Howard Johns
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Howard Johns (b. January 2, 1962, Sydney, Australia) is a well-known television personality, film historian and author based in Palm Springs, California.
He has made numerous guest appearances on all the American networks and many cable stations discussing the lives and deaths of famous celebrities.
His extensive knowledge of movie trivia was accumulated from working as a film and TV publicist for various Hollywood studios.
Among his many TV appearances are the documentary specials Behind the Screen with John Burke and Legendary Hollywood Homes on American Movie Classics, as well as Mysteries & Scandals, E! True Hollywood Story and Hollywood Home Movies on E! Entertainment Television.
Johns met and befriended many actors such as Mel Gibson, Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Melanie Griffith, Charlton Heston, Tony Curtis, Vincent Price, George Montgomery and Marie Windsor. More recently, he was the publicist for cult B movie actor and gay icon George Nader who died in 2002.
In addition, Johns has been interviewed in such influential publications as the New York Times and Vanity Fair. His articles have also been referenced or quoted in the book Palm Springs Modern and Architectural Digest magazine. He previously worked as a foreign correspondent for the Australian Women’s Weekly, Sydney Morning Herald, Campaign, and TV Week.
From 1996 to 2002, Johns was editor-at-large for Palm Springs Life, a glossy monthly magazine, where he interviewed and wrote cover stories about Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Kirk Douglas, Suzanne Somers, and George Hamilton.
In 1998, Johns was hired as a field producer for NBC News. He was one of the first journalists to report on Congressman Sonny Bono’s death in a skiing accident when he personally escorted TV crews to Bono’s Palm Springs home. He also was a guest commentator for CNN during televised news coverage of Bono's funeral.
Among the breaking entertainment stories that Johns reported for national news media was the burial of Sinatra in 1998, the funeral of actress Loretta Young in 2000, and the emergency medical treatment of Hope for intestinal bleeding in 2000, as well as the hospitalization of Betty Hutton for a stroke in 2001. Johns also covered the police arrest and court appearance in Indio of Robert Downey Jr., for drug possession and parole violation in 2000.
Johns has challenged several Hollywood myths during televised interviews. In 2000, he upset fans of the late actor Alan Ladd when he declared that Ladd’s death was a deliberate suicide, not an accidental drug overdose.
He also maintained that the death of comedian Paul Lynde was the result of Lynde’s use of amyl nitrate, also known as poppers, which resulted in a heart attack. Johns stated for the record what had previously only been a rumor.
In 2004, Johns wrote the controversial book Palm Springs Confidential: Playground of the Stars (ISBN 1569802971), which published the private addresses of many current celebrities such as Barry Manilow, Keely Smith, Huell Howser, and Lily Tomlin.
As well as contributing a regular byline, Johns has also been featured on the weekly tabloid programs Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, and Hard Copy. Because of his first-hand knowledge about celebrities, he is regularly consulted by travel editors, news directors and segment producers, who use him as a reliable source of background information.
In 2006, Johns wrote a lurid, 500-page sequel to his previous book titled Hollywood Celebrity Playground (ISBN 156980303X) that covered the outlying heavily populated celebrity townships of Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta and Indio. He was again criticized for revealing previously unpublished private addresses of hundreds of film and television celebrities, among them Paul Newman, Cher, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Oliver Stone, Merv Griffin, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Hollywood Celebrity Playground received widespread news coverage on CBS and ABC affiliate television stations in Palm Springs for violating Betty Ford Center employee confidentiality agreements in which Johns made public the names of scores of celebrity patients including Elizabeth Taylor, Chevy Chase, Kelsey Grammer, Anna Nicole Smith and Billy Joel, who had been treated at the famous clinic for alcohol and drug addiction.
Johns’ heavily researched book also revealed actors’ police records, as well as transcripts of murder trials, and violent homicides. Johns has fought an ongoing media battle against suppression of these books, which defend the First Amendment and challenge right to privacy issues.
Despite this controversy, his books continue to sell at a rapid rate. However, several celebrities who own homes in Palm Springs and Palm Desert have reportedly asked local bookstores to boycott distribution and sales of his books. So far, their actions have met with little public support.
