Russell Johnson

Russell David Johnson (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014) was an American television and film actor, best known for his role as "the Professor" on the CBS television sitcom Gilligan's Island. 2Early life Johnson was born on November 10, 1924, in Ashley, Pennsylvania. His parents were Russell Kennedy Johnson (1901–1932) and Minnie Wenonah Smink-Johnson (1902–1976). Johnson was the second-oldest of six children. His siblings were brothers Kenneth (1925–2012), David (1926–1976), and Paul Wesley (1932–1933) [who died from pneumonia only weeks after Johnson's father], and sisters Lorraine Johnson-Crosby (1928-2015) and Marian L. Johnson-Reeves (1923–2010). Their father died of pneumonia in December 1932; the youngest of the siblings (Paul Wesley Johnson), died not long after. Minnie Johnson later remarried to Thomas S. Lewis. As a teenager, Johnson attended Girard College, a private boarding school for fatherless boys, located in Philadelphia. 2Military career After graduating from high school, Johnson enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet. On completing his training, he was commissioned a second lieutenan