Joseph McMillan Johnson

Who was Joseph McMillan Johnson?

Joseph McMillan Johnson was a leading Hollywood art director born in Los Angeles.

He was graduated from USC with a degree in architecture before attending Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He was working for well-known architect Kem Weber when he was hired by David O. Selznick in 1938. He worked as a sketch artist for designs on Gone with the Wind in 1939, and was heavily involved with the creation of the special effects for The Wizard of Oz that same year. He worked on most of Selznick's major productions including Duel in the Sun, The Paradine Case and Portrait of Jennie, for which he won an Oscar for the visual effects.

A frequent collaborator with Alfred Hitchcock, Johnson was forced to take a break from Hollywood during the McCarthy witch hunts. He returned to his first career of architecture for a year, and worked with many notable architects in the LA area, many of whom having been his classmates at USC.