Stephen R. Johnson (July 12, 1952 – January 26, 2015) was an American music video director, television director, animator, painter, and writer. Johnson got his start directing a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for the song "Girls Like You" by Combonation, which features a young

Robin Wright Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress. She has won a Golden Globe Award and a Satellite Award, and has received eleven Emmy Award nominations for her work in television. Wright first gained attention for her role in t ...

, before moving on to directing videos for popular artists. Johnson directed three music videos for Peter Gabriel: " Big Time", " Steam", and " Sledgehammer". "Sledgehammer" has the distinction of winning nine

MTV Video Music Award The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video categor ...

s, which remains unsurpassed. In addition, Johnson directed the videos for "

Road to Nowhere "Road to Nowhere" is a rock song written by David Byrne for the 1985 Talking Heads album ''Little Creatures''. It also appeared on '' Best of Talking Heads'', '' Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites'', the ''Once in a Lifetime'' box set and t ...

" by

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...

, and "

The Bug "The Bug" is a song written by Mark Knopfler and originally performed by Dire Straits on the final studio album by the band, '' On Every Street'' (1991). It was covered by Mary Chapin Carpenter in 1992, and also recorded on the albums ''Blues B ...

" and "

Walk of Life "Walk of Life" is a song by the British rock band Dire Straits, the third track on their fifth studio album '' Brothers in Arms'' (1985). It subsequently appeared on their live album '' On the Night'' (1993). It was released as a single Octob ...

" by Dire Straits. In addition to directing music videos, Johnson was known for directing all thirteen episodes of the first season of ''

Pee-wee's Playhouse ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' is an American television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed from Reubens's po ...

'', for which he was nominated for a

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

for Outstanding Directing in Children's Programming. He also spearheaded the creation of the short film ''Universal Declaration of Human Rights'' for Amnesty International, based on the thirty articles of the ''

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, ...

'' created by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. The film is composed of animated interpretations of the articles from forty-two different animators. Johnson was born on July 12, 1952, in

Paola, Kansas Paola is a city in and the county seat of Miami County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 5,768. History Native Americans, then Spanish explorers such as Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1541, a ...

, the son of Russell and Lena Wheeler Johnson. He attended high school in

Pleasanton, Kansas Pleasanton is a city in Linn County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,208. History In 1864, General Alfred Pleasonton defeated the Confederates in the Battle of Mine Creek near present-day Pleasant ...

. He then attended college at Kansas University and the University of Southern California. At USC he made an award-winning movie using stop-motion techniques - as did many of his music videos. Johnson died at the age of 62 on January 26, 2015, in Fort Scott, Kansas, from cardiac complications.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Stephen R. American animated film directors American music video directors 20th-century American painters American animators American television directors American writers 1952 births 2015 deaths 21st-century American painters