Arthur V. Johnson

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Arthur V. Johnson

Arthur V. Johnson (born February 2, 1876 in Cincinnati , Ohio , † January 17, 1916 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ) was an American actor and silent film director.

life and career

Arthur V. Johnson was born the son of a pastor and wanted to be an actor at an early age, but his father resisted it. At the age of 18, he ran away from home and joined an acting troupe. His first role was Tybalt in Shakespeare's drama Romeo and Juliet . As a stage actor, Johnson had decent, but not groundbreaking, success in the following period. As early as 1905 Johnson began working as a film actor for the Edison Manufacturing Company , so he appeared in the ten-minute short film The White Caps , directed by the pioneer Edwin S. Porter . With his good looks, Johnson took on leading roles in numerous short films. In 1908 he moved to the Biograph Studios and met the then unknown director David Wark Griffith . Johnson starred in Griffith's directorial debut The Adventures of Dollie .

Arthur Johnson was considered Griffith's favorite actor and played leading roles in numerous short films by the director, who advanced the development of the film with his innovative film techniques. In 1910, however, there was a bitter separation between the two when Johnson wanted to direct Johnson himself, which Griffith refused. The meanwhile well-known Johnson moved to the Lubin Manufacturing Company in Philadelphia , where he played leading roles and was assured that he would be allowed to direct. Among other things, he made a number of highly successful films with Florence Lawrence , most of which are now nowhere to be found. He had one of his greatest successes in 1914 with the film The Beloved Adventurer . Soon afterwards, however, signs of overwork began to appear at Johnson, who had made nearly 330 films between 1908 and 1915. His health suffered such damage that he had to retire from acting in 1915. In the same year his second wife Florence Hackett left him, who was the mother of Albert Hackett from a previous marriage . Soon after, he suffered a nervous breakdown.

Arthur Johnson died on January 17, 1916, around two weeks before his 40th birthday, of complications from tuberculosis .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Arthur V. Johnson in the Silent Hall of Fame
personal data
SURNAME Johnson, Arthur V.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and silent film director
DATE OF BIRTH February 2, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Cincinnati , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH January 17, 1916
Place of death Philadelphia , Pennsylvania