John Johnson Biography
John Johnson is an American TV anchor, senior correspondent, documentary filmmaker, and artist. He worked as a reporter for New York City television news for many years.
John Johnson Age
He was born on 20 June 1938, in New York, New York, United States of America. John is 85 years old as of June 2023.
John Johnson Education
Johnson studied art at City College of New York and intends to become an art professor. He then became an associate professor of fine arts at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
John Johnson Wife
He was married to E. Jean Carroll and later married Ann Yih Johnson, after divorcing his first wife.
John Johnson Career
Johnson joined ABC News in 1968 and went on to become the first African American documentary producer, director, and writer for a broadcast network. He received recognition for his documentaries Welfare Game and Strangers in Their Own Land: The Puerto Ricans. He was among the first black filmmakers to join the famous Directors Guild of America. Johnson later became a network correspondent, covering incidents such as the Attica Prison revolt, which resulted in the deaths of 33 prisoners and 10 correctional guards. Johnson’s long tenure at WABC began in 1972. Johnson was a pioneer of the Eyewitness News format at WABC, which debuted in New York in 1968.
In the late 1980s, following Roger Grimsby’s firing, he worked as a rotating anchor of the 6 p.m. newscast alongside Kaity Tong and Bill Beutel. Johnson, who had previously anchored the station’s weekend newscasts and worked as a reporter, later returned to reporting as a senior correspondent for his own newscast. During his tenure as senior journalist, Johnson covered Nelson Mandela’s release from a South African prison and his presidential election. He covered the first Gulf War, the Bosnian War, and was one of the first reporters to arrive alongside American troops during the Unified Task Force incursion in Somalia. In 1994-95, Johnson’s reporting on the O. J. Simpson murder case was one of his final jobs at WABC.
While the trial was still ongoing, Johnson departed WABC in March 1995 to become co-anchor of WCBS’ 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts in June of the same year. Johnson remained at the station until October 1996, when he was sacked along with numerous other renowned characters. The firings occurred abruptly, as Johnson and co-anchor Michele Marsh previewed the next 11pm newscast at the close of the 6 p.m. news, with their dismissals taking place in the intervening four and a half hours. Johnson left WNBC after a year to care for his dying father from cancer and has never returned to television. Throughout his 30-year television news career, Johnson won nine Emmys and countless other prizes as a reporter, producer, writer, and director.
Prior to his broadcasting career, Johnson was an associate professor of fine arts and Chairman of the Arts Department at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, as well as a guest speaker at other universities. After retiring from radio, Johnson continued his painting profession. According to Johnson, his paintings have been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Walter Wickiser Gallery in Manhattan. Johnson has played himself in films such as CopLand and 54. He also appeared in the award-winning documentary Eyes on the Prize and the 2021 documentary Attica, which was nominated for an Academy Award.
John Johnson Net Worth
John has an estimated net worth of 5 million dollars.