Biography
Born in Alaska, blonde actress Michelle Johnson had to journey to an entirely different hemisphere to attain screen stardom. Cast as
Michael Caine's topless teenaged amour in 1984's
Blame it On Rio, Johnson received excellent notices, most of which forecast a long and fabulous career for the 19-year-old actress (reviewers barely paid attention to Johnson's young co-star
Demi Moore). Since
Rio, however, Johnson has made do with a number of forgettable potboilers, with a few scattered appearances in such A-pics as
Gung Ho (1986) and
Far and Away (1992). On television, Michelle Johnson was seen in the pilot for the 1987 Fox Network series
Werewolf (1987), and has evinced a predilection for appearing in TV movies based on spectacular murder trials: she was cast in both films based on the Betty Broderick case, as well as the 1994 dramatization of the Mendendez Brothers imbroglio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide