Arthur Vaughan Johnson (February 2, 1876 â€" January 17, 1916) was a
pioneer actor and director of the early American silent film era.Born
in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Rev. Myron A. Johnson, Arthur Vaughan
Johnson left college at 19 to join a traveling Shakespearean troupe.
He later appeared on stage with Sol Smith Russell, Robert B. Mantell
and Marie Wainwright. Johnson began as a film actor in 1905 with the
Edison Studios in The Bronx, New York, appearing in the one-reel drama
The White Caps directed by Wallace McCutcheon, Sr., and Edwin S.
Porter. In 1908, he went to work for Biograph Studios, where he acted
in films directed by D.W. Griffith including Resurrection (1909) and
In Old California (1910), the first movie Griffith ever shot in
Hollywood. At Biograph, Arthur Johnson performed with stars such as
Mary Pickford and Florence Lawrence. Johnson was reputed to be
Griffith's favorite actor.In 1911 he accepted an offer from Lubin
Studios in Philadelphia that allowed him to direct as well as act.
With Lottie Briscoe, his frequent co-star at Lubin, Johnson directed
and starred in The Belovéd Adventurer (1914), a 15 episode serial by
Emmett Campbell Hall. After performing in more than three hundred
silent film shorts and directing twenty-six, health problems ended his
career in 1915.According to an interview published nine months before
his death, Arthur V. Johnson married actress Maude Webb when he was 20
years old; the couple had a daughter who lived with Johnson's parents.
Other sources indicate that around 1910 he married Florence Hackett,
with whom he appeared in the 1913 film Power of the Cross. He died of
tuberculosis in Philadelphia in 1916, a few weeks short of his
fortieth birthday. Johnson's funeral services were held in
Philadelphia and his remains later interred at Fairview Cemetery,
Chicopee, Massachusetts. Nearby stands Grace Episcopal Church, where
his father once served as rector.
pioneer actor and director of the early American silent film era.Born
in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Rev. Myron A. Johnson, Arthur Vaughan
Johnson left college at 19 to join a traveling Shakespearean troupe.
He later appeared on stage with Sol Smith Russell, Robert B. Mantell
and Marie Wainwright. Johnson began as a film actor in 1905 with the
Edison Studios in The Bronx, New York, appearing in the one-reel drama
The White Caps directed by Wallace McCutcheon, Sr., and Edwin S.
Porter. In 1908, he went to work for Biograph Studios, where he acted
in films directed by D.W. Griffith including Resurrection (1909) and
In Old California (1910), the first movie Griffith ever shot in
Hollywood. At Biograph, Arthur Johnson performed with stars such as
Mary Pickford and Florence Lawrence. Johnson was reputed to be
Griffith's favorite actor.In 1911 he accepted an offer from Lubin
Studios in Philadelphia that allowed him to direct as well as act.
With Lottie Briscoe, his frequent co-star at Lubin, Johnson directed
and starred in The Belovéd Adventurer (1914), a 15 episode serial by
Emmett Campbell Hall. After performing in more than three hundred
silent film shorts and directing twenty-six, health problems ended his
career in 1915.According to an interview published nine months before
his death, Arthur V. Johnson married actress Maude Webb when he was 20
years old; the couple had a daughter who lived with Johnson's parents.
Other sources indicate that around 1910 he married Florence Hackett,
with whom he appeared in the 1913 film Power of the Cross. He died of
tuberculosis in Philadelphia in 1916, a few weeks short of his
fortieth birthday. Johnson's funeral services were held in
Philadelphia and his remains later interred at Fairview Cemetery,
Chicopee, Massachusetts. Nearby stands Grace Episcopal Church, where
his father once served as rector.
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