Ben Patrick Johnson

Ben Patrick Johnson (b. June 30, 1969 in Tucson, Arizona) is an American voice-over actor, author, and commentator/activist.

"Extra" controversy

Johnson's first national exposure came in 1994 when he was chosen as co-host for "Extra", an entertainment magazine show. Extra demoted Johnson to on-air correspondent shortly after he came out as gay in the LGBT press and on KABC-AM radio, where he had been Director of Production prior to "Extra".cite journal |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5053/is_199406/ai_n18362310 |title=Voice of Hollywood: E.T.'s voice-over king, Ben Patrick Johnson, says being gay got him sidelined at Extra—a story he has now turned into a juicy new Hollywood novel |work=The Advocate |date=2002-10-15 |accessdate=2007-05-07 |last=Griffiths |first=John] Warner Bros. Television, the producers of "Extra", declined to comment on the demotion. Following a year at the show, Johnson began writing for HERO Magazine, a glossy gay journal, and eventually joined the board of Equality California, a gay rights organization. [ cite web |url=http://www.eqca.org/site/pp.asp?c=9oINKWMCF&b=40330|title=Board of Directors - Equality California |accessdate=2008-01-31]

Voice-overs

In 1998, after a brief stint at E! Entertainment Television, Johnson moved to Extra's rival entertainment magazine "Entertainment Tonight", where he was "ET's" signature voice [cite web |url=http://imdb.com/name/nm0424570/ |title=Ben Patrick Johnson |accessdate=2008-01-31 ] for the next four seasons. Currently one of the five top-earning voice actors in Hollywood, [cite news |first=John |last=Beard | |title=Million Dollar Voices - Fox 11 News |url=http://www.voiceoverresourceguide.com/media/fox.html |publisher=KTTV-TV |date=2004 |accessdate=2008-01-31 ] Johnson appears on CBS (promoting "Survivor", "" and other shows), FOX (advertising "House", "Bones", NASCAR and Major League Baseball), the cable channels Starz!, NFL Network, Big Ten Network and others. His voice is used to promote movies and in commercials for Burger King and Kellogg's.

Writing

Johnson's novels include "In and Out In Hollywood", a roman à clef about a celebrity news show anchor whose fortunes change after he comes out, "Third and Heaven", and "One Size Fits All", published in June 2007, which details the excesses of a young fashion designer dressing three Best Actress nominees for the Oscars.

Webcast and Activism

In 2006, Johnson launched a podcast called "Life on the Left Coast." The video blog featured news, celebrity friends and a humor segment with reports in Spanish delivered by his Salvadoran housekeeper, Connie Asada. Johnson's commentaries, another staple of the webcast, upset a variety of Christian Right Organizations including The Capital Resource Institute [ cite news |first=Matthew S. |last=Bajko |title=TV Voiceover talent presents political public face |url=http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=198 |publisher=Bay Area Reporter |date=2007-07-12 |accessdate=2008-01-31 ] after Johnson condemned the CRI for its position on a bill pending in the California Legislature. CRI issued a statement denouncing Johnson, Equality California, and the webcast. [cite news |title='Gay' activist says- 'We will BURY you' |url=http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55558 |publisher=WorldNetDaily |date=2007-05-05 |accessdate=2008-01-31 ] After more than a million views on the video sharing website YouTube, [cite web |url=http://www.youtube.com/benpatrickjohnson |title=Life on The Left Coast YouTube Page |accessdate=2008-01-31 |format=html ] the webcast was expanded to a magazine format. Johnson put the show on hiatus in fall 2007 to focus on writing.

Modeling

Johnson's work as a fitness model has landed him on the covers of such magazines as "Gloss", "Instinct", "Pink", "XY", "Blue", and on fitness and bodybuilding websites.

Philanthropy

and the anti-child abuse organization iCan for Kids.

References

External links

*
* [http://bpjfoundation.org The Ben Patrick Johnson Foundation]
* [http://www.youtube.com/benpatrickjohnson "Life on the Left Coast" on YouTube]