Biographie
Chubby Johnson, born Charles Rutledge Johnson on August 13, 1903, in Terre Haute, Indiana, initially worked as a journalist and only began his film acting career in his 40s. He made his screen debut in the 1946 Randolph Scott western Abilene Town, starring alongside Scott, Ann Dvorak, and Edgar Buchanan. While continuing his journalism career as a columnist and radio announcer until nearly 50, he also took on acting roles. Johnson appeared in the 1950 Errol Flynn western Rocky Mountain, joining a cast of distinctive character actors including Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams and Slim Pickens, before leaving journalism to pursue acting full-time in Hollywood.
Republic Pictures cast him as a replacement for Eddy Waller, making him sidekick to B-movie cowboy Allan Lane in the Rocky Lane series during 1951-52. Johnson also starred as ranch foreman Jim Bell in the TV series Sky King (1951), a low-budget show based on a popular radio program. Sky King aired on NBC from September 16, 1951, to October 26, 1952, then on ABC from November 8, 1952, through September 12, 1954, with a new season in 1955.
Following these roles, Johnson freelanced as a character actor, supporting James Stewart in Anthony Mann’s Bend of the River (1952) and The Far Country (1954), which also featured Walter Brennan. He appeared alongside Doris Day in Calamity Jane (1953), Audie Murphy in Gunsmoke (1953), Ronald Reagan in Law and Order (1953), Barbara Stanwyck and Reagan again in Cattle Queen of Montana (1954), and James Cagney in Tribute to a Bad Man (1956), one of Cagney’s rare westerns.
Other notable appearances include roles with Richard Chamberlain and Claude Rains in the 1963 courtroom drama Twilight of Honor, James Garner in Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969), and Burt Reynolds in his breakthrough film Sam Whiskey (1969). He also had an uncredited role in the classic High Noon (1952).
On television, Johnson was a regular on the short-lived series Frontier Doctor (1958) and played Concho on the western Temple Houston (1963), starring Jeffrey Hunter. He guest-starred on many other TV westerns, such as Bonanza (1959), Gunsmoke (1955), and The Rifleman (1958).
Johnson continued acting in films until 1969, concluding his career with Sam Whiskey. He passed away on October 31, 1974, due to complications from a leg infection.
