Van Johnson: MGM's Golden Boy

Hollywood Legends

by Ronald L. Davis

Van Johnson's dazzling smile, shock of red hair, and suntanned freckled cheeks made him a movie-star icon. Among teenaged girls in the 1940s, he was popularized as the bobbysoxer's heartthrob. He won the nation's heart, too, by appearing in a series of blockbuster war films-- A Guy Named Joe , Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo , Weekend at the Waldorf , and Battleground . Perennially a leading man opposite June Allyson, Esther Williams, Judy Garland, and Janet Leigh, he rose to fame radiating the sunshine image Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer chose for him, that of an affable, wholesome boy-next-door. Legions of adoring moviegoers were captivated by this idealized persona that generated huge box-office profits for the studio. However, Johnson's off-screen life was not so sunny. His mother had rejected him in childhood, and he lived his adult life dealing with sexual ambivalence. A marriage was arranged with the ex-wife of his best friend, the actor Keenan Wynn. During the waning years of Hollywood's Golden Age, she and Johnson lived amid the glow of Hollywood's A-crowd. Yet their private life was charged with tension and conflict. Although morose and reclusive by nature, Johnson maintained a happy-go-lucky façade, even among co-workers who knew him as a congenial, dedicated professional. Once free of the golden-boy stereotype, he became a respected actor assigned stellar roles in such acclaimed films as State of the Union , Command Decision , The Last Time I Saw Paris , and The Caine Mutiny . With the demise of the big studios, Johnson returned to the stage, where he had begun his career as a song-and-dance man. After this, he appeared frequently in television shows, performed in nightclubs, and became the legendary darling of older audiences on the dinner playhouse circuit. Johnson (1916-2008) spent his post-Hollywood years living in solitude in New York City. This solid, thoroughly researched biography traces the career and influence of a favorite star and narrates a fascinating, sometimes troubled life story.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published August 8, 2001

About the author

Ronald L. Davis is professor of history emeritus at Southern Methodist University (SMU) where he served as director of the university's DeGolyer Institute for American Studies and the Oral History Program.

Reviews

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author has obsession with sex. At the beginning of the book there is some mention of sex on almost every page although it seems to peter out [teehee] towards the end. The author was so desperate to accumulate evidence that Van Johnson was gay that sometimes he stretched facts to the absolute limit. On page 34, as evidence for Van Johnson's gaiety, the author says that other people around him were. That would be significant if homosexuality were contagious. While working on Broadway in New York Johnson was "surrounded by homosexuals." On the very next page, he says that Dezi Arnaz hung out with exactly the same crowd and that homosexuals were attracted to him but he didn't succumb. The author is confident that Dezi went no further than "joining them for an occasional drink."

I'm very disappointed that there are only some small publicity photos in the book. The author spends a lot of time in describing Van Johnson physically but not one photo of before or after his peak fame. It would have been interesting to see a photo taken of the younger and older Van Johnson.

Nitpicking: The trees are not covered with leaves in the winter in New England. (page 11).

The statement on the back cover (The only full-length biography of this immensely popular screen star of the 1940's and 1950's) is technically incorrect. The author was aware that there was a previous Van Johnson biography, Van Johnson: The Luckiest Guy in the World by Elizabeth Beecher, because it is listed in his "Bibliographical Essay" on page 239 and he has reviewed it, describing it as useless to the serious researcher. Well, after all, it is one of a series of entertainment books that Whitman published for children, not researchers.

Also in the "Bibliographical Essay" at the end of the book the author cites a book written by Van Johnson's ex-wife's son, We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills: Growing Up Crazy in Hollywood, numerous times calling it "discerning" on page 231, "remarkable" on the top of page 234, "insightful" on the bottom of page 234, and a "major source" on page 236. It was a major source of information, possibly second to telephone interviews with Van Johnson's ex-wife. For years before she died in 2004, there were reports that she was going to write a blistering tell-all book of her own called All About Evie, but it was never published.

[seemoya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely an illuminating read. I've been in love with Van Johnson for a couple of months now, and I've watched 24 of his movies this year alone. Reading this book allowed me to come away with a better understanding about him as an actor, movie star, and person.

He was a unique screen personality. Greer Garson described him as a big and burly Shirley Temple, and Van was hugely popular with bobby soxers. Davis' assessments are usually correct, especially when he states that Van had sexual virility but was non threatening. That's the exact secret to his appeal for me personally. I find him utterly adorable but sexy too.

The anecdotes about the bobby soxers were so hilarious and extremely relatable.
"For Van we live
For Van we die
This man we love
For him we sigh" !!!!

Davis' book is thoroughly researched, although the photos are lacking. There are none of Van as a child or teen (thank God for the fan magazines!) and none of him as an older man. Van was still alive when the book was published in 2001. The photos selected were mainly publicity photos for the films as well as some candid shots. That's really only my major quibble.

Van Johnson was a perennially youthful boy next door, a picture of good health and cheer with a beautiful crop of strawberry blonde hair and freckles. He masked his gloominess with an engaging, sunny, boyish demeanor. He was content to be coddled by MGM, his one true home, the real world as he called it, but he was emotionally stunted and insecure as a result.

Maybe some of his star persona was a facade, but he truly was an underestimated actor, and ultimately just a flawed human being like any of us.

[Samantha Glasser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Van Johnson was a babyfaced MGM star of the 1940s. He made many war films, playing heroic soldiers with women waiting at home, because he was unable to serve himself thanks to a traffic accident that almost left him dead. He had a long career and during the time of this book's publication, he was still alive.

As an avid Van fan, I loved this book. It was the first access I ever had to such a wealth of knowledge, and Davis has done his homework. I have read conflicting statements on Van's rumored homosexuality which this book embraces as fact. That sometimes turns off lifelong fans, but the author doesn't show the evidence in a negative light.