{{short description|American actor (1922–1997)}} {{more citations needed|date=March 2013}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Arch Johnson | image = Arch Johnson 1961.JPG | caption = Johnson in 1961 | birth_name = Archibald Winchester Johnson | birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|3|14|mf=y}} | birth_place = Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. | children = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1997|10|9|1922|3|14}} | death_place = Berlin, Maryland, U.S. | occupation = Stage, film and television actor | years_active = 1953–1990 | spouse = Yvonne Saccard (1957&ndash;1966; divorced; two children)<br>Eleanor M. Willey (1969&ndash;1971; divorced)<br>Joyce Johnson (unknown&ndash;1981; divorced; three children)<br>Jean D. Heibeck (1994&ndash;1997, his death){{citation needed |date=December 2022}} }}

'''Archibald Winchester "Arch" Johnson''' (March 14, 1922 – October 9, 1997) was an American actor who appeared on Broadway and in more than 100 television programs.

==Early years== Archibald Winchester Johnson was born in Minnesota in 1922.<ref name="death">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115253107/archibald-winchester-johnson-11-oct/ |title=Archibald Winchester Johnson |date=1997-10-11 |newspaper=The Daily Times |location=Salisbury, Maryland |page=10 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2022-12-27}}{{Open access}}</ref> He served in the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater of World War II.<ref name="death"/> Johnson attended the University of Pennsylvania.<ref name="mc">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20112589/arch_johnson/|title=Arch Johnson's enduring career is reflected in his familiar face|last1=Lawler|first1=Sylvia|date=February 15, 1983|work=The Morning Call|accessdate=May 15, 2018|location=Pennsylvania, Allentown|page=D - 1|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref>

==Career== Starting out in Philadelphia in the 1940s through 1950s, Johnson worked in community theater both as an actor and director. He began acting with the Plays and Players Theatre in Philadelphia and was part of the world premiere of ''Stalag 17'' while there. After he left Philadelphia, he studied for two years at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York.<ref name="mc" />

A stage actor as well and a prolific television character actor, he was in the original production of ''West Side Story'' (1957) on Broadway and the revival of that show in 1980, again on Broadway.<ref>{{cite web|title=Arch Johnson|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/arch-johnson-77583|website=Internet Broadway Database|publisher=The Broadway League|accessdate=16 May 2018|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20180516231804/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/arch-johnson-77583|archivedate=16 May 2018}}</ref> He was the only actor from the original stage version who returned for the revival,<ref name="mc2">{{cite news|title=Johnson|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20113690/arch_johnson/|work=The Morning Call|date=February 15, 1983|location=Pennsylvania, Allentown|page=D 2|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = May 16, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> and he toured Europe with the show. He was in the original version of ''Other People's Money'' on Broadway and originated the Role of "Jorge" that Gregory Peck played in the film version.

Johnson had a prolific television career. Among his numerous roles, he was a regular on the 1961 series ''The Asphalt Jungle'' as police Captain Gus Honochek,<ref name="etvs">{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7|page=60|edition=2nd}}</ref> on the 1955-1956 comedy series ''It's Always Jan'',{{r|etvs|page1=516}} on the 1960-1961 comedy series ''Peter Loves Mary'',{{r|etvs|page1=827}} and on the 1965–1966 series ''Camp Runamuck'' as Commander Wivenhoe.{{r|etvs|page1=155-156}}

In 1963, he portrayed the role of Harry Johanson in the episode "Incident at Paradise" on CBS's ''Rawhide''. He made five appearances on ''Perry Mason'', including the role of murder victim Karl Magovern in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Travelling Treasure", as murder victim Gerald Thornton in the 1963 episode, "The Case of the Golden Oranges", and as Marvin Fremont in the 1964 episode, "The Case of the Ice-Cold Hands". He played John Ruskin in the 1960 episode "The Case of the Singular Double". He made four appearances on ''Daniel Boone'' and ''Gunsmoke'', five on ''Bewitched'', four on ''The F.B.I.'', and scores of others on many other television offerings, including ''The Twilight Zone'', ''Decoy'', ''Johnny Ringo'', ''Hennesey'', '' The Big Valley'', ''Zane Grey Theater'', ''Gunsmoke'', ''Bat Masterson'', ''The Roaring 20s'', ''Lawman'', ''Going My Way'', ''Mr. Novak'', and ''Empire'' and its successor series, ''Redigo'', both with Richard Egan.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}

In 1963, Johnson appeared on NBC's Western series ''Laramie'' as the outlaw Sam Wellman in the episode "No Place to Run". In the story line, Wellman forces a likeable safecracker who is trying to go straight, Gandy Ross, portrayed by Don Durant, formerly ''Johnny Ringo'', to open the safe in the bank at fictitious Granite City. Ellen Burstyn and Tom Skerritt play the roles of Amy and Price in the episode, as Jess Harper rescues his friend Ross from the clutches of Wellman.

In 1961, Johnson appeared as his Gus Honochek character from ''The Asphalt Jungle'' in the theatrical film ''The Lawbreakers''. In 1973, Johnson played the part of Combs in the movie ''The Sting''.

Later in life, Johnson tutored literacy programs in Westover, Maryland. He also worked with an Alternatives to Violence program with the Religious Society of Friends.<ref name="death"/>

==Personal life and death== Johnson married Jean. They had five children.<ref name="death"/> After retiring, Johnson moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland.<ref name="death"/>

Johnson died of cancer on October 9, 1997, at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, Maryland.<ref name="death"/>{{citation needed |date=December 2022 |reason=cause of death}}

==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1953|| ''Niagara'' || Taxi Driver || Uncredited |- |1954|| ''Garden of Eden'' || || |- |1956|| ''Somebody Up There Likes Me'' || Heldon || |- |1957|| ''Gun Glory'' || Gunn || |- |1960|| ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' || Jaime McMahon || Season 5 Episode 25: "The Little Man Who Was There" |- |1960|| ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' || Heywood Miller || Season 5 Episode 33: "Party Line" |- |1960|| ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' || Bart McCormick || Season 6 Episode 7: "Outlaw in Town" |- |1960|| ''G.I. Blues'' || Sergeant McGraw || |- |1960|| ''Bat Masterson'' || Mr. Smith || "The Big Gamble" S2E35 |- |1961|| ''The Explosive Generation'' || Mr. George Sommers || |- |1961|| ''The Lawbreakers'' || Chief Inspector Gus Honochek || |- |1961|| ''Rawhide'' || James Cronin || S3:E16, "Incident on the Road Back" |- |1962|| ''Gunsmoke'' || Feester || "Wagon Girls" (S7E27) |- |1962|| ''The Twilight Zone'' || Jesse James || Episode "Showdown with Rance McGrew" |- |1962-1967|| ''Bonanza'' || Gavin / E.J. Butler / A.Z. Wheelock || 3 episodes |- |1963|| ''The Virginian'' || as Dr. Ashley || Episode "A Killer in Town" |- |1963|| ''The Lieutenant'' || as Commander Harry Engstrom || Episode "Interlude" |- |1963|| ''Twilight of Honor'' || Mac McWade || |- |1964|| ''The Munsters'' || Mr. Taggert || Episode "Tin-Can Man" (Nov 1964) |- |1964|| ''Gunsmoke'' || Big Jim Ponder || "Hammerhead" (Dec 1964) |-

|1966|| ''The Monkees'' || as General Harley Vandenberg || S1:E9, "The Chaperone" |- |1966|| ''The Fugitive'' || Sheriff Prycer || Episode "The Last Oasis" |- |1968|| ''The Invaders'' || Father Paul || S2:E23, "The Miracle" |- |1968-1971|| ''Bewitched'' || Bo Callahan / Harlan Mossler / Bo Braddock / John Harrison / Rudolph Kosko || 5 episodes |- |1970|| ''The Liberation of L.B. Jones'' || Stanley Bumpas || |- |1970|| ''The Cheyenne Social Club'' || Marshal Anderson || |- |1972|| ''Napoleon and Samantha'' || Chief of Police || |- |1973|| ''Walking Tall'' || Buel Jaggers || |- |1973|| ''Gentle Savage'' || Beaumont || |- |1973|| ''The Sting'' || Vince Combs || |- |1975|| ''Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins'' || Smitty || |- |1975|| ''The Hindenburg'' || Captain B.F. Farley, N.Y.P.D. || Uncredited |- |1976|| ''The Bionic Woman'' || Sam Hart || S2:E11 & 12 "Jaime's Shield" || |- |1977|| ''Wonder Woman'' / ''The New Adventures of Wonder Woman'' || General Zachary Kane / John Kelly || 2 Episodes: "Judgment from Outer Space" (credited as Archie Johnson) & "Knockout" |- |1978|| ''The Buddy Holly Story'' || Mr. Lawrence Holly || |- |1983|| ''Easy Money'' || Vendor at Armory || |- |1985|| ''Death Mask'' || Dr. Robert Riordan || |}

{{Portal|Biography|United States|California|Maryland|Theatre|Film|Television}}

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|0424516}} * {{IBDB name|77583}} * {{iobdb name|11158}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Arch}} Category:1922 births Category:1997 deaths Category:American male stage actors Category:American male film actors Category:American male television actors Category:Male actors from Minneapolis Category:Male actors from New York City Category:Male actors from Los Angeles Category:People from Snow Hill, Maryland Category:Deaths from cancer in Maryland Category:20th-century American male actors Category:Western (genre) television actors Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II