|
Amy Jo Johnson Profile |
|
-
Birth Date: October 6, 1970
-
Birth Place: Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA
-
Birth Name: Amy Jo Johnson
-
Height: 5'2"
|
|
|
Biography |
Amy Jo Johnson is an American actress, singer, songwriter
and musician. She is best known for her roles as Kimberly
Hart, the first Pink Ranger of the Power Rangers franchise
in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and as Julie Emrick on The
WB's college drama Felicity. She played Stacy Reynolds on
the Lifetime police drama The Division, and in 2005 she
joined the cast of the TV drama Wildfire. Johnson is playing
Julianna “Jules” Callaghan in a new CTV TV series called
Flashpoint.
Johnson was born in Dennis, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, a
daughter of Greig Johnson, a car salesman, and his wife
Christine, who managed a clothing store. She became
interested in gymnastics and after training for years,
decided to aim for the Olympic Games. She eventually reached
Class One - the highest status in gymnastics - and
participated in competitions hosted in the United States and
Europe in all four events: uneven bars, vault, beam and
floor. She was forced to abandon gymnastics following a
severe injury. In an interview for the E! Entertainment
Network, Johnson divulged that because of trouble she and a
boy got into, they were barred from graduating with the rest
of their high school class. They were eventually allowed to
graduate in a separate ceremony just for them.
At the age of eighteen, after graduating from Dennis
Yarmouth Regional High School, Johnson left Cape Cod and
moved to New York City in order to pursue her acting career.
She attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and the
American Musical and Acting Academy. When Johnson felt
comfortable with her skills, she left for Los Angeles to
audition for her first part.
Johnson's first role was also her most notable to date, as
Kimberly Ann Hart, the Pink Ranger, in the 1993 series
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. She acquired the role within
the first month of her main stay in L.A. Her gymnastics
background was a clear advantage for her in fight scenes,
and the Hart character was also an accomplished gymnast like
herself. Her martial arts skills were taught to her by many
choreographers in the studio. The series achieved unexpected
success and Johnson had a fair share of media exposure, both
as the character and as herself. After she left the series
in 1995, Johnson went on to star in the made-for-TV Disney
Channel film Susie Q in 1996. That same year, she
guest-starred alongside Wally Wingert in the Saved by the
Bell: The New Class episode "Backstage Pass" as Linda. In
1997, she participated in NBC's adaptation of Lois Duncan's
novel Killing Mr. Griffin and also played a gymnast with an
eating disorder in the movie Perfect Body. She also reprized
her role as Kimberly Hart alongside Austin St. John as Jason
Lee Scott in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, a 1997 movie in
which her character was sacrificed in a volcano to Divatox's
fiancee Maligore and resurrected as an evil being. Though
she stated in the I Love the '90s 1993 special that being
the Pink Power Ranger is something she would never live
down, while she was on The Sharon Osbourne Show Johnson said
that Power Rangers was a great first job.
In 1998, Johnson played the part of a vampire in the cult
indie movie Cold Hearts, around the same time as nude photos
of her (some real, some faked afterward) surfaced on the
internet. Soon after, she was invited to play the second
most notable role of her acting career: Julie Emrick, a
college freshman who becomes the best friend of the lead
actress of The WB series Felicity. She was in the series for
two and a half years. Her character in the series was
originally cast as a dancer, but Johnson managed to convince
the producers to turn the role into that of a singer and
guitarist, which eventually led Johnson to being able to
play a song of her own composition, entitled "Puddle of
Grace." The song was added to the show's official
soundtrack. Her talent in music also led her to star in the
movie Sweetwater: A True Rock Story, a biography about the
life of singer Nancy Nevins, whose band Sweetwater opened
the Woodstock festival.
Johnson then took roles in a number of indie movies, namely
Interstate 60, Pursuit of Happiness and Hard Ground. She
also had a role in the final season of the television crime
drama The Division. She released her debut album, titled The
Trans-American Treatment, and performs live in the Los
Angeles area alongside "The Amy Jo Johnson Band". She later
dropped the band and limited the instrumental presence in
her shows to her acoustic guitar and her voice. She released
another album titled Imperfect on March 2005.
In 2006, Johnson co-starred in Magma: Volcanic Disaster, a
Sci-Fi Channel original made for TV movie. She played a
college student who begged to go on an expedition. Johnson
has also taken roles on ABC Family's original show Wildfire
as famous jockey Tina Sharp, and appeared in the pilot and
recurring episodes of What About Brian. She has also taken
on roles from two new independent films, "Veritas, Prince of
Truth" and "The Islander". Johnson also starred alongside
Carol Alt in the Lifetime Television movie, Fatal Trust.
Most recently, Amy continued her run on What About Brian as
Karen, who is Brian's girlfriend.
In December 2007 she contributed guest vocals to Koishii and
Hush's cover of The Cars track "Since You're Gone".
Johnson is currently starring in a new police drama called
Flashpoint. She plays Jules Callahan, a member of the
Strategic Response Unit of the Toronto Police service. The
series premiered on CTV and CBS July 11, 2008. The pilot
episode attracted 8.23 million viewers making it a CBS hit;
including Canadian viewers, it was the highest watched show
in North America.
On June 24, 2008 Johnson was reported as expecting her first
child with her fiancé Oliver Giner. |
|
|
Other
Information |
August 19, 1998 - her mother died of uterine cancer, with
which she had struggled for ten months. In January 1998, she
won the role of Julie Emrick on "Felicity" (1998) but
considered turning it down to be with her mother, during her
last days.
Hobbies: Lead Singer/Guitarist for band Valhalla.
Attended Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School, So. Yarmouth,
Massachusetts.
Now in a band named "Amy Jo Johnson" which released a CD in
2001.
Chipped the bone in one of her elbows in Gymnastics.
Wrote story 'Memories of My Mother' in the book 'Chicken
Soup for the Teenage Soul on Tough Stuff'.
She cites the main reason for her departure from "Felicity"
(1998) in 2000 was that she needed to grieve for her mother.
Her mother had died two years previously and she felt that
being on such a prominent show hadn't given her the time or
space to do so.
Bears a strong resemblance to Jennifer Garner.
Enjoys music, painting, and writing
Favorite musicians: Grateful Dead, Natalie Merchant, Sarah
McLachlan, James Taylor, The Beatles, The Allman Brothers,
and Jewel Kilcher.
Loves The Grateful Dead, along with many other classic rock
bands.
Plays the guitar and piano
Expecting her first child with fiancé, Olivier Giner, in
Fall 2008. |
|
|
|
since October 20, 2008