"The Professor" (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014)
Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 6:18 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Johnson wrote:<<Russell David Johnson (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014) was an American television and film actor, best known for his role as "The Professor" on the CBS television sitcom Gilligan's Island and scientist Steve Carlson in the movie This Island Earth. Johnson died from kidney failure at his home in Bainbridge Island, Washington, on January 16, 2014.
- "I was at a speaking engagement for MIT ... and I said ... the Professor has all sorts of degrees, including one from this very institution [MIT]! And that's why I can make a radio out of a coconut, and not fix a hole in a boat!" - Russell Johnson
After high school, in the midst of World War II, Johnson joined the United States Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He flew 44 combat missions as a bombardier in B-25 Mitchell twin-engine medium bombers. While flying as a navigator in a B-25, his plane and two other B-25s were shot down in the Philippines in March 1945 during a low level bombing and strafing run against Japanese targets. The planes were hit by intense flak and had to ditch in the waters off the port of Zamboanga. During the ditching, he broke both his ankles and the radioman next to him was killed.
Johnson appeared in two episodes of The Twilight Zone. His character attempted to prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in "Back There". He appeared as a college professor in the episode "Execution". The plot of both episodes involved time travel from the 20th to the 19th centuries. In both episodes, Johnson plays a professor - foreshadowing his role as Professor Roy Hinkley on Gilligan's Island.>>
