Russell David Johnson (November 10, 1924 – January 16, 2014)
Military career:
After high school, in the midst of World War II, Johnson joined the
United States Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet and was commissioned as a
second lieutenant. He flew 44 combat missions as a
bombardier in
Consolidated B-24 Liberator four-engine heavy bombers. While flying as a navigator in a B-24 with the
100th Bombardment Squadron,
42nd Bombardment Group,
13th Air Force, his plane and two other B-24s were shot down over the
Philippines in March 1945 during a low level bombing and strafing run
against Japanese targets.
The planes were hit by intense flak and had to
ditch in the waters off the port of
Zamboanga. During the ditching, he broke both ankles and the radioman next to him was killed. Johnson earned a
Purple Heart for this mission. He was also awarded the
Air Medal, the
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three service stars, the
Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one service star, and the
World War II Victory Medal. He was honorably discharged with the rank of
first lieutenant on November 22, 1945. He then joined the
Army Reserve and used the
G.I. Bill to fund his acting studies at the
Actors Lab in Hollywood.
At acting school, he met actress Kay Levey; they married on July 23, 1949.
Russell David Johnson Played - Roy Hinkley’s character in the Gilligan’s Island as The Professor was the
key player in setting the ‘Mad Science’ that prepared myself and the
rest of my generations to follow a line of thinking reinforced by
someone who PROFESSED.
The Professor, you see, was called
“The Professor” and what the professor said you must believe and you
must carry out. When a castaway referred to “Roy”, they called him
Professor with the surname “The”, but when speaking directly to him, he w
as called just ‘Professor’ without the prefix.
This means that for 99 episodes, installed as a character was one who
represented “The King” and when speaking to the king, they would simply
call him King. That’s the best analogy I can think of. A king is one
who commands science and enforces based on mad thinking, disturbed
science and so forth...
...Red, white and blue
These
were the colors worn by the three people who anchored the show.
Gilligan wore red, the Skipper wore blue, and The Professor wore white.
What we didn’t understand back then but do now is that color plays a
confirmation ‘plant’ as to who is an scientific authoritarian,
subordinate, and the establishment of power and control.
Gilligan represents all of us.. the hapless bungling society who can’t
make anything work right. We were taught to rely on authority and
science figures.. look what they’ve done. We wear red and orange when
incarcerated. We are the controlled ones made to be jailed.
The Skipper’s job is to protect the rest of the castaways under an
assumed license. Blue is the color of jails. The Professor wears the
white dress for the reason he promotes logic,..: 
