Laura Johnson

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NATURAL RHYTHM (AND LAURA JOHNSON'S OTHER NOT-SO-SECTRET TRICKS OF HER TRADE)

Laura Johnson was on a jet from Los Angeles to New York, feeling every bit the television star.

Here she was, this blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress with a juicy role on one of TV's hottest shows. A real celebrity. Filming for "Falcon Crest" was almost completed for the season and with some free time between episodes, Johnson decided to come East, do a little press, see some shows, shop, dine in style ... you know, the whole scene.

So there's Ms. Johnson, dressed pretty chicly, her thick hair tumbling around her shoulders, her eyes filled with intelligence and curiosity and, well, let her tell it: "I was feeling very full of myself, for God knows whatever reason. And whenever I'm totally full of myself I have this immediate instinct that puts me to sleep."

Laura lets out a raucous laugh. "You know? My ego gets so grand that I just fall asleep. And this poor guy is sitting next to me, who I fall asleep on. Of course, I drooled while I was sleeping, which is a drag, because I woke up and said, 'Oh God, what is this on your jacket? Is there a bird on this plane?' I'm looking around, trying to be inconspicuous, gently trying to wipe his jacket. And this man . . . well, he's totaily perplexed. 'Are you an actress?' he wondered. I said, 'Yes, I'm an, actress.' He asked what I planned to do in New York, and I said, 'Well I'm doing some publicity and I'm going to the Russian Tea Room and I'll get some paperweights in their gift shop."' Laura starts laughing uproariously. We are, right now, seated in the Russian Tea Room, New York's answer, to The Beverly Hills Hotel's Polo Lounge. It is a constant stream of stars and stargazers all making deals. There is nothing that remotely resembles a gift shop here, let alone a paperweight. "I saw this look cross his face," laura continues her story, "as if to say, 'Who is this woman?'"

This woman is "Falcon Crest's" latest female addition. When word came down the wire fast summer that Maggie Gioberti's (Susan Sullivan) sister was being cast - and that she would be a hardedged ex-hooker - we didn't know what to expect. Whatever it was, it wasn't Johnson. From the first scene where she came careening down the street, stepped out of her car, and said coolly to Cole and Linda, "So, what do you folks do around here besides stare at trees all day long?" - a line, incidentally, that was inspired by I a remark actress Shannon Tweed (ex-Diana) actually made when she first went on location to the Napa Valley - Laura made an impression. She came onto a show filled with big names and big talent, adding a powerhouse of her own energy, sass and lust. She also displayed fine comic timing. Johnson has dazzled as an actress; as a person she is equally spirited - with the kind of personality that inspires trust, optimism and adventure.

Seated on a banquette, Laura takes in the grandeur of the Russian Tea Room, preparing to eat whatever I have - "I've never eaten Russian food before," She looks expectantly at the borscht and blinis. "Will this increase the size of my chest?" she quips. Moments later she becomes sorrowful. Although Laura tries her best to like it, the food tastes yukky to her. Oh, well. This has been a trip filled with all sorts of adventures, starting with her blind date last night.

Johnson, who is separated, was fixed up with a gentleman her press agent suggested. "I was going down to meet him in the elevator, saying to myself, 'Why did I agree to this? Can I cancel? Then I thought, 'Wait a minute. You're staying at the Pierre Hotel, You've got lovely clothes which you stole from the studio. You look fabulous, everybody thinks you're rich, so just treat him like a gigolo." Laura offers a Terry Hartford smile that is both charming and delicious. As it turned out, the evening was fun, except for the fact that her date, who designs interiors of office buildings, talked at great length about colors. Particularly dusty rose, which, he deemed "out of style." "Finally, I had to tell him, 'You know, my entire house is dusty rose," Laura shrugs. All in all the man was nice enough but Johnson is not planning a big romance. "I told him when he comes to Los Angeles I will take him out, but I don't go out that much in general. Primarily, I'm concerned with my work, I have a few friends - men and women - whom I spend time with, but I'm real concerned with setting my work, house and life in order and that takes time and thought. I'm interested in learning how to relax: coming home from a long day of work, picking up a book, taking a hot bath and taking care of myself."

Ever since Laura took on the role of Terry, her life has been in an uproar. It is wonderful to be working and makinq a living, but with that comes an enormous amount of stress. "When you've been unemployed off and on for frve years as an actress and suddenly you're on a hot series, it certainly changes your life," Johnson admits. "I'm in a shifting process right now. I sense a completeness coming into my life. I've got a house, a dog, a career - everything is falling into place."

The timing couldn't be better for Laura, who grew up in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, not at all interested in acting. "I really wanted to write." But when she was 17, she had an opportunity to work at the American Film Institute's library for the summer. There she happened to meet actor/director John Cassavetes, who was struck by Laura's resemblance to his wife, actress Gena Rowlands. He encouraged her to act, and it wasn't long before Laura began studying with acting coach Harry Mastrogeorge. She also began liberal arts courses at UCLA. Two years later, Cassavetes cast Johnson in his film, "Opening Night." Afterwards she gave up her budding modeling career to concentrate full-time on acting. There were guest spots on "Eight Is Enough," "Romance Theater," and "Dallas." It was through her connection with "Dallas" and the good folks at Lorimar that Laura was able to test for Terry Hartford.

"The day I met with them I had other meetings, so I'd raced around all afternoon. By the time i got to Lorimar, I had forgotten to eat and when I don't eat, my blood sugar just drops. The secretary had her lunch in front of her and I just stared at it, which isn't something I normally do," Laura says now, attempting her hands at a blini again. "But she looked up and said, 'Would you like some of my food?"Can I have your pickle?' I asked." Just as Laura was about to eat the pickle, the door opened and some Lorimar executives said they were ready for Johnson. There was Laura, pickle in hand, not knowing what to do and trying to make an impression. "Instead of putting the pickle down, I jammd the whole thing in my mouth, then began wiping my hands on my skirt, trying to be very cool. Of course, when you try to be totally cool, coming from an awkward situation, you look very weird. I was talking and gagging and realized that I destroyed my dress. It was almost comic." It was also very Terry. The executives laughed, and in Laura's behavior saw something they thought would work for the character. Days later she won the role.

Life at "Falcon Crest" was not a bed of roses in the beginning. "My first day was disastrous," Laura moans. "The director would say, 'I want you to drive up and get out of the car and walk over here.' And I would say (here Laura aafects an innocent, not-too-bright voice), 'Do I say hello in my car?' He explained that there was no microphone in the car so that wouldn't be too effective. I was such a moron!" Soon, though, Laura caught on. "One of the best things about being an attractive woman in this business is that you are allowed the opportunity to learn in front of the camera, publicly." Laura nods affirmatively. "That's what my looks have given me and I'm aware of that."

Johnson also found she could learn a lot from her co-stars, particularly Susan Sullivan and Jane Wyman (Angela Channing). "Susan is an incredibly bright, classy woman; you can't snow her and I like that. And I cherish my scenes with Jane," Laura exclaims. "She's such a professional." She's also fond of her love scenes with Lorenzo Lamas (Lance). "Because they're so hot!" Johnson giggles mischievously. "I think that's because we have such good senses of humor."

"How do you choreograph those scenes?" I ask, thinking of some steamy kisses in the pool that they've shared.

Laura bats her eyes theatrically. "We just do them instinctively." She grins. "it's just sort of a natural rhythm."

Natural, also, is Laura's protection of her character. Although some viewers may disagree, Johnson does not believe Terry Hartford is as hard as many other TV bitches. "I've tried to approach her from the point of view that people are not born nasty," Laura says earnestly. "When I auditioned for the network I read a scene that has not aired, but I describe my childhood and the fact that my father neglected me in his attempts to raise Maggie so well. My mother was an alcoholic, so there was the whole sense of a child not raised properly and being wounded and rejected by men. Later I turned it into her reason for becoming a prostitute - to get the love of men."

Johnson stops suddenly and snaps her head up. "Did you see the show the other night?" she asks. "Angela comes to the door and I'm standing there, looking at myself in the mirror, eating cookies. That was my little creation," Laura beams proudly. "Bob Foxworth (Chase) directed that show and he needed me to improvise an establishing shot, so I said, 'Why don't you give me a mirror and some cookies?' I always have this vision of Terry as a woman whose private thoughts have Oreos in them." Laura giggles. "And nail polish bottles that are halfspilled. And cotton balls that she never threw away. I always have the feeling that Terry would put on a dirty skirt, then walk outside and say, 'Oh, how did this happen?' knowing full well that the skirt was dirty to begin with."

If Laura relates to Terry at all, it is in the fact that like her character, she always felt she had to fight for her own survival. Though never a "tough girl," Johnson did attend a difficult high school, where she learned to avoid potentially dangerous situations. The girls room, for example, was off limits if you wanted to avoid fights. "Our school was very frightening. I used to call my mother and she'd have to come and get me from school," she says darkly. When Laura was fourteen, her parents moved the family to Woodland Hills, a classier neighborhood than she'd been in, but in many ways, just as hard for Johnson to adjust to. The middle child of three daughters, Laura found dealing with upper class children just as unnerving and retreated into the library, where she discovered poetry. "That's where I developed my love of stories, which reformed itself into poetry and acting."

After reading the works of Sarah Teasdale and Maxwell Parrish, Johnson tried her hand at writing. Since age 13, she's kept a journal of every poem she's written. "I have things that are totally absurd, just dreadful," she laughs heartily. "I dig them out and just laugh, but things have progressed. I went to UCLA last year and took an extension course there with a poet." Since that time, Laura meets with fellow poets to discuss their works and read them aloud. The course has been so inspiring that Johnson is contemplating a public reading of her work and a book of poetry. "I may want to change my name," she considers. Being the actress from "Falcon Crest" who happens to write poetry is not her dream. "Not that there's anything nesative about it," Laura qualifies, "but I want the work to stand on its own."

Johnson also paints. "I paint the way I want things to be," she says simply. There is a dock in Santa Monica overlooking the Pacific that was once Johnson's special place to put the world on canvas. The result is a three-panel painting depicting ocean and mountains and rotting pieces of wood. Still, Laura can't bring herself to sell her work. "They're like my children," she says lightly.

Pictures are the only children in Laura Johnson's home right now. However, with the arrival of a brand new niece, she is beginning to contemplate the possibilities of motherhood, "I never thought about a child before, but when I see this little person who is so bright, I think, 'This is what it's all about! No wonder people love doing this!' I know now that probably within the next five years I want to have a child."

For now, though, there is work and more work to keep her busy. Talk around town has it that Johnson is going to lots of meetings concerning possible film roles. With her looks, talent and energy, it shouldn't be surprising to see this leggy beauty on the screen soon. "I'd like to play a Carole Lombard sort of role," she concedes.

As for relationships, Johnson is well aware of the havoc Hollywood can wreak on them. "it's interesting," she says contemplatively, toying with her silverware, "in order to really stay well balanced in this business you have to have a good relationship. And yet the irony is that the first thing that gets shaken is a good relationship." Johnson is convinced that because of the commitment one must make for work, there simply may not be enough left over for the relationship. Johnson herself, though, has much to offer someone, not least of which is her common sense. "I think the one thing that people can't take from you, but can be distorted, are your perceptions of life," she explains. "I mean, I'm happy to be on a top show and getting all this attention, but I'm not easily dazzled. Or when I am dazzled, I'm not afraid to say, 'I'm dazzled.' I have good, sturdy perceptions of things and I think that's what I can offer a person."

Before lunch, I had met laura Johnson hours earlier at ABC's studios in New York, where she was appearing on "The Morning Show." Sitting on a stool next to host Regis Philbin, dressed in a swanky, royal blue suit, Laura looked dishy. Until she started talking, no one quite knew what to make of her. After all, she was another blonde actress from Hollywood, here to talk, we presumed, about all the secrets she couldn't reveal from her show, blah, blah, blah. But as soon as Regis started chatting with her, things perked up. Laura, we quickly learned, was no ordinary Guest Number Two. She was witty and warm and funny. She wasn't afraid to make faces or throw her head back and laugh. Laura Johnson has magic, and she was spreading it all over the air waves.

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