Richard Brandon Johnson (born January 14, 1974 in Bloomington, Minnesota) is an American actor and TV host, who plays the role of Gary Wilde in Disney Channel's original show Shake It Up.
Biography[]
Born in Bloomington, Minnesota, Johnson graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre. In his spare time, he enjoys playing the drums in several touring rock bands.
Career[]
His feature film credits include "The Notorious Bettie Page" starring Gretchen Mol, the comedy "Rick" starring Bill Pullman and lead roles in the horror films "Malevolence" and "Little Erin Merryweather," which was an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival.
On the small screen, Johnson got his first big break playing the recurring character Dr. Michael McBain on the ABC Daytime series "One Life To Live." A few years later, he played another recurring character, Chuck Wilson III on the same show. . He also appeared as the quirky red carpet host, Brian Winters, in multiple episodes of the Disney Channel Original series "Hannah Montana."
Johnson has been featured in dozens of commercials including Nokia's "20Lives" campaign, in which he created the character of Phil Blitz. The campaign aired in 21 countries ithroughout Europe, in various languages.
Johnson has many credits as a television host. He first broke onto the scene as the host of the entertainment show "Cool In Your Code," which was shot entirely on the streets of New York City and was nominated for 18 New York Emmy Awards and won 4. He was also the host of HGTV's "Get Out, Way Out!," FOX Soccer Channel's "Fox Soccer USA," G4TV's "Formula D" and Outdoor Life Network's "Rally America." Currently, he can be seen as one of the hosts of USA Networks' dream-fulfillment series "Character Fantasy."
Trivia[]
- Is a drummer and founding member of the rock band, Ill Rocket
- BFA in theatre from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
- Born in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA.
- Is an accomplished drummer and percussionist and plays for many alternative rock bands including: ILL Rocket, The Progress, Pelt, Touch Is Automatic, Yellow No. 5 and The Duncan Bleak Ensemble.
- Played soccer as a youth for the Bloomington Mustangs.
- Was an all-star hockey player growing up and played for Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars, Team Minnesota, South Side Stars and Minnesota Selects.
- He supports Rocky and Gunther on Shake It Up. (Proof on his twitter)