{{Short description|American radio and stage actor (1911–2001)}} {{Infobox person | name = Raymond Edward Johnson | image = Innerad.jpg | alt = | caption = Illustration of Raymond Edward Johnson in newspaper ad from the early 1940s. | birth_name = | birth_date = July 24, 1911 | birth_place = Kenosha, Wisconsin | death_date = August 15, 2001, age 90 | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Actor | alma_mater = | spouse = Betty Caine | children = | parents = | known_for = Acting on ''Inner Sanctum Mysteries'' on radio }} '''Raymond Edward Johnson''' (July 24, 1911 – August 15, 2001) was an American radio and stage actor best remembered for his work on ''Inner Sanctum Mysteries''.
==Early years== Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Johnson started out as a bank teller, and later studied acting at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/16/nyregion/raymond-e-johnson-radio-host-dies-at-90.html|title=Raymond E. Johnson, Radio Host, Dies at 90|author=Richard Goldstein|date=August 16, 2001|access-date=July 2, 2011|work=The New York Times}}</ref>
==Radio== Johnson began his career in Chicago, some of his earliest work including a regular role on Edgar A. Guest's dramatic serial ''Welcome Valley'' (1932–1937) as Bill Sutter, and was featured on ''The National Farm and Home Hour'' in dramatic sketches as the Forest Ranger<ref name=smith>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_-EtQwxAP4C&dq=%22Raymond+Edward+Johnson%22&pg=PA241|title=Horror Stars on Radio: The Broadcast Histories of 29 Chilling Hollywood Voices|first=Ronald L.|last=Smith|isbn=978-0-7864-4525-7|year=2010|pages=241–242|publisher=McGarland & Co}}</ref> (a role also played by Don Ameche).
===Chicago to New York=== While in Chicago, Johnson began working with writer/director Arch Oboler, with roles on his ''Lights Out'' series. When both Oboler and Johnson relocated to New York City, the actor was featured in many episodes of ''Arch Oboler's Plays'', notably as the title role in "The Ugliest Man in the World" (repeated five times) and as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in "This Lonely Heart" both from 1939.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Raymond Edward Johnson |url=http://www.goldenage-wtic.org/gaor-33.html |series=The Golden Age of Radio |last1=Bertel |first1=Dick |last2=Corcoran |first2=Ed |network=Broadcast Plaza, Inc. |station=WTIC |location=Hartford, Connecticut|airdate=December 1972 |season=3 |number=10 }}</ref>
===''Inner Sanctum''=== While in New York, Johnson landed his most famous role when Himan Brown hired him for ''Inner Sanctum''. From the first broadcast in 1941, Johnson was heard as the series host/narrator, introducing himself as "Your host, Raymond." The "Raymond" character became known for his chilling introductions and morbid puns, and his typical closing, an elongated and ironic "Pleasant dreaaaams, hmmmmmmm?" Johnson departed the series in 1945, when he joined the Army; although replaced for the remainder of the run by Paul McGrath as host, Johnson took the "Raymond" name with him. Johnson later hosted the radio version of the science fiction series ''Tales of Tomorrow''.
===Soap operas=== In both New York and Chicago, he was a staple on many soap operas, playing romantic leads on ''Big Sister'' (as Dr. Bernard),<ref>{{cite news|last1=Nicoll|first1=Bruce|title=Behind the Mike|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3875408/the_nebraska_state_journal/|agency=The Nebraska State Journal|date=October 23, 1939|location=Lincoln|page=28|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = December 23, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref> on the radio version of ''The Guiding Light'' (as enigmatic stranger Ellis Smith), 1943's ''Brave Tomorrow'' (as Hal Lambert),<ref name="dunningota">{{cite book |last=Dunning |first=John |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |section=Brave Tomorrow |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22Brave+Tomorrow,+soap+opera%22&pg=PA111 |year=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |page=111 |edition=Revised |access-date=2019-10-05}}</ref> ''Kate Hopkins, Angel of Mercy'' (as Robert Atwood) and ''Valiant Lady'' (as Paul Morrison).<ref name="buxton">Buxton, Frank; Owen, Bill (1972). ''The Big Broadcast: 1920–1950''. Viking Press. {{ISBN|978-0810829572}} p. 249.</ref> His sister, Dora Johnson Remington, was also a soap staple, playing Evey on ''Ma Perkins''.
===Other programs=== Johnson was also heard as ''Mr. District Attorney'' in 1939,<ref>{{cite news|title=Mr. District Attorney|newspaper=The Circleville Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3875110/the_circleville_herald/|agency=The Circleville Herald|date=July 10, 1939|location=Ohio, Circleville|page=8|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = December 23, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref> ''Roger Kilgore, Public Defender'', ''Calling All Cars'', and starred in radio adaptations of the comic strips ''Don Winslow of the Navy'' and ''Mandrake the Magician''.
Still other radio dramas included appearances on such diverse anthologies as ''Cavalcade of America'', ''Gangbusters'', ''Dimension X'' (and its sequel ''X Minus One''), the wartime series ''Words at War'', ''Famous Jury Trials'' and ''Cloak and Dagger''.
Johnson provided the voice of Abraham Lincoln on the Decca recording of Earl Robinson’s and Millard Lampell’s "folk cantata," ''The Lonesome Train,'' 21–22 March 1944.
==Broadway== On stage, Johnson starred as Thomas Jefferson in Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play ''The Patriots'', in 1943.<ref>{{cite web|title=Raymond Edward Johnson|url=http://www.playbillvault.com/Person/Detail/46395/Raymond-Edward-Johnson|website=Playbill Vault|access-date=23 December 2015}}</ref>
==Film== Johnson's few on-camera appearances included the role of Alexander Graham Bell in the 1947 film ''Mr. Bell''.
==Later years== Stricken with multiple sclerosis from his 40s onward, limiting his activities in later years, Johnson was still a frequent presence at old time radio conventions, performing in recreations and reprising "Raymond", often from a portable bed or wheelchair.<ref name=smith /> He died not long after his 90th birthday.
==Family== Johnson was married to radio actress Betty Caine.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=What Do You Want to Know?|magazine=Radio and Television Mirror|date=November 1940|volume=15|issue=1|page=43|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Mirror/40/Mirror-1940-Nov.pdf#page=51&search=Dr.+Bruce+Porter+Raymond+Edward+Johnson|access-date=13 March 2015}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Raymond Edward}} Category:1911 births Category:2001 deaths Category:American male radio actors Category:American male stage actors Category:Male actors from Kenosha, Wisconsin Category:People with multiple sclerosis Category:American male film actors Category:20th-century American male actors