Geoff Herbert
syracuse.com
“Melrose Place” actor and former Marlboro Man Brad Johnson is dead at age 62.
Johnson died Feb. 18 in Fort Worth, Texas, of complications from Covid-19, his representative told USA Today over the weekend. No other details were announced.
Johnson appeared in more than 40 movies and TV shows, including as Dr. Dominick O’Malley on “Melrose Place” and as Judge Wyatt E. Jackson on “Courthouse.” He also starred opposite Holly Hunter in “Always,” Steven Spielberg’s 1989 remake of a film about a ghost pilot mentoring a young firefighting pilot.
Johnson’s acting credits also included “Left Behind” with Kirk Cameron, “Flight of the Intruder” with Danny Glover, and roles in “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “A Different World,” “Lone Justice 2,” “Rough Riders,” “Veronica’s Closet,” “Soldier of Fortune Inc.” and “Wild Things: Diamonds in the Rough.”
But he may have been most recognizable as the Marlboro Man in cigarette ads. According to USA Today, his father was a horse trainer in Arizona and Johnson was discovered by a movie scout while competing professionally in rodeos.
In more recent years, he returned to the ranch life in New Mexico and Colorado before settling in Texas, where he sold ranch real estate.
“As much as he loved cowboying and the outdoors, Brad loved nothing more than his family. He put them before himself in every way and they know that they could not have been blessed with a better husband and father,” his family said in a statement. “Although he was taken too early, he lived life to the fullest.”
Survivors include Johnson’s wife of 35 years and eight children, along with his stepmother, Teresa Johnson.
©2022 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit syracuse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.