Margie Stewart Johnson

Margie Stewart Johnson
MARGIE, the only official World War ll Poster GIrl passed away on Thursday, April 26, 2012 at Providence Saint Joseph's Medical Center in Burbank. She was 92. Originally from Wabash, Indiana, Margie attended Indiana University and began her career as a model at the Charles A. Stevens Department store in Chicago. Within a very short time she had posed for numerous ad campaigns and made her way to Hollywood where she was soon signed to a contract with RKO pictures. Margie appeared in twenty films including; "Bombardier", "Wonderman", and "Gildersleeves' Ghost" before she was tapped to become the "Face of the girl back Home" to every GI around the world. Over 94 million posters went out as part of a campaign to sell war bonds and to boost the moral of the troops. It was so successful that Eleanor Roosevelt tried to stop the campaign, complaining that she thought the boys were becoming too homesick! But thousands of letters poured into the White House and the campaign went forward. Margie joined the Bond Cavalcade of stars and toured the European Theatre of Operations entertaining the troops and along the way she met and married Captain Jerry Johnson. They were married nearly 58 years before his death in 2003. She arrived home at the end of the war. To this day she has fans around the world who visit her website and send requests for autographed pictures.
This month she became a cover girl again when she appeared on the cover of Reminisce Magazine and had an eight page spread outlining her career from starlet to World War ll icon. She was a true American hero and died as passionate as ever about supporting our troops and the country she loved so much. She is survived by her son, Dr. Stephen Johnson, her daughter-in-law, Fran and their three children, Derek, Ian and Dana.