Sammy Johnson
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| Sammy Johnson | |
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 Sammy Johnson |
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| Born | Ronald Samuel Johnson May 14, 1949  Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England |
| Died | November ?, 1998 (age 49) Málaga, Spain |
Sammy Johnson was an English actor (born May 14, 1949, Gateshead).
[edit] Biography
The son of Samuel Johnson and Thomasina (Tina) Scott, his birth name was Ronald Samuel Johnson. He was brother to two brothers Kenneth (who died in September 1964), Raymond (Jimmy) and two sisters Valerie and Catherine. He has two children Lorraine and Lynn.
Johnson was raised in Gateshead and lived on the Springwell Estate. From an early age he was interested in music and played guitar, which he wore around his neck. Later he became a member of the band Pigmeat along with Jim Murray and Ray Stubbs. After playing bass guitar at Live Theatre in a panto he was asked to act in the show. He applied for Equity membership but they already had a 'Ron Johnson' so he used his father's name of 'Sammy'. He appeared in several TV productions and often worked with local writers like C. P. Taylor, Tom Hadaway, Leonard Barras and Arthur McKenzie but continued to be a musician with the 'Ray Stubbs R&B Allstars' as well as forming 'Matt Vinyl and the Decorators'.
He was then chosen by Jimmy Nail to play 'Stick' in Spender, which was written by Jimmy Nail and Ian La Frenais. Other famous roles he played were in VIZ's Sid the Sexist and in ITV's adaptation of Catherine Cookson's The Gambling Man as Victor Pittie. He then turned to scriptwriting and moved to Spain in the hills above Malaga which is where he died while out jogging in 1998 at the age of 49.
After his death, the Sammy Johnson Memorial Fund was set up. There is a biannual variety concert named "Sunday for Sammy" hosted by Jimmy Nail and Tim Healy, featuring sketches with North East personalities. Kevin Whately, Denise Welch and Peter Beardsley are amongst the regular contributors. The show is usually staged at Newcastle City Hall, but moved to The Sage Gateshead in 2006. It will return to the City Hall for the performances on 10 February 2008.
