Dennis Johnson
*Dennis Johnson was born this date in 1945. He was a Black Television producer and director.
From Kenbridge, Va., and attended Temple University and UCLA. While studying at UCLA in the 1970s, Johnson began working at NBC as a page, for the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He then climbed the production ladder as an associate producer before moving into the programming department.
In the mid-1970s, he joined ABC and became vice president of variety programs, then left to become senior vice president of Osmond Television Co. He moved to Showtime in 1984 as the cable channel's director of current programming and was promoted to senior vice president of programming.
Johnson also served as president of the National Assn. of Minorities in Cable in the mid-1990s. Dennis Johnson, 68, died Dec. 23 2013 after suffering a heart attack while vacationing in St. Barthelemy, West Indies. He was a retired television executive who began his career as an NBC page and rose to become senior vice president of programming for Showtime.
