Mel Johnson Jr. is an American character actor and film producer from

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Biography

Johnson portrays the mutant cab driver and Mars secret agent Benny in the 1990 hit

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

film '' Total Recall''. He also starred in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

On the Twentieth Century ''On the Twentieth Century'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Cy Coleman. Based partly on the 1932 play ''Twentieth Century'' and its 1934 film adaptation, the musical is part operetta, part farce an ...

'' and appeared in the

Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

's "Shakespeare in the Park" 2005 revival of ''

Two Gentlemen of Verona ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as showing his first tent ...

''.Brantley, Ben
"Shakespeare in the Park Review; Enter 'Two Gentlemen' For a Sexy Sip of Sangría"
''The New York Times'', August 29, 2005 He was also in the musical The Rink. Johnson played Broca, the

Cardassian The Cardassians () are a fictional extraterrestrial species in the American science fiction franchise '' Star Trek''. They were devised in 1991 for the series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' before being used in the subsequent series '' S ...

who succeeds Damar in becoming the leader of the

Cardassian Union The Cardassians () are a fictional extraterrestrial species in the American science fiction franchise '' Star Trek''. They were devised in 1991 for the series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' before being used in the subsequent series '' S ...

in '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''s final two episodes, " The Dogs of War" and "

What You Leave Behind "What You Leave Behind" is the series finale of the television show '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', the 175th and 176th episodes, the 25th and 26th episodes of the seventh season. The episode was written by showrunner Ira Steven Behr and Hans ...

". Johnson has also guest starred in ''

The Munsters Today ''The Munsters Today'' is an American sitcom and a revival of the original 1964–66 sitcom ''The Munsters'' that aired in syndication from October 8, 1988, to May 25, 1991. Plot The series concerns the day-to-day life of a family of benign mon ...

'', ''

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart t ...

'' and ''

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy in 1 ...

''. His other motion picture credits include ''Off the Mark'', ''

American Blue Note ''American Blue Note'' is a 1989 drama film directed by Ralph Toporoff, who wrote the screenplay with Gilbert Girion. It stars Peter MacNicol, Carl Capotorto, Tim Guinee Timothy S. Guinee (born November 18, 1962) is an American stage, televisi ...

,'' ''Murder By Numbers'', ''

Hideous! ''Hideous!'' is a 1997 comedy horror film and monster movie, about several elite human oddity collectors and traders who find themselves locked in a castle with several mutated creatures come to life. The film combines live-action actors with rod ...

'', ''Archibald the Rainbow Painter'' and ''In the Shadow of the Cobra''. Johnson served as the creative head of

Full Moon Entertainment Full Moon Features is an American motion picture production and distribution company headed by B-movie veteran Charles Band. It is known for the direct-to-video series '' Puppet Master'', ''Trancers'', and ''Subspecies'', as well as the film ''C ...

label Alchemy Entertainment/Big City Pictures. His credits as producer while there include ''

Ragdoll The Ragdoll is a breed of cat with a distinct colorpoint coat and blue eyes. Its morphology is large and weighty, and it has a semi-long and silky soft coat. American breeder Ann Baker developed Ragdolls in the 1960s. They are best known for the ...

'', ''The Horrible Dr. Bones'', ''

Killjoy Killjoy may refer to: Characters * Killjoy, in Charlton Comics' ''E-Man'' series * Killjoy, in the video game ''Valorant'' * Killjoy, in the Marvel Comics series '' Weapon P.R.I.M.E.'' * Killjoy, in the movie ''The Ice Pirates'' * Dr. Killjoy, i ...

'' and ''The Vault''.

Credits

Broadway

*''

'' (1978–1979) *''

Eubie! ''Eubie!'' Is a revue featuring the music of jazz/swing composer Eubie Blake, with lyrics by Noble Sissle, Andy Razaf, Johnny Brandon, F. E. Miller, and Jim Europe. As with most revues, the show features no book, but instead showcases 23 of Eubie ...

'' (1978–1979) *'' The Rink'' (1984) *'' Rap Master Ronnie'' (1984) *'' Big Deal'' (1986) *''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it ...

'' (1997–present) *'' Hot Feet'' (2006) *''

Jekyll & Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...

'' (2013) *''

Kiss Me, Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-s ...

'' (2019)

Film

*''Eubie!'' (1981) *''Off the Mark'' (1987) *''

'' (1989) *''Murder by Numbers'' (1990) *'' Total Recall'' (1990) *''Intimate Stranger'' (1991) *''

'' (1997) *''Archibald the Rainbow Painter'' (1998) *''In the Shadow of the Cobra'' (2004) As producer: *''

'' (1999) *''The Horrible Dr. Bones'' (2000) *''

'' (2000) *''The Vault'' (2000)

Television

*''

Gimme a Break! ''Gimme a Break!'' is an American television sitcom created by Morton Lachman, Mort Lachman and Sy Rosen, that aired on NBC for six seasons from October 29, 1981, to May 12, 1987. The series starred Nell Carter as the housekeeper for a widowed ...

'' (1985) *''

The New Mike Hammer ''Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer'' (later titled ''The New Mike Hammer''), with Stacy Keach in the title role, is an American crime drama television series that originally aired on CBS from January 28, 1984, to May 13, 1987. The series consisted ...

'' (1986) *''

My Two Dads ''My Two Dads'' is an American sitcom television series that was produced by Michael Jacobs (producer), Michael Jacobs Productions in association with TriStar Television, Tri-Star Television (later Columbia Pictures Television) and distributed b ...

'' (1988) *'' Police Story: The Watch Commander'' (1988) *''

Designing Women ''Designing Women'' is an American television sitcom created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason that aired on CBS from September 29, 1986, to May 24, 1993, producing seven seasons and 163 episodes. It was a joint production of Bloodworth/Thomason M ...

'' (1989) *'' Life Goes On'' (1989) *''

'' (1991) *''

On the Air On the Air may refer to: *On the Air (album), ''On the Air'' (album), 1984, by Billy Preston *On the Air (TV series), ''On the Air'' (TV series), an American sitcom *On the Air (film), ''On the Air'' (film), a 1934 British musical comedy *On the A ...

'' (1992) *''

'' (1994) *''

New York Undercover ''New York Undercover'' is an American Police procedural, police drama that aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television network from September 8, 1994, to February 11, 1999. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and ...

'' (1997) *''

Liberty! The American Revolution ''Liberty! The American Revolution'' is a six-hour documentary miniseries about the Revolutionary War, and the instigating factors, that brought about the United States' independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. It was first broadcast o ...

'' (1997) *''

'' (1998) *'' Sunset Beach'' (1999) *'' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1999) *'' Sheena'' (2001) *''

Jessica Jones Jessica Campbell Jones Cage is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos and first appeared in ''Alias'' #1 (November 2001) ...

'' (2018)

Notes

External links

* * Listen to Mel Johnson on Spotlight on Connecticut - Visit https://web.archive.org/web/20080315044829/http://spotlightonct.com/2_04_08_Mel_Johnson.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Mel Jr. African-American male actors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) People from Long Island City, Queens