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Richard Pierson of Amissville belongs to the Brooke Johns fan club, a select group of three longtime admirers of the old vaudeville star.
As vice-president of the club, Pierson will be on WJLA TV's AM Washington show this Friday to present Johns with a resolution of appreciation.
After his morning appearance on Channel 7 television, Pierson will continue his tribute to Brooke Johns on WAMU FM public radio.
With Ed Walker, host of both AM Washington and the radio show, Pierson will interview the vaudeville performer, play records he cut in the 1920’s and 30’s and listen to recordings of other stars that Johns worked with or discovered.
Why all the attention to Brooke Johns? According to Pierson, Johns was a giant in the entertainment business.
“He would have ranked with Cantor and Jolson but he retired in 1928. What am I saying? He DID rank with Cantor and Jolson. Brooke Johns was in the Ziegfield Follies. He worked with Fanny Brice, Will Rogers, W. C. Fields, Cantor. Jolson—all the big names. His dancing partner was Ann Pennington. We just don’t remember him the way we do all the others because he retired so early,” Pierson explained.
Whenever Pierson mentions “retired” in connection with Brooke Johns, he adds quotation marks in the air around the word. “He officially retired but he’s never really stopped performing,” Pierson said. “He’s kept on playing for school children, at nursing homes for senior citizens, and for his friends.”
Johns, now 86 years old and living on his 203 acre farm in Olney, Md., will sing and play his banjo on both the radio and TV shows Friday. Pierson noted that the banjo Johns plucks is the same instrument he’s used throughout his long career. "It’s autographed by both Calvin Coolidge and the Ponce of Wales,” he added.
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