Kenny Johnson

For other people named Kenny Johnson, see Kenny Johnson (disambiguation).

Kenny Johnson
Johnson in May 2007
Born	Kenneth Allen Johnson (1963-07-13) July 13, 1963 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma mater	Central Connecticut State University
Occupations	Actor producer
Years active	1990–present
Spouse	Cathleen Oveson ​ (m. 2005)​
Children	1

Kenneth Allen "Kenny" Johnson (July 13, 1963) is an American actor well known for his portrayal of Detective Curtis Lemansky on the drama series The Shield, Butch "Burner" Barnes on Pensacola: Wings of Gold, Joseph Shaw on Cold Case, Detective Hamilton "Ham" Dewey on Saving Grace, Herman Kozik on Sons of Anarchy, Matt Webb on Prime Suspect, Tyler Gray on Burn Notice, U.S. Marshal Max Clayton on Dexter, and Caleb Calhoun on Bates Motel.

Early life

Kenneth Allen Johnson was born in New Haven, Connecticut and was raised on a 30-acre farm in Weathersfield, Vermont. For his college education, he attended Central Connecticut State University, where he played football and basketball. Prior to starting his acting career, he spent approximately four years modelling for agencies including Wilhelmina and Ford Models. This path led to Johnson living for a year in Boston, Massachusetts, before finally settling in Los Angeles, California, where he eventually found acting.

Career

Johnson got his start in television commercials, including one of the very first ads for LA Gear. A former champion arm wrestler, he appeared as bit characters in various television programs, such as Family Matters, Grace Under Fire, Caroline in the City, Pensacola: Wings of Gold, Sliders, 18 Wheels of Justice, Just Shoot Me!, NCIS: Los Angeles, Lie to Me, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and The Protector.

In 1998, he appeared in the first several minutes of the first Blade, as Heatseeking Dennis, who was saved (by Blade) from a vampire played by Traci Lords. In October 2005, he appeared in the Smallville season 5 episode "Mortal" as a metahuman called Tommy Lee. He also appeared in the 2006 Hallmark Channel original movie, Desolation Canyon, with Stacy Keach and Patrick Duffy and starred in the 2005 indie film Zzyzx, a thriller about two friends who take a detour on their way to Las Vegas.

Johnson originally auditioned for the role of ill-fated Terry Crowley, which ultimately went to Reed Diamond. Casting directors were so impressed with the audition that they asked him to come in for the role of Lemansky. Johnson was unsure of how to go about the character, who wasn't very much developed at that point. During the audition, Johnson made some choices for the character that he initially thought ruined his chances of winning the role. However, the audition turned out to be successful and he was cast. Lemansky quickly became a major player in the first season because of the chemistry Johnson shared with his castmates.

After The Shield, Johnson had recurring roles on Cold Case, first as a supposed murder victim, and later as a love interest for Lilly Rush. He was later cast in the TNT series Saving Grace, as Detective Hamilton "Ham" Dewey. Johnson also appeared during the second, third and fourth seasons of Sons of Anarchy as Sgt. At Arms and biker named Herman Kozik from the Tacoma chapter. He also directed and starred in the short film I Heard the Mermaids Singing.

On August 16, 2010, Johnson appeared in Fox's Lie to Me, along with several fellow cast members from The Shield (Benito Martinez, Catherine Dent, David Rees Snell, Cathy Cahlin Ryan, and David Marciano). In 2011, Johnson appeared in Lifetime's series The Protector along with fellow Sons of Anarchy co-star Ally Walker. Johnson also appeared as a regular on NBC's crime drama Prime Suspect, which premiered September 22, 2011, playing the contractor boyfriend of the shows lead character, Detective Jane Timoney (Maria Bello). Also in 2011, Johnson starred as Frank Connor, a convicted drug smuggler who leaves prison after 22 years for one youthful mistake, in Few Options. He then guest starred as Tyler Gray in the sixth season of Burn Notice (2012), and as U.S. Marshal Max Clayton in the eighth and final season of Dexter (2013).

Johnson appeared in the A&E drama-thriller television series Bates Motel. He recurred in the second season, but became a main cast member at the start of its third season. He then recurred on the fifth season of Covert Affairs as a former CIA paramilitary operative James Decker. Johnson co-starred in the 2015 thriller Solace. In August 2015, it was reported that Johnson would be part of the main cast for the second season of ABC's anthology series Secrets and Lies.

Personal life

Johnson married Cathleen Oveson on December 21, 2005 in Maui, Hawaiian Islands. In October 2008, the couple announced they were expecting their first child. Their daughter, Angelica Scarlet Johnson, was born on May 6, 2009 in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Mirage	Greg
1990	The Forbidden Dance	Dave
1995	Bushwhacked	State Patrolman
1996	Nineball	Nicky
1998	Major League: Back to the Minors	Lance Pare
1998	Blade	Heatseeking Dennis
2001	Under Heavy Fire	Jimmy Joe
2006	Burned	Lou	Video release
2007	The Ungodly	Officer Murphy
2008	I Heard the Mermaids Singing	Al	Short film; also director
2011	Few Options	Frank Connor	Also co-producer
2013	Timmy Muldoon and the Search for the Shadoweyes Bandit	Shotgun Lenny	Video short
2015	Solace	David Raymond
2015	Blue	Murphy	Completed
2015	Run the Tide	Bo	In post-production
2016	Check Point	Roy	In post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Red Shoe Diaries	Tracer	2 episodes
1993	The Webbers	Chuck	Television film
1993	Family Matters	Gorgeous Waiter	Episode: "Walk on the Wild Side"
1994	Grace Under Fire	Skip	Episode: "June 15, 1997"
1994	Something Wilder	Chad	Episode: "Love Native American Style"
1996	Pacific Blue	Deke	Episode: "Over the Edge"
1996	Caroline in the City	Blair	Episode: "Caroline and the Ex-Wife"
1996	The Big Easy	George Stodermayer	Episode: "Stodermayer"
1996	Sliders	Slain Skater	Episode: "The Dream Masters"
1996	The Burning Zone	Dr. Jake Lietman	Episode: "Blood Covenant"
1997	Sins of the Mind	Anders	Pilot episode
1999	Just Shoot Me	Brian McDonald	Episode: "The Odd Couple (Part 2)"
1999	Ryan Caulfield: Year One	Detective Billy Zabo	Episode: "A Night at the Gashole"
1998–2000	Pensacola: Wings of Gold	Butch "Burner" Barnes	27 episodes
2001	The Huntress	Kevin Styles	2 episodes
2001	18 Wheels of Justice	Sonny	Episode: "Crossing the Line"
2002–06	The Shield	Detective Curtis Lemansky	66 episodes
2002	One on One	Brandon	Episode: "The Way You Make Me Feel"
2003	Boomtown	Robert "Bobby" Cherry	Episode: "Haystack"
2005	Smallville	Tommy Lee	Episode: "Mortal"
2006	Desolation Canyon	Press Reynolds	Television film
2006	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Randy Bolen	Episode: "Time of Your Death"
2006	Aquaman	Sheriff	Unsold pilot
2006	Cold Case	Joseph Shaw	5 episodes
2007–10	Saving Grace	Detective Ham Dewey	46 episodes
2009–11	Sons of Anarchy	Herman Kozik	12 episodes
2010	NCIS: Los Angeles	Tommy Boyd	Episode: "Past Lives"
2010	Lie to Me	Malcolm Hessler	Episode: "Pied Piper"
2011–12	Prime Suspect	Matt Webb	13 episodes
2011	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Detective Sean Riggs	Episode: "Dirty"
2011	The Protector	Detective Cummings	Episode: "Help"
2012	The Mentalist	Greg Marshall	Episode: "So Long, and Thanks for All the Red Snapper"
2012	Burn Notice	Tyler Gray	3 episodes
2013	Dexter	U.S. Marshal Max Clayton	3 episodes
2014–present	Bates Motel	Caleb Calhoun	14 episodes
2014	Castle	Mr. Harden	Episode: "In the Belly of the Beast"
2014	Motive	Doug Slater	Episode: "For You I Die"
2014–15	Chicago Fire	Tommy Welch	7 episodes
2014	Covert Affairs	James Decker	3 episodes
2016	Secrets and Lies	Danny	Upcoming

References

Sources

• Audio Interview (2010) with 'The Rafferty/Mills Connection' podcast
• Audio Interview (2010) with 'Rex Sikes/Movie Beat' podcast
• Audio Interview (2011) with 'Rex Sikes/Movie Beat Pt2' podcast

Notes

External links

• Official website
• Kenny Johnson at IMDb
• Kenny Johnson on Twitter