Joanna Johnson
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Joanna Johnson (born in Arizona on December 31, 1961) is an American actress, writer, producer and director. She is best known for her actress popular roles as Caroline Spencer Forrester (1987–1990, 1992, 2001) first and as her twin sister,
Karen Spencer Karen Spencer is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera, ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' played by Joanna Johnson. After Joanna Johnson's character Caroline Spencer Forrester was killed off the show, Karen was created to bring back John ...
(1991–1994, 2009, 2011–2014) on the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
daytime soap opera ''
The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...
''. Joanna Johnson continues to work actively also behind the camera in the entertainment show business, having several credits as writer, producer, showrunner and director. She wrote the independent film ''
The Shrink Is In ''The Shrink Is In'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin and starring Courteney Cox and David Arquette. Plot Samantha is a travel journalist who is still recovering from the break-up with her last boyfriend, when her ps ...
'' (2001), after she created the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
sitcom ''
Hope & Faith ''Hope & Faith'' is an American television sitcom, starring Faith Ford and Kelly Ripa as Hope Shanowski and Faith Fairfield. Hope is a homemaker and mother of three and Faith is her sister, a soap opera star whose character is killed off, leadi ...
'' (2003 – 2006) which ran for three seasons. She was co-executive producer on ABC Family's series ''
Make It or Break It ''Make It or Break It'' ( ''MIOBI)'' is an American teen/family drama television series that focused on the lives of teen gymnasts who strived to make it to the Olympic Games in 2012. The series was inspired by Touchstone's 2006 teen comedy-dr ...
'' (2009 – 2012), ''
Fairly Legal ''Fairly Legal'' is an American legal comedy-drama television series which aired on USA Network from January 20, 2011, to June 15, 2012. The series starred Sarah Shahi, Michael Trucco, Virginia Williams, Baron Vaughn, and Ryan Johnson. USA Netw ...
'' (2012), for USA Cable, and the CW’s ''
Emily Owens, M.D. ''Emily Owens, M.D.'' is an American medical drama television series created by Jennie Snyder Urman. It was picked up by The CW on May 11, 2012. It premiered on The CW on October 16, 2012, and aired on Tuesdays at 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central ...
'' (2012-2013). She is also the creator, executive producer and director of Freeform’s limited series ''
Love in the Time of Corona ''Love in the Time of Corona'' is an American romantic comedy television miniseries created by Joanna Johnson that premiered on Freeform on August 22, 2020. The title is a play on the title of the novel ''Love in the Time of Cholera''. Premise ...
'' (2020). Previously, Joanna Johnson was the executive producer and showrunner on Freeform’s drama series '' The Fosters'' (2013 – 2019), which ran for five seasons and actually in its spin-off, '' Good Trouble'' (2019 -2023) that has been renewed for Season 5.


Education

In 1983, Joanna Johnson graduated from the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
with a degree of English literature. She graduated from the
USC Film School The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...
.


Career


In front the camera: first roles as and actress

Joanna Johnson was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She attended
USC Film School The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...
and, after graduating, pursued an acting career. She started acting in small roles on television series such as ''
Riptide A rip tide, or riptide, is a strong offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach, at a lagoon or inland marina where tide water flows steadily out to sea during ebb tide. It is a strong tidal flo ...
'', ''
Mike Hammer Michael Hammer or Mike Hammer may refer to: *Michael Armand Hammer (1955–2022), American philanthropist and businessman *Michael Martin Hammer (1948–2008), engineer and author *Mike Hammer (character), a fictional hard boiled detective ** ''Mick ...
'' (1984), and ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...
'' (1985). She had a first leading role in the terror movie ''
Killer Party ''Killer Party'' is a 1986 Canadian comedic supernatural slasher film directed by William Fruet, and starring Martin Hewitt, Ralph Seymour, Elaine Wilkes, Joanna Johnson, Sherry Willis-Burch, and Paul Bartel. It follows a trio of female sorori ...
'' (1986). The next year she took a role as Caroline Spencer Forrester (1987–1990, 1992, 2001) on the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
daytime successful worldwide soap opera ''
The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...
''. Joanna Johnson starred the original cast in the early seasons of this long-running daily soap opera series alongside,
Ronn Moss Ronald Montague Moss (born March 4, 1952) is an American actor, musician and singer/songwriter, a member of the band Player, and best known for portraying Ridge Forrester, the dynamic fashion magnate on the CBS soap opera ''The Bold and the Be ...
,
Susan Flannery Susan Flannery (born July 31, 1939) is an American actress and director known for her roles in the daytime dramas ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' and ''Days of Our Lives''. Early life Flannery was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on July 31, 19 ...
,
Katherine Kelly Lang Katherine Kelly Lang (born Katherine Kelly Wegeman; July 25, 1961) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Brooke Logan in the CBS soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' of the CBS Daytime programming block. Personal life Lang ...
,
John McCook John Thomas McCook (born June 20, 1944) is an American actor. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of the character Lance Prentiss on the television soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' (from 1975 - 1980)''.'' Since March 1987, he h ...
and many other actors. Her international popularity playing Caroline's role increased every year specially with the love triangles storylines between
Caroline Spencer Caroline Spencer is a fictional character from ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', an American soap opera on the CBS network. Created by producer Bradley Bell, she is portrayed by actress Linsey Godfrey. She is the daughter of media mogul Karen Spenc ...
and
Ridge Forrester Ridge Forrester is a fictional character from the CBS Daytime soap opera, ''The Bold and the Beautiful''. The character was introduced in the series premiere on March 23, 1987 and has been a regular fixture ever since. Ronn Moss played the role s ...
, ending with their expected wedding and some last heartbreaking episodes with Caroline's illness secret and death, where Joanna Johnson showed her great capacity as an actress. Johnson's came back starring months later as Caroline's twin sister,
Karen Spencer Karen Spencer is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera, ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' played by Joanna Johnson. After Joanna Johnson's character Caroline Spencer Forrester was killed off the show, Karen was created to bring back John ...
(1991–1994, 2009, 2011–2014), role she played for four years more. She also reprised her role as Karen on ''
The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...
'' from April 28, 2009, to mid November 2009 and again from late-December 2000 to January 5, 2001. Johnson returned again as Karen Spencer role on July 22, 2011, and since March 28, 2012 she was on recurring status.


Behind the camera: writer, producer, show-runner and director

In 1993, she took a stab at the music industry with the album ''Standing In My Rain'' (1993). The record was published by Finnish label Sony Music Entertainment (Finland) Oy. Joanna Johnson’s primary focus her career writing, producing and directing: She started as associate producer on the
Peter Berg Peter Berg (born March 11, 1964) is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. His directorial film works include the black comedy ''Very Bad Things'' (1998), the action comedy ''The Rundown'' (2003), the sports drama '' Friday Night Lig ...
film, ''
Very Bad Things ''Very Bad Things'' is a 1998 American black comedy film written and directed by Peter Berg in his feature film directorial debut and starring Cameron Diaz, Jon Favreau, Daniel Stern, Jeremy Piven, Christian Slater, Leland Orser, Kobe Tai and Je ...
'' (1998), starring
Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. With a variety of works in film, she is widely recognised for her work in romantic comedies and animation. Diaz has received various accolades, including nominations for ...
and Jeremy Pive. She then wrote the independent film ''
The Shrink Is In ''The Shrink Is In'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin and starring Courteney Cox and David Arquette. Plot Samantha is a travel journalist who is still recovering from the break-up with her last boyfriend, when her ps ...
'' (2001) starring
Courteney Cox Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom '' Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...
and
David Arquette David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster Enter ...
, after she created the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
sitcom comedy ''
Hope & Faith ''Hope & Faith'' is an American television sitcom, starring Faith Ford and Kelly Ripa as Hope Shanowski and Faith Fairfield. Hope is a homemaker and mother of three and Faith is her sister, a soap opera star whose character is killed off, leadi ...
'' (2003 – 2006) which ran for three seasons, starring
Kelly Ripa Kelly Ripa (; born October 2, 1970) is an American actress and talk show host. Since 2001, she has been the co-host of the syndicated morning talk show '' Live! with Kelly and Ryan'' in various formats. As an actress, Ripa's best known roles ...
and
Faith Ford Faith Alexis Ford (born September 14, 1964) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Corky Sherwood on the CBS sitcom '' Murphy Brown'', for which she received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and as Hope Shanowski on the A ...
as sisters and also with
Ted McGinley Ted Martin McGinley (born May 30, 1958) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jefferson D'Arcy on the television sitcom '' Married... with Children'' and as Charley Shanowski on the ABC sitcom ''Hope & Faith''. He was a late regular ...
and
Megan Fox Megan Denise Fox (born May 16, 1986) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the family film '' Holiday in the Sun'' (2001), which was followed by numerous supporting roles in film and television, such as the teen musical comedy ...
. Following the cancellation of ''
Hope and Faith ''Hope & Faith'' is an American television sitcom, starring Faith Ford and Kelly Ripa as Hope Shanowski and Faith Fairfield. Hope is a homemaker and mother of three and Faith is her sister, a soap opera star whose character is killed off, leadi ...
'' Johnson revealed in an interview with Gabrielle Winkel that she was working on other projects such as writing several episodes of the
ABC Family The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...
show ''
Make It or Break It ''Make It or Break It'' ( ''MIOBI)'' is an American teen/family drama television series that focused on the lives of teen gymnasts who strived to make it to the Olympic Games in 2012. The series was inspired by Touchstone's 2006 teen comedy-dr ...
(''2009 – 2012) for which she also worked as co-executive producer. In 2012 she worked too as executive producer and witter of ''
Fairly Legal ''Fairly Legal'' is an American legal comedy-drama television series which aired on USA Network from January 20, 2011, to June 15, 2012. The series starred Sarah Shahi, Michael Trucco, Virginia Williams, Baron Vaughn, and Ryan Johnson. USA Netw ...
'', for USA Cable, and the CW’s series ''
Emily Owens, M.D. ''Emily Owens, M.D.'' is an American medical drama television series created by Jennie Snyder Urman. It was picked up by The CW on May 11, 2012. It premiered on The CW on October 16, 2012, and aired on Tuesdays at 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central ...
'' (2012-2013) starred by
Mamie Gummer Mary Willa "Mamie" Gummer (born August 3, 1983) is an American actress. She starred in the title role of The CW series ''Emily Owens, M.D.'' (2012–2013), and played the recurring role of Nancy Crozier on ''The Good Wife'' (2010–2015) and its ...
(
Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...
's daughter) in one of her firsts leading roles and by
Justin Hartley Justin Scott Hartley (born January 29, 1977) is an American actor. He has played Fox Crane on the NBC daytime soap opera ''Passions'' (2002–2006), Oliver Queen/Green Arrow on The CW television series ''Smallville'' (2006–2011), and Adam New ...
. In 2013, Joanna Johnson joined
Peter Paige Peter Paige (born June 20, 1969) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He is best known for his portrayal of Emmet Honeycutt in the gay drama Queer as Folk. His debut as director and writer was on the film ''Say Uncle''. Early life ...
and Brad Bredeweg as executive producer and showrunner on Freeform’s drama series '' The Fosters'' (2013 – 2019), which ran for five seasons.The series stars
Teri Polo Theresa Elizabeth Polo (born June 1, 1969) is an American actress. She starred as Pam Byrnes-Focker in the ''Meet the Parents'' trilogy and played the role of police officer Stef Adams Foster in the Freeform series '' The Fosters'' (2013–201 ...
and
Sherri Saum Sherri Michelle Saum (born October 1, 1974) is an American actress. Saum is best known for her co-lead role as Lena Adams Foster in the Freeform drama series '' The Fosters'' (2013–2018) as well as a subsequent guest star role in its spinoff ...
as gay parents Stef and Lena who have a multiethnic family kids, one biological, the others from the foster-care system. Johnson also did her debut as director of several episodes. She is also the creator, executive producer and director of Freeform’s limited series ''
Love in the Time of Corona ''Love in the Time of Corona'' is an American romantic comedy television miniseries created by Joanna Johnson that premiered on Freeform on August 22, 2020. The title is a play on the title of the novel ''Love in the Time of Cholera''. Premise ...
'' (2020). Since 2019 (just 7 months after Th''e Fosters'' came to an end) Joanna Johnson started as executive producer and showrunner on Freeform’s drama series '' Good Trouble'' (2019 -2023), spin-off The Fosters, actually it has been renewed for Season 5 at Freeform. ''Good Trouble'' is again created also with
Peter Paige Peter Paige (born June 20, 1969) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He is best known for his portrayal of Emmet Honeycutt in the gay drama Queer as Folk. His debut as director and writer was on the film ''Say Uncle''. Early life ...
and Bradley Bredeweg, starts by following ''The Fosters'' characters Callie (
Maia Mitchell Maia Mitchell (born 18 August 1993) is an Australian actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Brittany Flune in the children's television series ''Mortified'' for the Nine Network, and as Natasha Ham in the Seven Network's teen drama ' ...
) and Mariana (
Cierra Ramirez Cierra Alexa Ramirez (born March 9, 1995) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for playing Mariana Adams Foster in the Freeform television series '' The Fosters'' and reprising her role in the spin-off series '' Good Trouble'', w ...
) that have grown and decided to move into a communal living space in Los Angeles. Both have a new job and intending to put careers above relationships. Joanna Johnson not only worked again as the director of some ''Good Trouble'' episodes but, in 2019, she also did a guest role in as Diana, the mother of Callie's colleague Rebecca (
Molly McCook Molly Jane McCook (born July 30, 1990) is an American stage and TV actress. She played a leading role in Fox's '' Last Man Standing''. Early life McCook was born on July 30, 1990, in Los Angeles. She is daughter of actor John McCook and actres ...
). Her character Diana is the daughter of a United States Senator. She comes from a wealthy and powerful conservative family and has always been careful not to do anything that could negatively affect her family name and expects the same from Rebecca. "We thought it would be fun if I played Rebecca's mother since I starred in the soap opera ''
The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...
'' with her ealfather [
John McCook John Thomas McCook (born June 20, 1944) is an American actor. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of the character Lance Prentiss on the television soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' (from 1975 - 1980)''.'' Since March 1987, he h ...
- Eric Forrester character]," Joanna Johnson said, adding "I think he convinced me I did the right path going behind the camera."


Personal life

In May 2012, Johnson coming out, came out as gay during an interview with ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
''. Having been in a relationship since 2003, Johnson married L.A. club promoter Michelle Agnew in 2008, during the four months
same-sex marriage in California Same-sex marriage in California has been legal since June 28, 2013. The U.S. state first issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples on June 16, 2008 as a result of the Supreme Court of California finding in the case of ''In re Marriage Cases'' ...
was recognized. They have an adopted son and an adopted daughter."Joanna Johnson Comes Out: 'The Bold And The Beautiful' Star Reveals She's A Lesbian"
''
Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''. May 14, 2010.


References


External links

*
TVGuideMagJoanna Johnson pictures in B&B
a
IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Joanna 1961 births American soap opera actresses American television actresses American television producers American women television producers American television writers American lesbian actresses Living people Actresses from Phoenix, Arizona University of Southern California alumni American women screenwriters American women television writers American lesbian writers LGBT people from Arizona 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses LGBT producers Showrunners Writers from Phoenix, Arizona Screenwriters from Arizona