Carlton Johnson, 52, Film Choreographer and Tap Dancer, Dies

Carlton Johnson, a self-taught tap dancer who became one of the better known teachers and choreographers on the West Coast, is dead of pneumonia.

He was 52 and died Dec. 22 at County-USC Medical Center after a six-week illness.

A veteran television and film choreographer, Johnson’s credits included eight years on “The Carol Burnett Show.” His other TV work involved “The Danny Kaye Show,” “Sammy Davis Jr. Show,” and “Diana Ross and the Supremes With the Temptations.” In films he danced and staged dance routines in “The Wiz,” “The Blues Brothers,” “Sweet Charity,” “Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” and many more.

Additionally he appeared with Katherine Dunham and her dance troupe on Broadway and was seen locally in several productions of the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Co.

Johnson had been dancing professionally since he was a teen-ager after teaching a friend the few tap routines he had mastered and then forming a duo called “The Toppers.” The two youths performed at clubs in Washington, D.C., and at age 13 Johnson was hired by Washington’s recreation department to teach dance to his peers.

He did not study formally until age 16, when he turned to ballet, paying for his lessons with the ballroom dancing he concurrently taught others. He formed “The Del Rio Trio,” popular on TV in Washington, before moving to New York, where he joined the Louis Johnson Dance Co. He came to California and taught at the American School of Dance and then taught for 12 years at California State University, Long Beach.

Most recently he had headed the Carlton Johnson Jazz Ensemble and had been teaching master classes at the University of California, Irvine.

Survivors include his wife, Lois, a son, a daughter and five grandchildren.