
Rita Johnson
Born: 1913-08-13
Place of birth: Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
Rita Ann Johnson (August 13, 1913 – October 31, 1965) was an American actress. Early in her career, Johnson was busy in radio. Johnson began acting on Broadway in 1935 and started her film career two years later. She played a murderer in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) and a doomed wife in the RKO film noir They Won't Believe Me (1947). In an incident that was never fully explained, Johnson suffered a head trauma on September 6, 1948 that required brain surgery. Unsubstantiated rumors promulgated by gossip columnists such as Walter Winchell suggested she might have been abused by a boyfriend, but the only explanation she offered was that a large, industrial-grade hair dryer at her apartment had fallen on her. She was in a coma for two weeks and it was reported it took her a year to recover. Her left side was paralyzed temporarily and for a while she couldn't walk. The injury put a virtual halt to her film career. Her screen time in movies after that was limited due to her reduced mobility and powers of concentration. Johnson suffered from alcoholism from the time of her injuries until her death of a brain hemorrhage at age 52. From Wikipedia.
Filmography

Michigan Kid
1947

Emergency Hospital
1956

The Big Clock
1948

The Major and the Minor
1942

Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1941

The Second Face
1950

The Art Director
1949

Edison, the Man
1940

Thunderhead: Son of Flicka
1945

Pardon My Past
1945

Smashing the Rackets
1938

The Naughty Nineties
1945

Broadway Serenade
1939

They Won't Believe Me
1947

Forty Little Mothers
1940

Within the Law
1939

Honolulu
1939

The Affairs of Susan
1945