[4] She worked as a waitress in her mother's lunchroom and sold hot dogs on the Boston-Worcester turnpike.

"[5] She played the leading role in Joyce Jordan, M.D..[7] Johnson began acting on Broadway in 1935 and started her film career two years later.

She played a murderer in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) and a doomed wife in the RKO film noir They Won't Believe Me (1947).

[8] In an incident that was never fully explained, Johnson suffered a head trauma on September 6, 1948 that required brain surgery.

[9] Unsubstantiated rumors promulgated by gossip columnists such as Walter Winchell suggested she might have been abused by a boyfriend, but the only explanation she offered was that a large, industrial-grade hair dryer at her apartment had fallen on her.