May 20, 1883 – December 31, 1951
Johnny was the queeny actor who took a hit for the gays. Sort of the gay “stepenfetchit.”
When I started the Dearly Departed Weekends, the ultimate goal was to rais funds for a grave marker. My pal Mark Langlois brought Arthur to my attention. Johnny died in the Motion Picture Country Home. His death certificate lists this hotel in Hollywood as his official address at the time of his death.
Johnny did die on New Year’s Eve (as Mark said: like a queen, keeping it tidy!) at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills. It’s sort of a home/long term assisted living facility for people in the biz.
Cause of Death: Coronary Occlusion, heart disease blah blah. Bad ticker.
The Motion Picture Fund will provide a grave for these people. They own a huger portion of Valhalla Cemetery in North Hollywood. Thing is, they won’t mark them. So with the proceeds of the raffle at our Dearly Departed Weekend, we bought Johnny a headstone.
Here is the unveiling.
Rest in Peace, Johnny. You were a lot of people’s first exposure to non-macho men. Even though you were usually the subject of mockery and physical abuse, you paved the way for a lot of people.
Rest in Peace. You deserve it.
After the unveiling, we had another “alternative ending” unveiling. Watch the entire video above to see it.
Very nice tribute, ran into this when I was searching for a photo when Mr. Hood was sleepwalking in the bear rug. This short was in 1937. How about Don Barkley who played the chauffeur in Washee Ironee in 1934? Cop calls him a French guy and he replies quite, quite. He made Johnny Arthur look like John Wayne.
Sorry, that was Honky Donkey with Algebra the mule.
thank you for this – I am just another gay person for whom these entertainers are cherished heritage