Norm Johnson wore many hats, a military uniform and even a pair of dancing shoes. His life spanned the Korean War, “Jailhouse Rock,” riots in L.A.
and the Mint 400. Johnson was a Korean War vet who served as Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s bodyguard.
He was a backing dancer for Elvis Presley in “Jailhouse Rock,” covered the Watts riots as a young reporter, and was a co-founder of the famed Mint 400 road race. Johnson died Friday night at the home of his longtime friend Nancy Barr. He was 91.
He had been in hospice care for the previous two days. Johnson’s heart had been failing since he suffered a dislocated shoulder in a fall in June. “He was ready,” Barr said Saturday morning.
“I think he was just tired of dealing with one thing after another. He was a dear man, he accomplished so much and had a full life.” Johnson was full of life, too.
A bodyguard, and dancer A a Valentine’s Day baby, born in 1933, Johnson enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1950 at age 17, after repeatedly cutting class and being given the choice of enlisting in the military or being ordered to a detention center.
Johnson eventually served in the Korean War as a special security detail for Gen. MacArthur. Johnson had the qualifications; he had earned a black belt in jujitsu in his early teens.
Johnson studied journalism while overseas. He also had a passion for performance, and studied dance in his original home in San Diego. He won a dance contest at a club on the Sunset Strip in L.
A. Chore.