<P> Van Johnson's dazzling smile, shock of red hair, and suntanned freckled cheeks made him a movie-star icon. Among teenaged girls in the 1940s he was popularized as the bobbysoxer's heartthrob. </P> <P> He won the nation's heart, too, by appearing in a series of blockbuster war films--<I>A Guy Named Joe</I>, <I>Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo</I>, <I>Weekend at the Waldorf</I>, and <I>Battleground</I>. Perennially a leading man opposite June Allyson, Esther Williams, Judy Garland, and Janet Leigh, he rose to fame radiating the sunshine image Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer chose for him, that of an affable, wholesome boy-next-door. Legions of adoring moviegoers were captivated by this idealized persona that generated huge box-office profits for the studio. </P> <P> However, Johnson's off-screen life was not so sunny. His mother had rejected him in childhood, and he lived his adult life dealing with sexual ambivalence. A marriage was arranged with the ex-wife of his best friend, the actor Keenan Wynn. During the waning years of Hollywood's Golden Age she and Johnson lived amid the glow of Hollywood's A-crowd. Yet their private life was charged with tension and conflict. </P> <P> Although morose and reclusive by nature, Johnson maintained a happy-go-lucky façade even among co-workers, who knew him as a congenial, dedicated professional. Once free of the golden-boy stereotype, he became a respected actor assigned stellar roles in such acclaimed films as <I>State of the Union</I>, <I>Command Decision</I>, <I>The Last Time I Saw Paris</I>, and <I>The Caine Mutiny</I>. </P> <P> With the demise of the big studios, Johnson returned to the stage, where he had begun his career as a song-and-dance man. After this he appeared frequently in television shows, performed in nightclubs, and became the legendary darling of older audiences on the dinner playhouse circuit. Johnson (1916 - 2008) spent his post-Hollywood years living in solitude in New York City. </P> <P> This solid, thoroughly researched biography traces the career and influence of a favorite star and narrates a fascinating, sometimes troubled life story. </P> <P> Ronald L. Davis is the author of <I>Hollywood Beauty: Linda Darnell and the American Dream</I>, <I>John Ford: Hollywood's Old Master</I>, and <I>Duke: The Life and Image of John Wayne</I>. He is a professor of history at Southern Methodist University and the general editor of University Press of Mississippi's Hollywood Legends Series. </P>