Bryan Johnson (18 July 1926 – 18 October 1995) was an English singer and actor.

Biography

Having been eliminated in the semi-finals of the 1957 UK heats for Eurovision, he later emulated his brother and sister-in-law, Pearl Carr and

Teddy Johnson Pearl Lavinia Carr (2 November 1921 – 16 February 2020) and Edward Victor "Teddy" Johnson (4 September 1919 – 6 June 2018) were English husband-and-wife entertainers who were best-known during the 1950s and early 1960s. They were the UK's E ...

, by coming second in the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

in 1960, with " Looking High, High, High". The single reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart in April 1960. Johnson also participated in ''

A Song for Europe A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''English alphabet#Letter names, a'' (pronounced ), plural ...

'', the UK qualifying heat for Eurovision in 1961. His song, "A Place in the Country" came fifth. He was also an actor who, in

Donald Wolfit Sir Donald Wolfit (born Donald Woolfitt; 20 April 1902 – 17 February 1968) was an English actor-manager, known for his touring productions of Shakespeare. He was especially renowned for his portrayal of King Lear. Born to a conventional midd ...

's company, played such roles as

Feste Feste is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's comedy ''Twelfth Night''. He is a fool (royal jester) attached to the household of the Countess Olivia. He has apparently been there for some time, as he was a "fool that the Lady Olivia' ...

in ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

'' and the Fool in ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

''. In

Ronald Harwood Sir Ronald Harwood ( né Horwitz; 9 November 1934 – 8 September 2020) was a South African-born British author, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for '' The Dresser'' (for ...

's biography of Wolfit, the actor is quoted as saying (p. 251) that he was "the best Fool I ever had". Later he played roles in musicals such as ''Lock Up Your Daughters'', and enjoyed a late success as Scrooge in a touring production of ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

''. He was an actor of the old school with a melodious speaking voice and a strong stage presence. Johnson recounted his Eurovision experiences in an edition of ''Gloria Live'', with

Gloria Hunniford Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford, OBE (born 10 April 1940) is a television and radio presenter, broadcaster and singer from Northern Ireland. She is known for presenting programmes on the BBC and ITV, such as '' Rip Off Britain'', and her regula ...

, broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

on 4 May 1990.

References

External links

* 1926 births 1995 deaths English male singers English male stage actors 20th-century English male actors 20th-century English singers 20th-century English male singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants {{UK-singer-stub