Stephen R. Johnson | |
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 Johnson holding hisMTV "Moonman" awards. | |
| Born | (1952-07-12)July 12, 1952 Paola, Kansas, United States |
| Died | January 26, 2015(2015-01-26) (aged 62) Fort Scott, Kansas, U.S. |
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Stephen Russell Johnson (July 12, 1952 – January 26, 2015) was an Americanmusic video director, television director,animator, painter, and writer.[1] Johnson got his start directing amusic video for the song "Girls Like You"[2] byCombonation, which features a youngRobin Wright, before moving on to directing videos for popular artists. Johnson directed three music videos forPeter Gabriel: "Big Time",[3] "Steam",[3] and "Sledgehammer".[4] "Sledgehammer" has the distinction of winning nineMTV Video Music Awards, which remains unsurpassed.[5][6] In addition, Johnson directed the videos for "Road to Nowhere" byTalking Heads,[7] and "The Bug"[8] and "Walk of Life"[9] byDire Straits.
In addition to directing music videos, Johnson was known for directing all thirteen episodes of the first season ofPee-wee's Playhouse,[1] for which he was nominated for aDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in Children's Programming.[10] He also spearheaded the creation of the short filmUniversal Declaration of Human Rights forAmnesty International, based on the thirty articles of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights created by theUnited Nations.[11] The film is composed of animated interpretations of the articles from forty-two different animators.[12]
Johnson was born on July 12, 1952, inPaola, Kansas, the son of Russell and Lena Wheeler Johnson. He attended high school inPleasanton, Kansas. He then attended college at Kansas University and the University of Southern California.[13] At USC he made an award-winning movie using stop-motion techniques – as did many of his music videos.[14]
Johnson died at the age of 62 on January 26, 2015, in Fort Scott, Kansas, from cardiac complications.[1][13][15]
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