, portrayed by Johnson, protests, "I want to see how it ends!" He is assured that the castaways don't get off the island.
Johnson entertained fans at the 1996 MST3K ContevtioConExpoFest-a-Rama 2: Electric Boogaloo on the "Celebrity Panel". Johnson was invited for his role in the movie-within-a-movie of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, This Island Earth, but spent most of the time answering questions about his Gilligan's Island days. He shared an amusing anecdote:
- "I was at a speaking engagement for MIT...and I said...the Professor has all sorts of degrees, including one from this very institution [MIT]! And that's WHY I can make a radio out of a coconut, and NOT fix a hole in a boat!"
[edit] Later life
His son David ran the AIDS program for Los Angeles, California until his death of AIDS in 1994. Johnson has been a full-time volunteer for AIDS research fundraising since his son was diagnosed.
Johnson has written his memoirs of the show, a book titled Here on Gilligan's Isle.
He currently lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
[edit] References
- Johnson, Russell, Steve Cox (July 1993). Here on Gilligan's Isle, 1st edition, Perennial. ISBN 0-06-096993-8.
[edit] External links
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Bob Denver (Gilligan), Alan Hale Jr. (Skipper), Russell Johnson (Professor), Tina Louise (Ginger Grant), Dawn Wells (Mary Ann), Jim Backus (Thurston Howell III), |
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Categories: 1924 births | Living people | People from the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area | American actors | American television actors | Dallas (TV series) actors | Gunsmoke actors | Knots Landing actors | MacGyver actors | American World War II veterans | United States Army soldiers | Recipients of the Purple Heart medal
