Johnny Duncan lived well into his 90's, with his wife Susan, enjoying life not far from
where it began.
He started out on a small farm near Kansas City in 1923. As a child
growing up during the Great Depression, Johnny danced up a storm in
local towns, and with the money he saved he was able to pay out his
parent's overdue mortgage to the banks. Not long after, he ran a little
dance school with his little girl pal, Lou, teaching locals kids how to
tap dance.
Not long after, an agent helped him make it to L.A. on a $50-a-month
contract. He got roles playing juveniles with the East Side Kids/Bowery
Boys and other movie roles. You can see him working the radio in the
Bogart classic
Einsatz im Nordatlantik (1943).
During the war he met Lana Turner and taught
her the Lindy Hop (Jitterbug). At the age of 26, he became the second
Boy Wonder, in the 15-part serial Batman and Robin.
Off the set, you could find Johnny out on his Triumph 600 on the
weekend in the canyons around Calabasas with mates like Lee Marvin,
Larry Parks, Keenan Wynn and Clark Gable, or at dinner parties held by
Jimmy Cagney. During the '50s, Johnny made fewer films after
Die Caine war ihr Schicksal (1954) (also
with Bogart), but he did play another sailor in a film with
Rita Hayworth, whom he described as the
most beautiful woman in Hollywood. You can also spot him in the
legendary Ed Wood flick
Plan 9 aus dem Weltall (1958)
and getting his head chopped off in
Spartacus (1960). Nowadays, you can
still spot him at the occasional movie convention, signing photos from
Batman and Robin and The East Side Kids.
