Georgann Johnson Movies
Intelligent, attractive, low-profile leading lady Georgann Johnson's first major role was as Marge Weskit, wife of wise-guy high-school teacher Harvey Weskit (
Tony Randall) in the popular early-TV sitcom
Mr. Peepers. For her film debut, she played the lead in
James Cagney's only directorial effort,
A Short Cut to Hell (1958). By the 1960s, Johnson was firmly established as a dependable second lead and character actress. The sizes of her screen and TV roles have fluctuated from meaty to miniscule: for example, while she is afforded generous screen time as
James Garner's small-town lady friend in
Murphy's Romance (1985), her supporting role as
Martin Ritt's wife in
The Slugger's Wife (1988) is dispensed within a single longshot. On TV, she was featured as Dr. Waverly in The Colbys (1984), Katherine McCay in
Our Family Honor (1986), and star
Sharon Gless' mother in
The Trials of Rosie O'Neill (1990). Georgann Johnson is the widow of writer/director
Stanley Prager, and the mother of actress
Sally Prager. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide