Monica Johnson (February 21, 1946 – November 1, 2010) was an American screenwriter whose film credits included Mother, Lost in America, Modern Romance, Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again and The Muse. Her television credits included The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Laverne & Shirley and It's Garry Shandling's Show.[1] She was a frequent collaborator with Albert Brooks.[1]
Monica Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Monica Lenore Belson February 21, 1946 Colorado, U.S. |
| Died | November 1, 2010 (aged 64) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Monica McGowan Monica McGowan Johnson |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1973–1999 |
| Relatives | Jerry Belson (brother) |
Early life
editJohnson was born Monica Lenore Belson in 1946 in Colorado, but was raised in El Centro, California[1] and spent her early years in medical and dental assistants’ school.[2][3][4][5]
Career
editHer brother, Jerry Belson, an Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and film producer, hired her to type scripts for the TV series The Odd Couple around 1972; noticing that his sister added jokes to the scripts which met with the producers' approval, he suggested that she partner with Marilyn Suzanne Miller to form a writing team. Initially working under her married name of Monica Mcgowan in 1973, she and Miller wrote three scripts for The Mary Tyler Moore Show. For the second script, having remarried, she was credited as Monica Mcgowan Johnson. By the time of third script in 1974, she was credited as Monica Johnson, the professional name she used for the rest of her career.
Miller and Johnson broke up as a writing team in 1974; Miller became one of the original writers for Saturday Night Live in 1975.
Johnson later became a writer/producer on Laverne & Shirley, and worked on a couple of TV movies, then began her long-term screenwriting collaboration with Albert Brooks in 1979 with the film Real Life. The two co-wrote five more of Brooks' films over the following two decades.[6]
Johnson wrote the book Penny Saver (unpublished) and the movie Marrying for Money (unproduced), and began doing art work.[2]
Personal life
editJohnson, a resident of Palm Springs, California, died of esophageal cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on November 1, 2010, aged 64.[1][7]
Awards
edit- National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay, 1985, Lost in America
- National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay, 1996, Mother
Filmography
edit- The Paul Lynde Show (1973, TV)
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973, TV)
- Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers (1974, TV)
- The Cheerleaders (1976, TV)
- Laverne & Shirley (1977, TV)
- The Plant Family (1978, TV)
- Real Life (1979)[8][9]
- Americathon (1979)
- Modern Romance (1981)[10]
- Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again (1982)
- Lost in America (1985)[11]
- It's Garry Shandling's Show (1990, TV)[12]
- Good Sports (1991, TV)
- The Scout (1994)
- Mother (1996)[13]
- The Muse (1999)[14]
References
edit- ^ a b c d McLellan, Dennis (2010-11-04). "Monica Johnson dies at 64; movie and TV writer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
- ^ a b "R.I.P. Monica Johnson". 2 November 2010.
- ^ "'Muse,' 'Mother' co-writer Monica Johnson dies". 3 November 2010.
- ^ "Award-Winning Comedy Writer Monica Johnson Dies".
- ^ "Albert Brooks Pays Tribute to Monica Johnson".
- ^ McGilligan, Patrick (2010). Backstory 5: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1990s. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520251052.
- ^ "She Collected Lava Lamps (My Time with Monica Johnson)". 29 November 2010.
- ^ "Real Life".
- ^ "When Reality was a Joke: The Making of Albert Brooks' Real Life". 6 November 2016.
- ^ "Modern Romance".
- ^ "Albert Brooks' 'Lost in America' Remains Piercingly Relevant 32 Years Later". 8 August 2017.
- ^ "It's Garry Shandling's Show (1986) [****]".
- ^ "Meeting of the Comedy Minds". 5 March 1997.
- ^ "Albert Brooks: Funnyman Whose Muse is in the Mirror". 22 August 1999.