{"product_id":"van-johnson-9781496803856","title":"Van Johnson","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVan Johnson''s dazzling smile, shock of red hair, and suntanned freckled cheeks made him a movie-star icon. Among teenaged girls in the 1940s he was popularized as the bobbysoxer''s heartthrob.He won the nation''s heart, too, by appearing in a series of blockbuster war films--A Guy Named Joe, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Weekend at the Waldorf, and Battleground. Perennially a leading man opposite June Allyson, Esther Williams, Judy Garland, and Janet Leigh, he rose to fame radiating the sunshine image Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer chose for him, that of an affable, wholesome boy-next-door. Legions of adoring moviegoers were captivated by this idealized persona that generated huge box-office profits for the studio.However, Johnson''s off-screen life was not so sunny. His mother had rejected him in childhood, and he lived his adult life dealing with sexual ambivalence. A marriage was arranged with the ex-wife of his best friend, the actor Keenan Wynn. During the waning years of Hollywood''s Golden A","brand":"University Press of Mississippi","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50578102288727,"sku":"9781496803856","price":26.1,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781496803856.jpg?v=1746097931","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/van-johnson-9781496803856","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}