Editing Arte Johnson (section)

==Biography==
===Early life===
Johnson was born January 20, 1929, in [[Benton Harbor, Michigan]], the son of Abraham Lincoln and Edythe Mackenzie (Goldberg/Golden) Johnson. His father was an attorney. Johnson graduated from [[Austin Community Academy High School|Austin High School]] and received a bachelor's degree in radio journalism from [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]] in 1949, where he worked at the campus radio station and the University of Illinois Theater Guild with his brother Coslough "Cos" Johnson.<ref name=Slotnik>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/03/arts/television/arte-johnson-dead.html |title=Arte Johnson, 'Very Interesting' Comic Actor, Is Dead at 90 |first=Daniel E. |last=Slotnik |date=July 3, 2019 |access-date=July 5, 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

Following brief military service in [[Korean War|Korea]] (he was discharged due to a [[Duodenum|duodenal]] [[ulcer]] he had suffered since childhood),<ref name=erickson>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4HQwCgAAQBAJ&dq=arte+johnson+military+service&pg=PA74 "From Beautiful Downtown Burbank": A Critical History of ''Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In'', 1968–1973.] [[Hal Erickson (author)|Erickson, Hal]] (2000). Jefferson, North Carolina: [[McFarland & Company|McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers]], page 74, {{ISBN|978-0-7864-4049-8}}.</ref> he sought employment in Chicago advertising agencies but was unsuccessful and left for New York City to work for [[Viking Press]]. In early 1954, Johnson performed in several New York nightclubs, including Le Ruban Bleu and the [[Village Vanguard]].<ref>''Weekly Variety'', January 20, 1954; April 7, 1954.</ref> His first job in show business came when he impulsively stepped into an audition line and was cast in ''[[Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (musical)|Gentlemen Prefer Blondes]]''. Johnson appeared in [[Ben Bagley]]'s ''The Shoestring Revue'', which opened [[off-Broadway]] on February 28, 1955, at the President Theater in New York. <ref name=Slotnik />

===Early television and film roles===
Johnson appeared three times in the 1955–1956 [[CBS]] sitcom ''[[It's Always Jan]]'', starring [[Janis Paige]] and [[Merry Anders]]. In 1956 a young Arte Johnson appeared in season 3, episode 22, of ''[[Make Room for Daddy]]'' in an episode called "Who Can Figure Kids", where he sang and danced. In 1958 he joined the cast of the short-lived [[NBC]] sitcom ''[[Sally (1957 TV series)|Sally]]''. On that program he played Bascomb Bleacher, Jr., the son of a co-owner of a [[department store]], portrayed by [[Gale Gordon]]. He played Ariel Lavalerra in the 1960 film ''[[The Subterraneans (film)|The Subterraneans]]'', an adaptation of [[Jack Kerouac]]'s [[The Subterraneans|1958 novel of the same name]]. In 1960 and 1961, he appeared in three episodes of [[Jackie Cooper]]'s military sitcom/drama series ''[[Hennesey]]'', also on CBS. In ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'' he played Mr. Bates in the episode "A Secret Life" (1962). He was cast in an episode of [[Frank Aletter]]'s sitcom ''[[Bringing Up Buddy]]''. He also appeared in an episode of ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' titled "The Whole Truth" (1961).

Before his big breakthrough in ''Laugh-In'', Johnson was cast for a guest role as Corporal Coogan in the anthology series ''[[GE True]]'' ("The Handmade Private," 1962). He played a bumbling navy cameraman on an episode of ''[[McHale's Navy]]'' in the first season and ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]'' as a hotel clerk in the episode "Andy and Barney in the Big City" (also 1962). He was a member of the regular cast of the 1962–1963 situation comedy ''[[Don't Call Me Charlie!]]'', portraying Corporal Lefkowitz. Johnson appeared in a comedic role as Charlie, a boom-microphone operator who demonstrates to [[Jack Benny]] how to tell a joke properly, on ''[[The Jack Benny Program]]'' that aired on October 2, 1964. The joke performed in the sketch was the "ugly baby" story, later associated with [[Flip Wilson]]. He made a guest appearance on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s sitcom, ''[[Bewitched]]'' as [[Samantha (Bewitched)|Samantha]]'s ([[Elizabeth Montgomery]]) Cousin Edgar in the final episode of the first season, airing on June 2, 1965. Also in 1965, Johnson played a rare dramatic supporting role in the film ''[[The Third Day (1965 film)|The Third Day]]'' as Lester Aldrich, who turns out to be the downtrodden husband of the sleazy nymphomaniac Holly.

Johnson appeared in one of the final episodes of ABC's ''[[The Donna Reed Show]]'' in 1966. He was cast in the satirical [[James Coburn]] film ''[[The President's Analyst]]'' (1967), in which he gave a comically chilling performance as a federal agent with a blindly obedient "orders are orders" mentality. He appeared in the Season 3 episode of ''[[Lost in Space]]'' titled "Princess of Space" (1968). Johnson also starred in an episode of [[Rod Serling]]'s ''[[Night Gallery]]'' titled "The Flip-Side of Satan" (1971).

===''Laugh-In''===
Johnson is best known for his work on ''[[Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In]]'' from 1968 to 1973, on which he played many characters, including "Wolfgang," a cigarette-smoking German soldier oblivious to the fact that [[World War II]] was long over, as he skulked while hidden behind a potted plant. He would then invariably comment on a preceding gag with the catchphrase "Very interesting ...," which Johnson claimed was inspired by a [[Nazi]] character who spoke the line during an interrogation scene in the film ''[[Desperate Journey]]'' (1942).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/community/chat/2002-04-05-oldfaces.htm |work=[[USA Today]] |title='Old Faces of 2002': Peter Marshall and Arte Johnson |date=2002-04-05 |access-date=April 25, 2010}}</ref> Often toward the show's close, he (as the German) would offer words of affection to "Lucy and Gary" ([[Lucille Ball]] and her second husband [[Gary Morton]]). ''[[The Lucy Show]]'' and later ''[[Here's Lucy]]'' on CBS were in [[1967–68 United States network television schedule|direct competition]] with NBC's ''Laugh-In'' on [[1968-69 United States network television schedule|Monday night]]. Johnson reprised the role briefly on ''[[Sesame Street]]'' in the early 1970s,<ref>Classic Sesame Street - Arte Johnson talks about the letter Q, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZrpfckBVJ0</ref> and while voicing the Nazi-inspired character [[Virman Vundabar]] on an episode of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/84814/Berlin-Correspondent/overview |title=Berlin Correspondent (1942) |access-date=October 12, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105023740/https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/84814/Berlin-Correspondent/overview |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |author=Hal Erickson |author-link=Hal Erickson (author) |date=2012 |archive-date=2012-11-05}}</ref>
[[File:Lucille Ball Arte Johnson Glen Campbell Hour.jpg|thumb|right|Johnson as "Tyrone F. Horneigh" approaching [[Lucille Ball]] in a sketch on ''[[The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour]]'' (1971)]]
His other prominent ''Laugh-In'' character was "Tyrone F. Horneigh" (pronounced "horn-eye," a "clean" variant of the vulgar term "horny"), the white-haired, [[trench coat]]-wearing "dirty old man" who repeatedly sought to seduce "Gladys Ormphby," ([[Ruth Buzzi]]'s brown-clad "spinster" character) on a park bench. Tyrone would enter the scene, muttering a song (usually "[[The Fountain in the Park|In the Merry, Merry Month of May]]"), and, spying Gladys on the bench, would sit next to her. He would ask her a question, and regardless of the answer, turn it into a double entendre. She would then start hitting him with her purse and he would fall off the bench, sometimes with a plea for help.

To boost ratings in the third season, Tyrone successfully courted Gladys which led to an on-air wedding on the March 16, 1970, episode during the spring ratings sweep. [[Tiny Tim (musician)|Tiny Tim]] played best man, with [[Carol Channing]] as the bridesmaid, and [[Henry Gibson]] officiating.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} Alas, both bride-to-be and groom-to-be walk out of the church just before the wedding vows are spoken.

Years after ''Laugh-In'' ended, the two characters were the subject of an animated Saturday-morning children's show, ''[[Baggy Pants and the Nitwits]]'', with Tyrone as a helpful, muttering "superhero."

Johnson and his brother Coslough earned [[Emmy Awards]] while working on ''[[Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In#Emmy Awards|Laugh-In]]{{Broken anchor|date=2024-09-04|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In#Emmy Awards|reason= The anchor (Emmy Awards) [[Special:Diff/503559346|has been deleted]].}}''.<ref name=emmy>{{cite web |url=http://www.emmys.com/bios/arte-johnson |title=Arte Johnson / Television Academy |work=[[Emmys.com]] |publisher=[[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]] |access-date=2017-11-02}}</ref><ref name="emmy_Coslough">{{cite web |url=http://www.emmys.com/bios/coslough-johnson |title=Coslough Johnson / Television Academy |work=Emmys.com |publisher=[[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]] |access-date=2017-11-02}}</ref>

===Later work===
Johnson guest-starred in two episodes of ''[[The Partridge Family]]'' ("My Heart Belongs to a Two Car Garage" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls... and Tolls... and Tolls") and the situation comedy ''[[A Touch of Grace]]'' (1973). He appeared in the first season of the Detroit-produced children's show ''[[Hot Fudge]]'' (1974) and, for one week, as a celebrity guest panelist on the game show ''[[Match Game]]''. From 1976 to 1980, Johnson was a regular celebrity guest judge on ''[[The Gong Show]]''.

In 1976, Johnson voiced the animated cartoon character [[Misterjaw]], a blue, German-accented shark, in ''[[The Pink Panther Show]]''. He also voiced the character "Rhubarb" on ''[[The Houndcats]]'' and appeared as a guest on Canadian TV show ''[[Celebrity Cooks]]'' (1976) with host [[Bruno Gerussi]]. Johnson appeared on an episode of the NBC daytime version of ''[[Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)|Wheel of Fortune]]'' in September 1977 as a substitute letter-turner, both to fill in for an injured [[Susan Stafford]], and to promote his short-lived NBC game show ''[[Knockout (game show)|Knockout]]'', which aired through early 1978. Instead of being introduced by the show's announcer, he would start the show with a small monologue, then the announcer would introduce the day's contestants. He was cast as Renfield, the comic sidekick of [[George Hamilton (actor)|George Hamilton]]'s [[Dracula]] in the film ''[[Love at First Bite]]'' (1979) and appeared in the all-star television disaster film ''[[Condominium (miniseries)|Condominium]]'' (1980). He voiced "Weerd" in ''[[The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo]]'' (1985), and played a disgruntled employee denied [[severance pay]] in an episode of ''[[Airwolf]]''. He also voiced several other characters: Dr. Ludwig Von Strangebuck and Count Ray on two episodes of ''[[DuckTales (1987 TV series)|DuckTales]]''; Devil Smurf on ''[[The Smurfs (1981 TV series)|The Smurfs]]''; [[Top Cat]] and Lou on ''[[Yo Yogi!]]''; and Newt on ''[[Animaniacs]]''. Johnson guest-starred in the ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]'' episode "No Laughing Murder" (1987). He also appeared in an episode of ''[[Night Court]]'' (1990). From 1991 to 1992, Johnson appeared in multiple episodes of ''[[General Hospital]]'' as [[List of General Hospital characters#O|Finian O'Toole]]. He played the old laboratory head of a team of scientists working on a serum of youth in ''[[Second Chance (1996 film)|Second Chance]]'' (1996).

Johnson performed more than 80 audiobook readings, including Gary Shteyngart's ''[[Absurdistan (novel)|Absurdistan]]'' (2006) and [[Carl Hiaasen]]'s ''Bad Monkey''. He appeared in the ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' episode "The Ties That Bind" (2005) as the voice of [[Virman Vundabar]], which was his final acting role before his retirement in 2006.