Van Johnson: MGM's Golden Boy »

The only full-length biography of this immensely popular screen star of the 1940s and 1950s

Library Journal

The first in the new "Hollywood Legends" series, edited by Davis (history, Southern Methodist Univ.), this is the only full-length biography of Johnson, who rose to film box-office stardom during World War II as a genial, boy-next-door bobbysoxer idol while struggling with sexual ambiguity. The red-haired, freckled Johnson appeared in war films like Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, then later in films like The Caine Mutiny. He remained popular on stage and television after his film popularity waned. Unfortunately this chronicle of Johnson's career, while most astute in showing how a public persona may have little to do with the human being, relies a great deal on secondary sources and does not provide true insight. Recommended only for large public libraries and academic libraries with performing arts collections. Bruce Henson, Georgia Inst. of Technology Lib., Atlanta Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.