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Kay Johnson

Actor

Kay Johnson

Born November 29, 1904 in Mount Vernon, New York, USADied November 17, 197524 films

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Catherine Townsend "Kay" Johnson (November 29, 1904 – November 17, 1975) was an American stage and film actress. Johnson was signed to a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by Cecil B. DeMille following a performance of The Silver Cord at the Repertory Theater in Los Angeles, California. The play was produced by Simeon Gest of the Figueroa Playhouse. Her film debut came in Dynamite (1929), written by Jeanie Macpherson and featuring Charles Bickford and Conrad Nagel. Production was delayed while Johnson recovered from an appendectomy.

She went on to appear in The Ship from Shanghai (1930), This Mad World (1930), Billy the Kid (1930), The Spoilers (1930) with Gary Cooper and Betty Compson, DeMille's Madam Satan (1930), Passion Flower (1930), Capra's American Madness (1932), Thirteen Women (1932), Of Human Bondage (which starred Leslie Howard and Bette Davis), Jalna (1935) and Mr. Lucky (1943). Johnson was cast opposite Warner Baxter in a screen adaptation of Such Men Are Dangerous by Elinor Glyn. The story was adapted to the screen by Fox Film.

Johnson's final film appearance came in the 1954 British film Jivaro (also known as Lost Treasure of the Amazon).

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The best way into Kay Johnson's work
Hellzapoppin' posterFirst watchHellzapoppin'19417.2as Lena - Lady Looking for OscarOlsen and Johnson, a pair of stage comedians, try to turn their play into a movie and bring together a young couple in love, while breaking the fourth wall every step of the way.View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach

Filmography

24 films as actor
  1. 1954JivaroUmari
  2. 1943Mr. LuckyMary Ostrander
  3. 1942Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin BlakeHelena
  4. 1941Hellzapoppin'Lena - Lady Looking for Oscar
  5. 1939The Real GloryMrs. Manning
  6. 1938White BannersMarcia Ward
  7. 1935Call of the WildShow Girl (uncredited)
  8. 1935JalnaAlayne Whiteoaks
  9. 1935Village TaleJanet Stevenson
  10. 1934Their Big MomentEve Farrington
  11. 1934Of Human BondageNorah
  12. 1934This Man Is MineBee McCrae
  13. 1934Eight Girls in a BoatHannah
  14. 1932Thirteen WomenHelen Dawson Frye
  15. 1932American MadnessPhyllis Dickson
  16. 1931The SpyAnna Turin
  17. 1931The Single SinKate Adams
  18. 1930Passion FlowerKatherine Pringle Wallace 'Cassy'
  19. 1930Billy the KidClaire
  20. 1930Madam SatanAngela Brooks
  21. 1930The SpoilersHelen Chester
  22. 1930This Mad WorldVictoria
  23. 1930The Ship from ShanghaiDorothy Daley
  24. 1929DynamiteCynthia Crothers