Richard Johnson (actor)

Richard Keith Johnson (30 July 1927 – 5 June 2015) was an English stage and screen actor, writer and producer.

He trained at RADA and due to the manpower shortage of wartime made his first professional appearance relatively quickly, on stage in Manchester with John Gielgud's company in a production of Hamlet in 1944.

He served in the Royal Navy from 1945 to 1948.

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.

In 1958 he appeared in Peter Hall's first production at the theatre, Cymbeline, alongside Peggy Ashcroft.

Reviews were strong, praising Johnson as "The finest romantic actor of his generation".

Johnson appeared in the title role in Tony Richardson's production of Pericles, Prince of Tyre in 1958.

The same year he was in Twelfth Night (as Sir Andrew Aguecheek) for Peter Hall.

Hall took over the direction of the company in 1959 – it was renamed the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), and he invited Johnson to be part of the first group of actors to be named an Associate Artist of the RSC, a position he retained until he died.

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 was director Terence Young's preferred choice for the role of James Bond in the first film in the series, but he had to turn the role down as he was under contract to MGM.

Johnson said later, "Eventually they offered it to Sean Connery, who was completely wrong for the part. But in getting the wrong man they got the right man, because it turned the thing on its head and he made it funny. And that's what propelled it to success."

Described by Michael Coveney as "a very 'still' actor – authoritative, calm and compelling," he was a staple performer in British films and television from the 1960s until the 2010s, often playing urbane sophisticates and authoritative characters.

He had a distinguished theatrical career, notably as a cornerstone member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and was once acclaimed as "the finest romantic actor of his generation."

Johnson was born to Frances Louisa Olive (née Tweed) and Keith Holcombe Johnson in Upminster, Essex.

Johnson went to Felsted School, and wanted to act instead of going into the family paint business.

He also appeared in episodes of Assignment Foreign Legion, The Buccaneers, Armchair Theatre, and Four Just Men, and had the lead in Epilogue to Capricorn (1960).

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.