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Jesse's Bio
"Country Roads, take me home.." Jesse Johnson came into the world singing, on a bright spring day in March 1959. Not only was it unusual that a newborn infant knew all the words to Country Roads, but that he was singing a song which had yet to be written! Ok, so maybe we're joking, but politics could use more humor and less mudslinging. In any case, the Mountain Party's 2004 nominee for governor Jesse C. Johnson Jr. is a common man, who's lead an unusual life.
As a toddler he helped lead President Kennedy's escort in West Virginia's Centennial Parade. Look closely at old photos and notice the police motorcycle leading the parade. The officer is Jesse Johnson Sr. "Little" Jesse is perched right behind him!
Jesse attended Sissonville High School where he was team captain for both the track and tennis teams, wrestled, and caught the acting bug. With a great interest in nature and the outdoors, Jesse joined the scouts at an early age and eventually became a scout master. While still a teenager he lobbied the Sissonville Public Service District Meetings to help start Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority and served on the first crew in 1977. He went on to attend North Carolina School for the Arts, Marshall University and several other institutions of higher learning
Like many West Virginians, he had a thirst for adventure. In 1981, he went to the Gulf of Mexico and worked on a seismographic ship. When inland he doubled as a stand up comic and country line dance instructor. But soon he danced back to his beloved hills.
Jesse's first business was equipping emergency services with high-tech halon fire extinguishing devices. Though the business was hugely successful, he voluntarily closed shop, when the Federal Government reported that it suspected halon was damaging the ozone layer.
Realizing risk is the stuff dreams are made of, Jesse headed to New York where he worked as an actor. He also did set work, designing floral arrangements for the CBS Morning and Evening News and As The World Turns. While in the Big Apple he also worked under the auspices of the UN. He became the expedition director for the Patterson Expedition, leading a group through the Talamanca Jungle on the Costa Rican/Panamanian border in celebration of the Year of the Indigenous People.
Jesse periodically returned to West Virginia to help out old friends. He worked on Danny Boyd's first two feature films Chillers and Strangest Dreams. In addition, he lobbied the legislature to create a West Virginia Film Office.
But the call of Hollywood was more than he could resist. For the next 15 years, Jesse worked in LA with many industry legends including Steven Spielberg, Martin Sheen, and Julia Roberts, as well as many others. You may remember him from the movie Hook in which he played a pirate. Jesse's aptitude for the business helped him secure jobs behind the scenes on more than 50 films.
While in LA, Jesse produced 9 plays on Theater Row, directed three more and acted in countless others. He also worked at the Film Actor's studio, born of Kevin Cosner's TIG Productions, worked in distribution as a director of acquisitions for Phoenix Home Video, and was an advisor to the board of Sunset Films. With nearly limitless energy Jesse became a member of the Screen Actor's Guild, Actor's Equity, AFTRA, SAG's Native American Registry and has worked with both the Director's Guild of America and the Writers' Guild of America.
In his spare time he pursued his interests in alternative medicine, healing and meditation, studying with the Chumash.
During the 90's Jesse was called home three times, first to be the primary care-giver for his grandmother and great great aunt, both of whom had terminal cancer, then for two one hundred year floods within 18 months, which destroyed his Sissonville home and finally because his mother became ill and fell into a coma.
Glad to be home, Jesse eagerly became involved in the community, acting in a variety of local commercials for causes he believed in and the Charleston productions of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Pavilion. He also became an advisor to the board of the West Virginia International Film Festival and started West Virginia Film Investment, geared towards brining film productions to the state.
At the same time, Jesse was instrumental in creating Talkback, Children Respond to Violence in the Media, through a three year grant funded by U.S. Department of Education, National Endowment of the Arts, V.S.A.and Kanawha County Schools. The program uses the arts to teach inner-city elementary school students how to combat violence. Talkback was entered into the US Congressional Record and was recognized by first lady Laura Bush.
More recently he lobbied the legislature to protect intellectual properties.
Discouraged with the two party system, and an environmentalist at heart, Jesse began attending Mountain Party meetings a little over a year ago. At the May 3rd convention he lead the charge to keep Nader off the ballot and secured the party nomination for governor. He is the first gubernatorial candidate in the history of the state to secure his place on the general election ballot before the primary election.
