Lamont Johnson

Johnson was born in Stockton, California on September 30, 1922 and went to the University of California where he attended Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater. He married Toni Merrill in 1945 and they had three children, Jeremy, Carolyn and Christopher Anthony.

Lamont’s radio career included The Adventures of Frank Merriwell, an adventure for children based on Gilbert Patton’s (pen name, Burt L. Standish) dime store novels. The NBC show played from 1946 to 1949 and Lamont was part of the cast, which included Lawson Zerbe as Frank Merriwell. Lamont was also part of the cast of Alias Jane Doe, an adventure/drama on CBS in 1951; Broadway is My Beat, a crime/drama that ran from 1949 until 1954.

Later, Johnson joined the cast of Let’s Pretend, a radio program for children and The Modern Adventures of Casanova, a romance/thriller starring Errol Flynn. Probably his most famous radio role was a Tarzan from 1950 through June 1953. The Tarzan radio show is said to be the first major syndicated serial. With his deep bass voice, Johnson played Tarzan perfectly. Johnson was also part of many radio soap opera casts and an occasional player in Theater of Romance, Crime Classics,Hallmark Playhouse, The Whistler, Tales of the Texas Ranger, Radio City Playhouse, Romance and Suspense.

Johnson’s directing career began when he met Gertrude Stein who gave him the rights to her play, Yes is for a Very Young Man and he later directed it in as off Broadway play. Among the stars were Bea Arthur, Anthony Franciosa and Gene Saks. After that play, he quit directing for awhile, but in 1955 he directed the television program, Wuthering Heights, part of the drama series, Matinee Theater, which starred Richard Boone. Then, in 1958, Boone insisted that Johnson was hired for six episodes of Have Gun, Will Travel and his career in television really began to excel.

Known in the entertainment business as an “actor’s director” and a “director’s director,” Lamont Johnson was the recipient of eleven Emmy nominations during his lifetime – and won for best director in 1985 for Wallenberg: A Hero’s Story and then again in 1988 for Gore Vidal’s Lincoln. Although his big screen credits are many, his best work was in television, where he excelled in television movies – among them, Unnatural Causes, an Agent Orange depiction starring John Ritter as a Vietnam vet.

Johnson’s prolific career spanned the stage, radio, and television, including mini-series, movies and opera. Among some of Lamont’s most notable television film series that he directed were: The Naked City, Young Doctor Kildare, The Kennedy’s of Massachusetts and The Man Next Door.

Happy listening my friends,