Acting

40

Woman

13 Aug 1913

Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

Rita Johnson

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.

The Big Clock

18 March 1948

The Major and the Minor

16 September 1942

Here Comes Mr. Jordan

7 August 1941

Sleep, My Love

18 February 1948

They Won't Believe Me

16 July 1947

Susan Slept Here

28 July 1954

The Naughty Nineties

20 June 1945

All Mine to Give

13 November 1957

Edison, the Man

10 May 1940

My Friend Flicka

26 May 1943