Ричард Джонсон: Өмірі мен шығармашылығы

British actor (1927 2015)

Richard Keith Johnson (30 July 1927 – 5 June 2015) was an English stage and screen actor, writer and producer. Described by Michael Coveney as "a very 'still' actor – authoritative, calm and compelling," and was once acclaimed as "the finest romantic actor of his generation." Johnson went to Felsted School, and wanted to act instead of going into the family paint business. He trained at RADA and due to the manpower shortage of wartime made his first professional appearance relatively quickly, on stage in Manchester with John Gielgud's company in a production of Hamlet in 1944. He served in the Royal Navy from 1945 to 1948.

Johnson made his screen debut in an adaptation of Tusitala for BBC Sunday Night Theatre. He made his film debut with an uncredited part in Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951) and was also uncredited in Calling Bulldog Drummond (1951). He was at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre from 1952 to 1957. "It was an electric time to be in that company", he later recalled. Johnson played Mr Wickham in a 1952 TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (with Peter Cushing as Darcy) and was D'Artagnan in a TV adaptation of The Three Musketeers (1952). He could be seen in Lady in the Fog (1952), "The Mayor of Torontal" for Wednesday Theatre (1952), The Heir of Skipton (1953), Saadia (1953) for MGM, A Party for Christmas (1954), The Queen Came By (1954), "The Rescue" for ITV Television Playhouse, "The Orderly" for Theatre Royal, and Plaintiff in a Pretty Hat (1955). In 1955 he was in The Lark, by Jean Anouilh, with Dorothy Tutin. He was Laertes to Paul Scofield's Hamlet in 1956. That was directed by Peter Brook who also directed Johnson in Heaven and Earth (1957). In 1958 he and Tutin played Romeo and Juliet at Stratford.

After Johnson's stage performances had received excellent reviews, MGM offered him a long term contract in June 1959. His first work for the studio was in Never So Few (1959) with Frank Sinatra. "I never took myself very seriously as a movie star", said Johnson later. "But it was thrilling to be among the idols I'd worshipped as a kid. I did a test with Gary Cooper, went to a party with Spencer Tracy, made a film with Frank Sinatra." Johnson did Ondine on stage for the RSC with Leslie Caron and director Peter Hall (this was filmed in 1961). Also for TV he did productions of Journey's End, This Happy Breed, Sword of Vengeance and The Sponge Room. In 1961–62 he portrayed Clive Root on Broadway in Graham Greene's The Complaisant Lover, which ran for 101 performances at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Johnson was second billed to George Sanders in Cairo (1963) for MGM British. He co starred with Claire Bloom in 80,000 Suspects (1963) for Val Guest. He was then in The Haunting (1963) also featuring Claire Bloom and Julie Harris. It was directed by Robert Wise who said Johnson has "the attack of the young Gable" and predicted he would be a big star. Johnson wrote a play The Golden Age, composed from poems, diaries and speeches from the age of Queen Elizabeth I. It had a short run on Broadway in 1963. In 1964 he did a Kingsley Amis script, A Question of Happiness #1: A Question About Hell for TV, followed by A Question of Happiness #2: Another Port, Another Storm. Johnson had a support role in The Pumpkin Eater (1964) and went to France for The Other Woman (1964). He did episodes of Armchair Mystery Theatre, The Human Jungle, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He also portrayed Duncan Sandys in Operation Crossbow (1965).

Johnson was second billed to Kim Novak in The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965), directed by Terence Young. When filming ended, Johnson and Novak were married. Around this time he expressed interest in writing and directing as well as acting. Johnson was Colonel Stewart in Khartoum (1966) with Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier. He was top billed in the Italian horror film The Witch (1966) then was cast as Bulldog Drummond in Deadlier Than the Male (1967) with Elke Sommer for director Ralph Thomas, a James Bond style adventure. He supported Anthony Quinn and Rita Hayworth in The Rover (1967), again directed by Young. He starred in another James Bond type spy film, Danger Route (1967) for director Seth Holt. He announced he had formed his own company and would star in An Alibi for a Playboy but it was not made. Johnson was Creon in Oedipus the King (1968) with Christopher Plummer, then starred in the spy film A Twist of Sand (1968). He was a Roman officer in Columna (1968) and Horatio Nelson in Emma Hamilton (1968), with Michèle Mercier. He reprised his role as Drummond in Some Girls Do (1969). Johnson later recalled in 2000 that "It comes as a curious shock to me now to realise that I was making around £1m a year in today's money. And I managed to spend it all having a hell of a good time I knew it wasn't going to last for ever, but I also knew I had to enjoy it while the time was right.'" Johnson played Rembrandt for British TV in 1969 and was Cassius in Charlton Heston's version of Julius Caesar (1970). He did The Fifth Day of Peace (1970) with Franco Nero, Hamlet (1970) with Richard Chamberlain, The Beloved (1971) with Raquel Welch, A Man About a Dog (1972), A Marriage (1972) and I Want to Marry Your Son (1973).

Johnson returned to theatre in 1972, going to Stratford to play Antony, opposite Janet Suzman's Cleopatra, in one of Trevor Nunn's season of Roman plays. He continued to act on TV in such shows as Thriller (1973) and Orson Welles' Great Mysteries, and filmed his Antony and Cleopatra (1974) for TV. Johnson was in episodes of Quiller, Space: 1999, and Hart to Hart. He was in the films Aces High (1976), Take All of Me (1976) in Italy, The Four Feathers (1978) for Sharp, The Comeback (1978), Screamers (1979), Zombi 2 (1979), The Flame Is Love (1979), Island of the Fishmen (1979) and The Great Alligator (1979). He had the lead in A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (1979) directed by Thomas. In the 1980s Johnson could be seen in Spy!, Portrait of a Rebel: The Remarkable Mrs. Sanger (1980), Haywire (1980), The Marquise (1980), The Monster Club (1981), The Member for Chelsea (1981), The Kenny Everett Television Show, Tales of the Unexpected (several episodes), Cymbeline (1982) in the title role, Magnum, P. I., The Aerodrome (1983), and Mr. Palfrey of Westminster (1984).

In 1982 Johnson helped set up United British Artists, the film and theatre producing company, along with fellow actors Albert Finney, Maggie Smith and Glenda Jackson. Johnson said, "In this profession it is mighty irritating always to be in the hands of other people, waiting on the end of a telephone, unable to guide your ship. When I propounded the idea that we all get together to do high quality work on a continuing commercial basis, they were very enthusiastic."

By his first marriage, to Sheila Sweet, Johnson had two children, tabletop games designer Jervis Johnson (b. 1959) and actress Sorel Johnson. His second wife was American actress Kim Novak, with whom he appeared in the film The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965); the marriage didn't last long and they had no children, but they remained on friendly terms after the divorce. He also had another daughter, Jennifer Johnson, by his third wife, Marie Louise Norlund, Johnson then married Lynne Gurney on a beach in Goa, India, in 1989, following this with a discreet civil wedding at Kings Road, Chelsea in 2004. Johnson was the founder of It's a Green Green World, a global listing of environmentally friendly hotels.