Arthur Stanton Eric "Arte" Johnson (born January 20, 1929) is an American comic actor. Johnson was a regular on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. His best-remembered "character" was that of a German soldier with the catchphrase: "Very interesting, but... ["stupid", "not very funny", and other variations].
Johnson was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the son of Edythe Mackenzie (née Golden) and Abraham Lincoln Johnson, an attorney. He attended the Univer...
more
Arthur Stanton Eric "Arte" Johnson (born January 20, 1929) is an American comic actor. Johnson was a regular on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. His best-remembered "character" was that of a German soldier with the catchphrase: "Very interesting, but... ["stupid", "not very funny", and other variations].
Johnson was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the son of Edythe Mackenzie (née Golden) and Abraham Lincoln Johnson, an attorney. He attended the University of Illinois, graduating in 1949 after working on the campus radio station and the U of I Theater Guild with his brother, Cos.
He initially sought employment in Chicago working for advertising agencies but left for New York to work for Viking Press. His first "show business" job came when he impulsively stepped into an audition line and was cast in a revival of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Before his big breakthrough in Laugh-In, he appeared in the satirical film The President's Analyst, putting in a comically chilling performance as a...
less
