Van Johnson was an American actor, singer and dancer, who became a box-office favorite for his freckled-faced boy next door image in the 1940s. He began his career as a chorus boy and substitute dancer before debuting on Broadway at the age of 20. He made his film debut at 24 and soon signed a contract with Warner Bros., a company he only did one film with. Thereafter, he moved to MGM, where he started appearing in multiple films during the Second World War. In 1943, while shooting for ‘A Guy Named Joe’, he met with a terrible accident. Although it scarred his face terribly, it also exempted him from war duties, and he continued doing films, most of which were war dramas. While filming following his accident, he had to hide his scars with heavy makeup. Although his career began to fade in the beginning of the 1960s, he remained active both on stage and screen for another 30 years and performed in many well-known musicals.
