LOS ANGELES, CA – Brad Johnson, the Marlboro Man in cigarette ads, films and television roles including Steven Spielberg’s ‘Always’ and ‘Melrose Place,’ has died. He was then 62 years old.
Johnson died of COVID-19 problems in Fort Worth, Texas on February 18, according to his agent, Linda McAllister.
In 1989, Johnson starred opposite Holly Hunter in a remake of the 1943 film A Guy Named Joe, about firefighter pilots. In 2000, he reprized his role as the pilot in Kirk Cameron’s harrowing religious thriller Left Behind, appearing in both sequels.
He had a recurring role as Dr. Dominic O’Malley in Melrose Place, as well as roles in Rough Riders and Soldier of Fortune, Inc. and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Johnson was born in Tucson, Arizona in October 1959 to father Grove, a horse trainer, and Virginia. According to a family biography, he began his rodeo career in 1984 after competing in rodeos as a child and being found by a film scout.
Johnson and his wife, Laurie, relocated to California for his career as an actor and as a Marlboro Man — one of the character series created by the tobacco company. They eventually settled in North Texas after moving their families to farms in New Mexico and the Colorado Rockies. There he sold ranchland real estate.
“As much as he enjoyed caring for the cowboys and the great outdoors, nothing was more important to Brad than his family. In any case, he put them first as he knew they could not have asked for a better husband and father,” he told the family in a statement.
“He lived life to the fullest, despite being taken far too soon,” they stated.
Laurie Johnson, Johnson’s wife of 35 years, and their children Shane, Bellamy, Rachel, Eliana, Eden, Rebekah, Annabeth, and William, as well as Johnson’s stepmother, Teresa Johnson, are among the survivors.