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Tor Johnson

Tor Johnson
Tor Johnson
Born: Oct 19, 1903 in Sweden
Died: May 12, 1971 in San Fernando Valley, California
Occupation: Actor
Active: '40s-'50s
Major Genres: Comedy, Horror
Career Highlights: Bride of the Monster, Plan 9 from Outer Space, The Black Sleep
First Major Screen Credit: Bride of the Monster (1955)
7 Videos for Tor Johnson
Night of the Ghouls (1959) Bride of the Monster (1955) State of the Union (1948)
Carousel (1956) Houdini (1953) Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1956)
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Biography:

Standing six feet, four inches, and weighing anywhere between 300 and 400 pounds, Tor Johnson enjoyed a lengthy career as a professional wrestler. Befitting his country of origin, Johnson was billed as the Super-Swedish Angel. He began appearing in films in 1934, generally typecast as a boxer or wrestler (he was Tossoff in W.

C. Fields' 1935 starrer Man on the Flying Trapeze). A lavish wig hiding his shiny bald dome, Johnson spent the 1940s playing a variety of thugs and pluguglies in films like Jack Benny's Meanest Man in the World (1943), Olsen and Johnson's Ghost Catchers (1944) and Hope and Crosby's Road to Rio (1947).

For the most part, his thick Scandinavia accent went unheard; his obese frame, grimacing countenance and animalistic growl were all that directors required of him. In recent years, Johnson has gained notoriety for his appearances in the films of world's worst director Edward Wood Jr.; he co-starred as the mute monstrosity Lobo in Bride of the Monster (1956) and Night of the Ghouls (1960), and was prominently featured as the zombified Inspector Clay in the immortal Plan Nine From Outer Space (1959).

Though one would never know from such cinematic atrocities as Beast of Yucca Flats (1961), Johnson could act, as he proved in a memorable 1959 episode of TV's Peter Gunn. Offscreen, the behemoth-like actor had a reputation for wittiness and gentility. According to some reports, Tor Johnson was distantly relatedly to Swedish boxing champ Ingemar Johanssen.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.