Susan Johanson (née Powell; born March 13, 1930) is a Canadian

sex educator Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduc ...

, public speaker, and

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

Biography

Early life and career

Johanson was born Susan Powell in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Ontario, to Wilfrid Powell, a decorated British war hero, and an affluent Ontario-born

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

mother, Ethel Bell. Her great-uncle was Lord Baden-Powell. Her mother died when Johanson was ten. Johanson attended nursing school in St. Boniface Hospital in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

, graduating as a registered nurse. Soon after, she married a Swedish-Canadian electrician named Ejnor Johanson. They had three children: Carol, Eric and Jane. The family moved to

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a po ...

, where Johanson kept house and raised her children. In 1970, Johanson opened a

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

clinic in Don Mills CI high school, the first of its kind in Canada. She worked there as coordinator for 18 years. She continued her education at the Toronto Institute of Human Relations (a postgraduate course in counseling and communication), the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

(family planning), and the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

(human sexuality), graduating as a counselor and

Radio and TV programs

Johanson first achieved popularity as a sex educator and

therapist Therapist is a person who offers any kinds of therapy A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indi ...

hosting her own show on rock radio station Q107 during the 1980s. The show, entitled ''

Sunday Night Sex Show The ''Sunday Night Sex Show'' was a live call-in Canadian television show hosted by Sue Johanson, which ran from 1996 to 2005. It aired on the W Network and was one of their most popular programs. Every week, callers would line up on the phone to ...

'', transitioned into a TV talk show of the same name on the

community television Community television is a form of mass media in which a television station is owned, operated or programmed by a community group to provide television programs of local interest known as local programming. Community television stations are most c ...

Rogers TV Rogers TV (stylized as Rogers tv) is a group of English-language community channels owned by Rogers Communications. Many of these channels share common programs. Rogers TV broadcasts in the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland an ...

in 1985. In 1996 it became a national show on the

Women's Television Network W Network (often shortened to W) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts general entertainment programming oriented towards a female audience. W Network was established in ...

(WTN). It ended in 2005. In January 2002 reruns of the show began to be replayed to American audiences on Oxygen Media. The recorded program was very popular, but American viewers missed the opportunity to call in and ask their own questions. The U.S. version of ''Sunday Night Sex Show'', called ''Talk Sex with Sue Johanson'', produced especially for American audiences, debuted in November 2002 on Oxygen. ''Talk Sex with Sue Johanson'' was divided into several segments, all covering the following topics: sexual life, love and relationships. Call-in segment included viewers' live calls with questions being answered by Johanson with discussions on a variety of sex topics. The show also included a sex quiz, a sex poll where viewers could vote via the internet and see the results at the end of the episode, and included important sexual news and information. On May 7, 2008, it was announced that the next Sunday night's episode of the show would be its last, ending the show's run after six seasons. Johanson has made appearances on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production ...

'', ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'', and ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

''.

Acting

Johanson appeared in two episodes of

Degrassi High ''Degrassi High'' is a Canadian teen drama television series and the third series in the ''Degrassi'' franchise created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood. A direct continuation of '' Degrassi Junior High'', it debuted on CBC in Canada on November ...

and two episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation. She played Dr. Sally, a radio host and sex educator that basically was a version of the real life Johanson. During her

appearances, she was famously one of the early supporters of The Zit Remedy, a band fronted by

Joey Jeremiah Joseph "Joey" Jeremiah is a fictional character from the ''Degrassi'' teen drama franchise. He is portrayed by Pat Mastroianni. He debuted in the first episode of ''Degrassi Junior High'' and appeared throughout ''Degrassi Junior High'', ''Degras ...

(played by actor

Pat Mastroianni Pasquale "Pat" Mastroianni (born December 22, 1971) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Joey Jeremiah in the '' Degrassi'' franchise, for which he received a Gemini Award in 1988. Biography Mastroianni grew up in Toronto, t ...

Documentary

A full-length documentary about Johanson was released in 2022. Entitled '' Sex With Sue'', the documentary chronicles Johanson's life story, directed by Canadian documentarian & filmmaker Lisa Rideout.

Books

Johanson is the author of three books: ''Talk Sex'' (), ''Sex Is Perfectly Natural but Not Naturally Perfect'' (), and ''Sex, Sex, and More Sex'' (). All of them cover the sex topics from different points and include the detailed answers of the most delicate questions asked commonly about sexual life, Johanson's advice and health information. Johanson was also the author of a weekly column published in the Health section of the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

'' newspaper.

Awards and honours

Johanson's work educating and informing the public about birth control and sexual health earned her Canada's second highest civilian honour (after the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...

), appointment to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

in 2001, for lifetime achievement. In 2010, Johanson was presented the Bonham Centre Award from the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies for her contributions to the advancement and education of issues around sexual identification.

References

External links

Talk Sex with Sue Johanson
*
Conan Talks Sex With Sue Johanson - "Late Night With Conan O'Brien
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johanson, Sue 1930 births Canadian nurses Women nurses Canadian talk radio hosts Canadian television hosts Canadian people of British descent Canadian people of Irish descent Living people Members of the Order of Canada Writers from Toronto Canadian relationships and sexuality writers Sex educators University of Toronto alumni University of Michigan alumni Canadian women radio hosts Canadian women television hosts Canadian columnists Canadian women columnists