- Was nominated for Broadway's 1989 Tony Award as Best Choreographer for "Legs Diamond."
- His Broadway career began when he was 20; he was hired as an understudy in the original production of "West Side Story." He was soon promoted to play one of the Jets' gang members.
- He was a dancer, director, and choreographer best known for his collaboration with Mel Brooks. Johnson created the dance steps for "Springtime for Hitler" in the original 1967 movie The Producers; "I'm Tired" in Blazing Saddles; and the soft-shoe routine to "Puttin' on the Ritz" in Young Frankenstein.
- His father worked at a Philadelphia shipyard, and his mother was a homemaker and waitress.
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