Lynn-Holly Johnson is an American retired
figure skater
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...
and actress. After achieving some success as a figure skater in the mid-1970s, she began an acting career, including a
Golden Globe-nominated role in 1978's ''
Ice Castles
''Ice Castles'' is a 1978 American romantic drama film directed by Donald Wrye and starring Lynn-Holly Johnson and Robby Benson. It is the story of Lexie Winston, a young figure skater, and her rise and fall from super stardom. Tragedy strikes ...
'' and her role as Bibi Dahl in the 1981
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
film ''
For Your Eyes Only''.
Early life and career
Johnson was born Lynn Holly Johnson in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, to Margaret, a housewife, and Alan Johnson, a general contractor.
[ ] She has a brother, Gregg, and an older sister, Kimberlee. Johnson added the
hyphen
The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. ''Son-in-law'' is an example of a hyphenated word. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes (figure d ...
to her name after her roommate signed Johnson's name that way.
She graduated from
Niles North High School
Niles North High School, officially Niles Township High School North, is a public four-year high school located in Skokie, Illinois, a North Shore suburb of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. It is part of Niles Township Community High Scho ...
in
Skokie, Illinois
Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's do ...
.
Johnson won the silver medal at the novice level of the 1974
U.S. Figure Skating Championships
The U.S. Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of the United States. The competition is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. In the U.S. skating community, the event is ofte ...
. She gave up competitive skating in 1977 to turn professional and join the
Ice Capades
The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and United States Figure Skating Championships, US National Champion figure skating, figur ...
, and subsequently began an acting career, making her film debut in ''
Ice Castles
''Ice Castles'' is a 1978 American romantic drama film directed by Donald Wrye and starring Lynn-Holly Johnson and Robby Benson. It is the story of Lexie Winston, a young figure skater, and her rise and fall from super stardom. Tragedy strikes ...
'', in which she portrayed Alexis "Lexie" Winston, a figure skater who is blinded by a blood clot in her brain. The film, a romantic drama co-starring
Robby Benson
Robby Benson (born Robin David Segal; January 21, 1956) is an American actor and director. He rose to prominence as a teen idol in the late 1970s, appearing in the sports films '' One on One'' (1977) and '' Ice Castles'' (1978). He subsequently ...
, was a minor success in December 1978, grossing $18 million in the US. Johnson, who was described as "an appealing young woman who actually happens to be a good skater who can act" by film critic
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
, was nominated for a
Golden Globe as "
Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress" for her performance in the film.
Johnson was subsequently cast in the lead role of the
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
horror drama ''
The Watcher in the Woods''. The film received a limited release in April 1980, but it was soon withdrawn and not given a wider release until October 1981. Also in 1981, Johnson had a minor supporting role as Bibi Dahl in the
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
movie ''
For Your Eyes Only''; the character's name is a pun on the
endearing term "baby doll" as well as likely being an homage to
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...
, who wrote the screenplay for the 1967 Bond movie ''
You Only Live Twice''. In ''For Your Eyes Only,'' she played yet another figure skater who has a crush on James Bond, played by
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 19 ...
. In 1984, Johnson starred in ''
Where the Boys Are '84
''Where the Boys Are '84'' (onscreen title: ''Where the Boys Are'') is a 1984 American sex comedy film that was directed by Hyman Jack "Hy" Averback (the last film he ever directed) and starred Lisa Hartman, Lorna Luft, Wendy Schaal, and Lynn ...
'', a remake of the
1960 film of the same name. The film was a critical and box-office failure.
In 1996, Johnson quit acting to concentrate on her family; her last acting role at that time was a made-for-television film, ''Fugitive X: Innocent Target''.
In 2007, she returned to acting in a
community theater Community theatre refers to any theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a community with no outside hel ...
production of ''
It's a Wonderful Life
''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern self-published in 1943 and is in turn loos ...
''.
Personal life
Johnson currently lives with her husband and their two children in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
[ In January 2010, Johnson suffered a ]stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
while on a flight from Florida to Los Angeles.[ Upon medical intervention, Johnson learned that the stroke had been brought on by a ]patent foramen ovale
Atrial septal defect (ASD) is a congenital heart defect in which blood flows between the atria (upper chambers) of the heart. Some flow is a normal condition both pre-birth and immediately post-birth via the foramen ovale; however, when this d ...
, a congenital heart defect that had gone undiagnosed.[ She subsequently underwent ]open heart surgery
Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to c ...
to treat the condition.[
Johnson's daughter, Jensie, is a competitive gymnast and a member of the ]Alabama Crimson Tide gymnastics
The Alabama Crimson Tide gymnastics is a Division I gymnastics team representing the University of Alabama in NCAA competition. The Tide hosts its home matches in Coleman Coliseum on the university's Tuscaloosa, Alabama campus. One of only seve ...
team.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Official website
*
* (October 16, 1998)
Lynn Holly Johnson interview
(August 2012)
Lynn Holly Johnson Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Lynn-Holly
Actresses from Chicago
American film actresses
American female single skaters
American television actresses
Living people
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
People with congenital heart defects
Year of birth missing (living people)