By Doug Cavanaugh (With comments by Dan Cuoco, DS Cogswell, and Mike Silver)
I received word that the Final Bell rang for Chicago boxing historian J.J. Johnston last month. He passed away in his beloved Chicago on November 4 at age 89. J.J. had been in deteriorating health in the past couple of years and I had been unable to visit him because of covid concerns. So the news came a bit late.
In addition to being one of the Windy City’s preeminent boxing and organized crime historians, J.J. was a prolific actor who starred opposite many top Hollywood talent over the years on stage and screen. He starred in David Mamet’s “American Buffalo” on Broadway with Al Pacino (Top left photo) and Ed O’Neill in “Lakeboat” and “Keep Your Pantheon.” (top right). The bottom photo is J.J., Don Ameche, and Chicagoian Joe Mantegna. In fact he was always a go-to actor for fellow Chicagoan Mamet whenever the playwright put up one of his works.
In 1983-84 J.J. won the New York Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent in “American Buffalo.” In 1986, he won the Bay Area Critics Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance by an Actor in the play “Glengarry Glen Ross.”I knew J.J. for over 20 years and could go on and on about him. But Mr. Mamet captured him best in the forward he wrote for J.J.’s book “Chicago Boxing,” so I’ve included it here.
Lord Buckley’s apothegm on the life of Christ was this: “When the Naz laid it down, it stayed down.” So have we always said about J.J. Johnston. The we, of which I am proud to be a part, is that group of writers, show folk and general neer-do-wells who came together in the Chicago of the late ’60s. We knew J.J., initially, as an actor and raconteur; it took some longer acquaintance to recognize in him the best of historians.
In his allied areas of expertise -American Crime and American Boxing-his interlocutors have yet to find him at a loss.
Ask who was the Bartender at Little Bohemia, or who was Terry McGovern’s favorite cut man, and you get not only an immediate answer, but a correction, and midrash. “The books say, X, but it was really Y, and let me tell you a story about that….” This guy is the real McCoy, and let me tell you a story about that. I was asked to write a film about John Dillinger, so I called up J.J. “l’m going to a meeting,” I said, “Would you come along and front for me?”
He of course said of course, and off we went to the Bel Air Hotel, there to meet several adolescent moguls. J.J. showed up with some WANTED posters, which he put on the table, and a rumpled paper bag, which he put at his feet. The posters were original, desiring the whereabouts of Alvin Karpis, Pretty Boy Floyd, Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, et cerera.
J.J. held the breakfast meeting entranced until two in the afternoon, when the young things decided to migrate back to work.
One of them, on rising, said, “You know, Dillinger’s looks changed drastically in the last months of his life. After that plastic surgery. In fact, they took a death mask of him, showing the remarkable discrepancy. They made two. One is in the F.B.I. building, in Washington, and I don’t know where the other one is.”
“lt’s right here,” J.J. said, and produced it from the paper bag at his feet.
This boxing book similarly, and in the highest praise of our Chicago coterie, is The Real Deal.
I read it and hear his inimitable voice laying it down. I’m sure you will, too; I wish you could hear him in person.
David Mamet, June 8, 2004
It was a pleasure (and sometimes a challenge!) to know you, J.J. Rest easy, old friend.
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Dan Cuoco – J.J. was very generous with his time and a genuinely down-to-earth, warm, and caring person. He enjoyed being around his friends from the world of theatre, movies, and boxing. Every Friday, you could find J.J. having lunch with his friends at Joe Mantegna’s Taste Chicago in Burback, California. J.J. made it a point to join him and his friends for lunch whenever I was in town. If I couldn’t make the Friday lunches, he would always accommodate my schedule, including lunch at his house, where I got to see his amazing Boxing and True Crime museum. I will miss him. (Photo: Doug Cavanaugh, Geoff Pierson, Ed O’Neil, Dan Cuoco, J.J. Johnston)
J.J. Johnston was a former amateur boxer and the author of several books on the history of boxing.
- Chicago Boxing (Images of Sports), with Sean Curtin and David Mamet (2005)
- Chicago Amateur Boxing (Images of Sports), with Sean Curtin (2006)
- UnCrowned Champions with DS Cogswell and Artwork of Robert Carson (2011)
- Babyface and Pop, with Nick Beck and Artwork of Robert Carson (2011)
Don S. Cogswell – For all he had accomplished, he always called UnCrowned Champions pure gold. When he got his copy, he called me and couldn’t stop saying how much he loved the layout and the essays. One of the best boxing guys I had the privilege to know and work with.
Mike Silver – I was proud to have made his acquaintance. The first time I met him in L.A. so many years ago, he invited me and my friend, Bill Goodman, to lunch. He said he had a surprise for us. A few minutes later, in walks the “Golden Boy” himself–Art Aragon! Well, I don’t have to tell you how great that was. Art was a terrific personality. So funny! J.J. was one of the reasons we are so lucky to be into this sport. Otherwise, we would never have met such a fine man.