Biography for
Arte Johnson More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

20 January 1929, Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA

Birth Name

Arthur Stanton Eric Johnson

Spouse

Gisela Johnson

(15 August 1968 - present)

Trade Mark

Short, puckish, manic manner and the line: "Very interesting."

Gag of wearing a bright yellow raincoat, atop a small tricycle and falling off it.

Trivia

Began chemotherapy in October 1997 for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Graduate of University of Illinois, 1949.

Has donated his scripts and tapes from "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (1967) to his alma mater's communications school.

Left for New York when no jobs in Chicago ad agencies opened for him. Worked at Viking Press and developed life-long love of reading and book-collecting.

Says he got first showbiz job by just impulsively stepping into an audition line at Broadway theater, where he was almost immediately chosen for role in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 228-229. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Brother of Coslough Johnson.

His stage name "Arte" came about by accident: Originally billed as "Art E. Johnson", his name was mistakenly posted as "Arte" on a playbill. Johnson liked the look and sound of the name, so he kept it.

Personal Quotes

"If you remember one sentence for every hour you take [in school], you're a well-rounded person."

Where Are They Now

(2005) Arte can now be heard doing books on tape, most notably for a number of Dave Barry's collections, the most recent being "Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up" among others.

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