Dorothy Johnson (actress)

Dorothy Mae Johnson (October 14, 1936 – April 7, 2022) was an American actress and print model. Starting her career as a beauty queen, she was best known for acting on television and in motion pictures during the Golden Age of Hollywood as a starlet during the 1950s.[1] Dorothy Mae Johnson won the 1955 Miss Oregon beauty pageant and was first runner-up in the 1956 Miss America pageant.[2][3][4][5] The United States Marine Corps chose her to be their official Miss Leatherneck.[6]

Dorothy Johnson
Born(1936-10-14)October 14, 1936
Superior, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedApril 7, 2022(2022-04-07) (aged 85)
Ormond Beach, Florida, U.S.
Other namesDorothy Mae Johnson
Alma materAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts
Occupation(s)Film and television actor, print model
Years active1953–c. 1960
Notable credits
StyleComedy, drama
Children4, including Dorothy Papadakos
Websiteoregon55.com

Johnson was cast in the title role of Bernardine in Pat Boone's first Hollywood movie Bernardine. She was the female lead in Columbia Pictures' teen romance film Life Begins at 17 with co stars Edd Byrnes and Mark Damon.[7] She was a working actress who performed in Hollywood productions in the studio of Warner Bros., Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox and Columbia Pictures. Johnson traveled with Conrad Hilton to participate in the week-long grand opening ceremonies of the newly built Havana Hilton Hotel in Cuba in March 1958.[8][9]

Early life and career

Dorothy Mae Johnson was born in Superior, Wisconsin on October 14, 1936. Five years later in 1941 Johnson's parents moved from Wisconsin to the Portland, Oregon area and settled in Garden Home, Oregon.[10] Johnson began her modeling career in 8th grade with Maria Easterly Modeling Agency in Portland, Oregon. She was a junior print model for Jantzen swimsuits, White Stag and Pendleton Woolen Mills and appeared in a national Seventeen magazine advertisement for Skyway Luggage. During her Beaverton High School years, she studied acting at the Portland Civic Theater under the tutoring of Doris Smith.[10] A photograph of her and Debbie Reynolds together was published in the December 1953 issue of Movie Stars Parade magazine.[11][12]

Beauty queen

As a teenager, Johnson was twice chosen Miss Oregon Camera Club's queen by the state's professional photographers.[13] In 1953, at age 16, the Portland Oregon Journal Sunday magazine published a cover photo feature story by writer Bill Reasons predicting her future career in Hollywood.[14] In 1954, at age 17, she was elected by a general public newspaper vote in Oregon's KPTV-Portland Miss Flowers of '54 contest to represent the florist industry as their theme girl for the next year.[15]

Johnson was selected Miss Beaverton on April 14, 1955.[16] Sponsored by the Beaverton, Oregon Junior Chamber of Commerce Jaycees, she entered and won the 1955 Miss Oregon beauty pageant held at Seaside, Oregon on July 17, 1955.[17][18] This earned her a trip to the 1956 Miss America Pageant held in Atlantic City, New Jersey. For her talent portion of the Miss America pageant she performed a soliloquy of Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene from Macbeth by William Shakespeare.[19] As an 18-year-old she performed before 20,000 spectators in the historic Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall and a live national television audience of 30 million viewers.[19] After a week of competition, on the final night of the pageant, September 10, 1955, Johnson was named Miss America first runner-up.[19] The next week her photo appeared in Time magazine.[20] With her pageant $3,000 scholarship winnings she attended the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, the oldest English-speaking acting school in the world.[21][22] After one year studying in New York, she moved to Hollywood, California to pursue her career in show business.[23]

USMC Miss Leatherneck

After her Miss America pageant performance, she caught the eye of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) who selected her to be their Miss Leatherneck in 1955. Johnson's long time association with the USMC began in 1954 working with the Marine Corps Reserves at Swan Island in Portland, Oregon.[24] For two years, in 1956 and 1957, the USMC public relations department kept Miss Leatherneck busy traveling the country appearing on bases, at special events and in the media as their goodwill ambassador spokesperson promoting the USMC.[25] In 2014 Leatherneck Magazine did a follow-up photo story about her titled "Miss Leatherneck: The Marine Corps' Golden Girl". She was the only official Miss Leatherneck in the history of the Marine Corps.[6]

Ronald Reagan and Los Angeles Home Show Queen

In 1958 while attending U.C.L.A., she was chosen to be the Queen of the Los Angeles Home Show.[26] She was chosen to be queen out of 300 contestants.[27] Among her duties was to meet and greet the public each day during the event held at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium. As Home Show Queen she appeared together with Ronald Reagan spokesperson for General Electric in a publicity photograph from the event. As a college student and working actress, her photo regularly appeared in Los Angeles, Southern California area newspapers including a story on the marvels of modern fingerprinting in the banking industry.[28]

Film career

The Joker Is Wild

Her first speaking part in a Hollywood motion picture was in the birthday cake scene with veteran actors Eddie Albert and Jackie Coogan in the Frank Sinatra movie The Joker Is Wild directed by Charles Vidor and released by Paramount Pictures in October 1957.[29] Her line of dialogue was "What will he do? All he knows is show business."

Bernardine

Film producer Sam Engel cast her in the title role of Bernardine, the fictitious ideal dream woman of Pat Boone and his friends in the movie Bernardine.[29] The pin-up swimsuit image of Dorothy Johnson as Bernardine was photographed by famous Hollywood studio photographer Frank Powolny and appeared in the movie and promotional materials.[30] Bernardine was Pat Boone's first feature film and released by Twentieth Century Fox Studios in America in 1957.[31][32] The movie's title song Bernardine sung by Pat Boone with music and lyrics composed by Johnny Mercer became a popular hit on the radio.[33]

Life Begins at 17

Producer Sam Katzman cast her as the female lead in his teen romance drama motion picture titled Life Begins at 17 filmed at Columbia Studios in Hollywood.[34] The movie was released in July 1958.[35] Her co-stars were Edd Byrnes and Mark Damon.[36] Also included in the cast were Luana Anders, Ann Doran, Hugh Sanders.[37] The Columbia Studios movie was scripted by Richard Baer (writer) and directed by Arthur Driefus for Katzman's Clover Productions.[38] Scriptwriter Baer's maternal uncle was David Sarnoff, a broadcasting pioneer who headed the RCA company.

The Flying Fontaines

Katzman again cast her in a credited role in another of his movies for Clover Productions', The Flying Fontaines released by Columbia Pictures in 1959.[39][40] She portrayed Sally, the leader of the circus' all-female orchestra in the circus themed movie starring Michael Callan.[41][42]

The Littlest Hobo

Johnson appeared as Sister Ophelia in the Allied Artists Pictures Corporation movie The Littlest Hobo.[43] The motion picture was filmed at studios located on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and released in the United States on July 6, 1958.[44] The movie featured the animal adventures of London the German Shepherd dog who saves Fleecie the Lamb from the slaughter house, outwits the authorities and befriends a young girl.[45] The 1958 movie was the basis for the popular The Littlest Hobo Canadian television series of the same name.[46] The 1958 movie's rights are controlled by Warner Brothers Television and the family friendly movie was re-released on home video DVD in December 2016.

Television career

Groucho Marx

Johnson appeared as a contestant on the Groucho Marx national broadcast television game show You Bet Your Life filmed in Hollywood on May 30, 1957.[47] She answered questions in the music category, won $500 and a kiss from Groucho Marx.

Jerry Lewis

Johnson appeared in two sketches with Jerry Lewis on his Father's Day NBC live television Color Carnival special broadcast Saturday June 8, 1957. In the first sketch she plays a member of the studio audience interviewed and kissed by Jerry Lewis. In the second comedy sketch The Olive Thief, she is the wife of a murdered man as Jerry Lewis' character attempts to solve the mystery. The 60-minute program was performed live and broadcast nationally from Hollywood in color at the time but only black and white copies of this program are still known to exist.

Bob Cummings

Producer Paul Henning cast her in several episodes of the popular Bob Cummings television show Love That Bob. Episodes where she is credited include "Bob Retrenches" aired on NBC-TV April 8, 1958, "Bob Judges a Beauty Pageant" aired on NBC-TV December 16, 1958, and "Bob and the Dumb Blonde" aired on NBC-TV September 30, 1958.

Bat Masterson

Johnson was cast in the part of Claire Cantrell in an episode titled "Death by the Half Dozen" of Bat Masterson, a popular western television series starring Gene Barry as Masterson. Her character is the fiancée of the sheriff of Mesquite Springs, Nevada. While riding in a stage coach, she gets kidnapped by an outlaw gang and held for ransom. She is rescued by Masterson at the end of the episode. The program was produced by Ziv Television Productions for Warner Brothers and broadcast in prime time by ABC-TV on February 4, 1960.[48]

Overland Trail

Johnson portrayed the character Lady Luck, a saloon girl, in a poker table scene with actors Doug McClure and Harry Guardino in the episode "Daughter of the Sioux" of television western series Overland Trail broadcast by NBC-TV on March 20, 1960.

Bourbon Street Beat

Johnson was cast in a feature role as Donna Sue Edison in an episode of Bourbon Street Beat a detective series murder mystery set in New Orleans. The episode was titled "The Missing Queen" broadcast by ABC-TV on March 14, 1960. The cast included regulars Richard Long and Andrew Duggan with guest co-stars Diane McBain, Roscoe Ates and Lurene Tuttle.[49] The episode was a Warner Brothers Television Production directed by Paul Henreid, produced by Charles Hoffman with executive producer William T. Orr.

Television commercials

Johnson made television commercials during her career for products including Elgin Watches, Carnation Milk, Tang breakfast drink, Buick Automobiles, Helene Curtis Hair Products, Sterling Beer, Winston Cigarettes, Bayer Aspirin and the United States Marine Corp. Her likeness was featured in commercial print model work for the State of Oregon Development Commission, Mobil Oil, Skyway Luggage, Jantzen swimsuits, Pendleton Woolen Mills blankets and Nordstrom Department Stores.

Personal life and death

As of 2012, Johnson was living in Florida, running a landscaping business.[10] She had four children, including a daughter, Dorothy Papadakos, who is a noted concert organist, playwright, and author.[2]

Johnson died in Ormond Beach, Florida on April 7, 2022, at the age of 85.[50]

References
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  2. Sloan, Jim (May 25, 1995). "Entertainment News". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 47. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  3. "Beaverton girl wins title". Eugene Oregon Register-Guard. No. Front page 1. Associated Press, Seaside Oregon. July 18, 1955.
  4. "Miss Oregon plans to enroll in UCLA". Eugene Oregon Register Guard. No. Page 2. Associated Press. September 12, 1955.
  5. "Miss Oregon Page #3". Miss Oregon. 1955 Dorothy Mae Johnson: Miss America Pageant First Runner-Up
  6. Baker, Roxanne (May 2014). "Miss Leatherneck: The Marine Corps' Golden Girl". Leatherneck Magazine. pp. 50, 51. Archived from the original on May 13, 2015.
  7. "Life Begins at 17 movie poster". alamy.com.
  8. Winchell, Joan (March 25, 1958). "Batista bows to Hilton". Los Angeles Times. No. Page 23, 27.
  9. "Inauguranan Habana-Hilton". No. Page A1, B7, suplemento 8. Decano De La Prensa De Cuba. Dairio De La Marina. March 22, 1958.
  10. Mason, Richard (November 21, 2012). "Dorothy Johnson Recollections". Garden Home History Project. Garden Home, Oregon. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  11. "Dorothy Johnson and Debbie Reynolds at Los Angeles Rodeo Show". Movie Stars Parade. Hollywood, California: Ideal Publications. December 1953.
  12. "Dorothy Johnson: Photos". oregon55.com. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  13. Allara, Maxwell (January 22, 1954). "Beaverton blonde favorite subject with camera club". No. Friday. Portland Oregon Oregonian newspaper. Portland Oregon Oregonian newspaper.
  14. Reasons, Bill (August 30, 1953). "Television or Hollywood". Oregon Journal. pp. Cover, 4, 5.
  15. "Dorothy Johnson crowned Miss Flowers 1954". Portland Oregonian. May 5, 1954.
  16. "Miss Beaverton selected". Valley News. No. Page 1. Beaverton, Oregon. April 14, 1955.
  17. "Year in review". Valley News. No. Page 6. Beaverton, Oregon. Valley News Beaverton Oregon. January 9, 1956.
  18. "Miss Oregon results". The Seaside Oregon Signal. Seaside, Oregon. July 14, 1955. p. 1.
  19. Boucher, John (September 11, 1955). "Miss America Results". Atlantic City New Jersey Press. No. Sunday Page 1.
  20. "Search for a new Queen, News in Pictures". Time. September 19, 1955.
  21. Allman, Dr. David B. (September 1956). Reigning Court of Honor (Atlantic City presents ed.). The Miss America Pageant. pp. 5, 18.
  22. "Departure for American Academy of Dramatic Arts". Portland Oregon Journal. No. Final Street Edition Page 1. C.S. Jackson. October 12, 1955.
  23. "Fling at movie career awaits Portland beauty". Portland Oregonian. May 27, 1956.
  24. Heincke, MSgt Roy E. (October 1955). "Portland Reservist". Leatherneck Magazine. Vol. XXXVIII, no. 10. p. Page 48, 49.
  25. "Guest of Honor Jaycee Sponsored Miss Oak Ridge Pageant". Knoxville News-Sentinel. Associated Press. June 12, 1956.
  26. "Home Show Queen Named". No. 27. San Bernardino Sun Telegram. California Digital Newspaper Collection. June 15, 1958.
  27. "Home Show Queen Contestants". Los Angeles Examiner. USC digital library. June 4, 1958.
  28. "Fingerprinting". Los Angeles Examiner Photographic Collection. USC digital library. April 20, 1958.
  29. Mike, B. (February 12, 1957). "Entertainment". Portland Oregonian Newspaper. p. 2.
  30. Marks, Arnold (1957). "Stage and Screen Dorothy Johnson". Portland Oregon Journal newspaper.
  31. Proctor, Kay (June 22, 1957). "Musical Joy and a Boone". Los Angeles Examiner. No. 12.
  32. "Bernardine movie review". The New York Times. April 26, 1958.
  33. Pat Boone records Bernardine. March 21, 1957. p. 6. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  34. Ives, James D. (June 23, 1958). "Life Begins at 17 review". Motion Picture Daily. Vol. 83, no. 113. New York City: Quigley Publishing Co. p. 4.
  35. "Life Begins at 17 Review". Harrison's Reports. New York City. June 21, 1958. p. 99.
  36. "Life Begins at 17". Daily News-Tribune. No. 154. Madera, California. December 16, 1958. p. 2.
  37. "Life Begins at 17 1958 movie". TV Guide.
  38. "Life Begins at 17 1958 movie". Turner Classic Movies.
  39. Motion Picture Daily Katzman returns to edit The Flying Fontaines. New York City: Quigley Publishing Co. July 9, 1959. p. 7.
  40. Ostrove, Saul (December 11, 1959). The Flying Fontaines. p. 6. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  41. "The Flying Fontaines". tcm.com. Turner Classic Movies.
  42. The Flying Fontaines (Vol XL No. 50 ed.). New York City: Harrison's Reports. December 12, 1959. p. 200.
  43. "The Littlest Hobo". tcm.com. Turner Classic Movies.
  44. The Littlest Hobo movie review (Vol XL No, 28 ed.). New York City: Harrison's Reports. July 12, 1958. p. 112.
  45. Berns, Samuel D. (July 9, 1958). The Littlest Hobo review. p. 5. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  46. Hobo films Pilot. August 20, 1958. p. 4. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  47. Associated Press (May 31, 1957). "Dorothy Johnson, Groucho Marx photograph". Portland Oregon Journal. C.S. Jackson.
  48. "Bat Masterson Death by the Half Dozen Season 2 Episode 17". TV Guide.com. CBS Interactive.
  49. "Bourbon Street Beat Missing Queen Season 1 Episode 23". TV Guide.com. CBS Interactive.
  50. "Dorothy Mae Johnson (Papadakos) (White) Stevens obituary". Garden Home History Project. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
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