Arte Johnson

Arte Johnson
Johnson at the premiere of The Rose, November 1979
Born	Arthur Stanton Eric Johnson (1929-01-20) January 20, 1929 (age 88) Benton Harbor, Berrien County Michigan, USA
Alma mater	University of Illinois (B.A., 1949)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1954–2005
Spouse(s)	Gisela Johnson (m. 1968)

Arthur Stanton Eric "Arte" Johnson (born January 20, 1929) is an American comic actor who was a regular on television's Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. His best-remembered character was that of a German soldier with the catchphrase "Verrrry interesting", sometimes followed by, "but stupid" or "but not very funny."

Johnson was born January 20, 1929, in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and is the son of Abraham Lincoln and Edythe Mackenzie (Golden) Johnson. His father was an attorney. Johnson attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he worked at the campus radio station and the UI Theater Guild with his brother Coslough "Cos" Johnson, and graduated in 1949.

He sought employment in Chicago advertising agencies but was unsuccessful and left for New York City to work for Viking Press. In early 1954, Johnson performed in several New York nightclubs, including Le Ruban Bleu and The Village Vanguard. His first job in show business came when he impulsively stepped into an audition line and was cast in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Johnson appeared in Ben Bagley's The Shoestring Revue, which opened off-Broadway on February 28, 1955, at the President Theater in New York.

Johnson appeared three times in the 1955–1956 CBS sitcom It's Always Jan, starring Janis Paige and Merry Anders. In 1958, he joined the cast of the short-lived NBC sitcom, Sally, starring Joan Caulfield. In it he played Bascomb Bleacher, Jr., the son of a co-owner of a department store, Bascomb, Sr., portrayed by Gale Gordon. In 1960, he played Ariel Lavalerra in the film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's novel The Subterraneans. He also starred in "The Andy Griffith Show" as a hotel clerk in 1962 in the episode "Andy and Barney in the Big City".