Janelle Johnson

Janelle Johnson (December 2, 1923 - December 2, 1995) was an actress in films of the 1940s. She married actor George Dolenz (1908-63) and was the mother of Micky Dolenz of the 1960s pop group the Monkees. Her English daughter-in-law was Samantha Juste, co-host of BBC television's "Top of the Pops" in its early days. Her granddaughter Ami Dolenz also became a film actress.

Background and career

Johnson was born in Austin, Texas. She won the drama award at the University of Austin and performed on a local radio show called "Janelle Sings" [Micky Dolenz & Mark Bego (1993) "I'm a Believer"] . Her films included David O. Selznick's Academy Award-winning "Since You Went Away" (1944), with Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, Robert Walker and Shirley Temple, and "The Brute Man" (1946), directed by Jean Yarborough, with Rondo Hatton and Jane "Poni" Adams.

Personal life

Johnson met her Italian-born husband, George Dolenz, while performing in a stage play called "Return Engagement", but largely gave up acting after their marriage [Micky Dolenz & Mark Bego (1993) "I'm a Believer"] . She and Dolenz had four children, Micky, the eldest, born in 1945, and three daughters. After Dolenz's death in 1963, she married, in 1965, Robert Scott, a minister of religion who officiated at the wedding in 1968 of Micky Dolenz and Samantha Juste. Scott died in 1985.

Johnson died of cancer in Los Gatos, California on her 72nd birthday.

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