Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthdate
1913-08-13
Day of Death
1965-10-31
Place of Birth
Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
Rita Johnson
Biography
Rita Ann Johnson (August 13, 1913 – October 31, 1965) was an American actress. Early in her career, Johnson was busy in radio. Johnson began acting on Broadway in 1935 and started her film career two years later. She played a murderer in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) and a doomed wife in the RKO film noir They Won't Believe Me (1947). In an incident that was never fully explained, Johnson suffered a head trauma on September 6, 1948 that required brain surgery. Unsubstantiated rumors promulgated by gossip columnists such as Walter Winchell suggested she might have been abused by a boyfriend, but the only explanation she offered was that a large, industrial-grade hair dryer at her apartment had fallen on her. She was in a coma for two weeks and it was reported it took her a year to recover. Her left side was paralyzed temporarily and for a while she couldn't walk. The injury put a virtual halt to her film career. Her screen time in movies after that was limited due to her reduced mobility and powers of concentration. Johnson suffered from alcoholism from the time of her injuries until her death of a brain hemorrhage at age 52. From Wikipedia.
Filmography (38)
All Mine to Give
1957
Emergency Hospital
1956
Susan Slept Here
1954
The Second Face
1950
The Art Director
1949
Family Honeymoon
1948
An Innocent Affair
1948
The Big Clock
1948
Sleep, My Love
1948
Michigan Kid
1947
They Won't Believe Me
1947
The Perfect Marriage
1947
Pardon My Past
1945
The Affairs of Susan
1945
