Richard Johnson

The refusal that could have cost him a fortune

Turning down the role of James Bond defined an entire career. Terrence Young wanted Richard Johnson to play agent 007 in Dr. No back in 1962, but the actor preferred an exclusive contract with MGM and left the way clear for Sean Connery to take on the rest.

It was a purely pragmatic decision.

Johnson believed the character lacked the depth expected of an actor with his training. That self-assurance had been with him since his early days at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He turned the role down on as many as three different occasions because, for him, acting was not about chasing worldwide fame but about mastering the craft.

But the actor preferred the security of a steady salary at the major studios to the uncertainty of a franchise nobody knew would succeed. That choice allowed him to explore much darker and more complex characters in the decades that followed.

The Weight of the Boards and Psychological Terror

And that stage background served him well when tackling demanding shoots.

In 1960 he took part in the founding of the Royal Shakespeare Company under the direction of Peter Hall. He worked in productions of Cymbeline and Romeo and Juliet, where he made it clear that his voice was one of the most powerful on the British stage.

In 1963, he played Dr. John Markway in The Haunting. Robert Wise's film relied on suggestion and invisible fear. Johnson brought the restraint needed for audiences to believe in what they could not see. He was paid 30,000 pounds for this job (a competitive figure for the time).

His time in European cinema led him to shoot The Models in 1967 alongside Raquel Welch. During those years, his personal life also made headlines after his brief marriage to Kim Novak in 1965. Still, media noise never affected his performance on set.

He even took on the most extreme Italian genre cinema. In 1979 he starred in Zombie under the direction of Lucio Fulci. It was a work-for-hire job that over the years earned him a cult following among fans of visceral horror.

Maturity Between Television and Production

The founding of United British Artists in 1981 changed his professional focus. With this production company, he aimed to protect the interests of actors and directors against the major studios. He produced films such as Venus Observed in 1991, where he also took a supporting role.

The stage was always her refuge.

He was a constant presence on the small screen. In 1982 he appeared in the series The Shadow Line. Later, in 2008, he appeared in the film adaptation of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, playing the grandfather. He stayed active in his profession until the age of 87.

In 2014 he shot the independent film Radiator under the direction of Tom Browne. His last credited appearance was in the TV movie The Man on the Box, which premiered in 2015. His career spanned more than six decades of nonstop work across every discipline imaginable.

Richard Johnson died on June 5, 2015 at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.