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Stephen R. Johnson

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Stephen R. Johnson
Johnson holding hisMTV"Moonman" awards.
Born(1952-07-12)July 12, 1952
Paola, Kansas,United States
DiedJanuary 26, 2015(2015-01-26)(aged 62)
Fort Scott, Kansas,U.S.
Occupations
  • Director
  • painter
  • writer

Stephen Russell Johnson(July 12, 1952 – January 26, 2015) was an Americanmusic video director,television director,animator,painter, and writer.[1]Johnson got his start directing amusic videofor the song "Girls Like You"[2]byCombonation,which features a youngRobin Wright,before moving on to directing videos for popular artists. Johnson directed three music videos forPeter Gabriel:"Big Time",[3]"Steam",[3]and "Sledgehammer".[4]"Sledgehammer" has the distinction of winning nineMTV Video Music Awards,which remains unsurpassed.[5][6]In addition, Johnson directed the videos for "Road to Nowhere"byTalking Heads,[7]and "The Bug"[8]and "Walk of Life"[9]byDire Straits.

In addition to directing music videos, Johnson was known for directing all thirteen episodes of the first season ofPee-wee's Playhouse,[1]for which he was nominated for aDaytime Emmy Awardfor Outstanding Directing in Children's Programming.[10]He also spearheaded the creation of the short filmUniversal Declaration of Human RightsforAmnesty International,based on the thirty articles of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rightscreated by theUnited Nations.[11]The film is composed of animated interpretations of the articles from forty-two different animators.[12]

Johnson was born on July 12, 1952, inPaola, Kansas,the son of Russell and Lena Wheeler Johnson. He attended high school inPleasanton, Kansas.He then attended college at Kansas University and the University of Southern California.[13]At USC he made an award-winning movie using stop-motion techniques - as did many of his music videos.[14]

Johnson died at the age of 62 on January 26, 2015, in Fort Scott, Kansas, from cardiac complications.[1][13][15]

References

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  1. ^abc"The Dead Rock Stars Club - January to June 2015".Retrieved13 February2015.
  2. ^VideoonYouTube
  3. ^abVideoonYouTube
  4. ^VideoonYouTube
  5. ^"Peter Gabriel, 'Sledgehammer' (1986) - The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos - TIME".TIME.28 July 2011.Retrieved13 February2015.
  6. ^Megan Buerger (28 March 2013)."The Next Musical Frontier".WSJ.Retrieved13 February2015.
  7. ^VideoonYouTube
  8. ^VideoonYouTube
  9. ^VideoonYouTube
  10. ^"Daytime Emmy".Imdb.Retrieved13 February2015.
  11. ^"UDHR film - Amnesty International".Amnesty.org. 11 March 2010.Retrieved13 February2015.
  12. ^Solomon, Charles (5 September 1988)."World Animators Make a Film for Human Rights".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved13 February2015.
  13. ^ab"Obituary for Stephen Russell Johnson".Cheney-Witt Funeral Chapel.Retrieved2018-02-18.
  14. ^Tannenbaum, Rob; Marks, Craig (2011-10-27).I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution.Penguin.ISBN9781101526415.
  15. ^"Stephen R. Johnson's Obituary on New York Times".New York Times.2015-02-03.Retrieved2018-02-19.
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