The actor and former Marlboro Man, who had a recurring role on Melrose Place, died of COVID-19 in February.
 |
| image credit-https://www.vanityfair.com |
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed on Thursday that actor Brad Johnson died of complications from COVID-19 in February. She was best known to many for her role in Steven Spielberg’s 1989 fantasy drama Always, in which she and Richard Dreyfuss both vie for Holly Hunter’s heart. (Bad news for Richard, he’s actually a ghost.) Johnson made frequent appearances in television and cable films in the 1990s and early 2000s and was a co-head of the series Left Behind. He was 62 years old.
Born in Arizona, Johnson was raised on a cattle ranch and left business school embarrassed by his degree to accept a rodeo scholarship at the College of Southern Idaho. He worked full-time on the rodeo circuit but suffered a knee injury in 1986.
The 6’3″, square-jawed fella then found work as a model, representing Calvin Klein, Bush Bear, and, yes, Marlboro cigarettes.
“The Marlboro Man was a fixture in American culture. For the longest time, he was on the same level as 007”
“Johnson reflects on her position in American folklore in tears in 2019” for MEL Magazine.
However, he acknowledged that He never smoked. “I did burn a million of them, though,” he said.
Always was Johnson’s first significant acting gig, and while it didn’t propel him to superstardom, he was rarely without work, appearing in films like The Philadelphia Experiment II and episodes of the Outer Limits reboot. He starred alongside Danny Glover and Willem Dafoe in John Milius’s Flight of the Intruder in 1991 and was Daphne Zuniga’s love interest, Dr. Dominic O’Malley, in Melrose Place in the mid-90s. (If you remember, there was a big deal about her going to Bosnia, and whether or not Joe Reynolds should join him.)
In the late 1990s, he starred in the syndicated action series Soldier of Fortune, Inc. The first Simpson/Bruckheimer production for television. Its second and final season co-starred Dennis Rodman.
In 2000, Johnson appeared with Kirk Cameron as the co-leader in Left Behind: The Movie, which went from a direct-to-video release to a theatrical run. The adventure-drama series was based on the novels by Tim Lahey and Jerry B. Jenkins and targeted the Christian market. Although not the breakout hit that some faith-based movies were after, it was still significant and had enough legacy for reboots and spin-offs.
“Brad took great pleasure in improving and enhancing the land, thus maintaining and respecting its natural beauty. He always felt most at home outside, and his passion for the land made this all the more evident.
Brad has never loved his family as much as he loved herding, hunting, and the land,” his family said in a statement.
ARTICLE BY- Jordan Hoffman