Rita Johnson

Rita started on radio, then appeared on Broadway in Fulton Of Oak Falls. In 1937 MGM signed her, and she made her film debut in London By Night. Supporting roles followed in Man-Proof, Broadway Serenade, and Congo Maisie, among others. She appeared in more than forty films over her career, though she never reached A-list status. Her personal life was as dramatic as any screenplay. She had a serious romance with Broderick Crawford. On November 25, 1940 she married stockbroker F. Stanley Kahn; they divorced in 1943, and she then married Edwin Hutzler. That marriage ended in 1946.

Soon after, she began dating a man who became physically abusive. In September of 1948 she suffered severe head trauma that put her in a coma, requiring delicate brain surgery. Rita claimed a hair dryer fell on her, but her family believed her boyfriend caused the injuries. It took her over a year to recover. By the early 1950s her career had stalled and she had developed a drinking problem. Her final film was the 1957 drama All Mine To Give. After that she opened a dress shop in Hollywood. As she aged, her health declined due to alcoholism, leading to liver disease. On October 31, 1964 she died from a brain hemorrhage at age fifty-two. She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, Los Angeles.