He only appeared in two more films during his career, the roles of Captain Bill Barclay in Keep Your Powder Dry and Buzz Fletcher in It's a Pleasure, both in 1945.

[2][better source needed] In 1940, Johnson returned to Broadway after a fourteen-year absence to star in the musical review All in Fun.

He was a regular performer on Broadway during the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in such roles as Charlie in Banjo Eyes, Sherman in Yours, A. Lincoln, Staff Sgt.

[2] He also starred (as Fred Petruchio) alongside Patricia Morison in the first UK production of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate, at the London Coliseum in 1951, and on the cast recording of that show.

[8] Johnson died in Flemington, New Jersey, United States[1] from a heart attack on March 6, 1957, just sixteen days before his 41st birthday.