Samuel Johnson

In 2019 he competed and won the 16th season of Network 10's Dancing with the Stars, with professional partner Jorja Freeman, and raised $50,000 in prize money for his charity: Love Your Sister.

As of mid-2019, Johnson was living in his birthplace of Daylesford, near Melbourne.

In 2019 he was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars to raise money for his charity Love Your Sister. On 24 August 2019, Love your Sister reached their initial goal of $10,000,000

In 2016, Johnson starred as Molly Meldrum in the miniseries Molly.

On 14 February 2014 Johnson returned to the starting point of his journey, Melbourne's Federation Square, having travelled 15,955 km by unicycle, broken the world record for the longest unicycle journey and raised $1,477,630. In 2016, Johnson was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to cancer research support organisations, and to the performing arts.

In 2013, Johnson began riding 15,000 km on a unicycle in a year-long attempt to break the Guinness World Record and raise $1 million for the Garvan Institute of Medical Research to find a cure for breast cancer. His stated mission is to remind every Australian woman about the need to be 'breast aware', in an effort to promote early detection and improve survival rates, via his charitable foundation, Love Your Sister.

On New Years Day 2012, he and his sister, Connie Johnson, started the Love Your Sister Charity, which supports the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.

In 2010 he made a cameo appearance as an old friend of Sarah's in the final episode of Wilfred.

In May 2008, Johnson gave his first interview since the death of Woodlands to ABC Television's Australian Story – The Sum of Sam. He talked about the turmoil of the last three years – and his life changing involvement with Open Family Australia, a charity that works with vulnerable young people.

In July 2007, he returned to acting, playing a young Weary Dunlop in the play "Weary: The Story of Sir Edward Dunlop". Weary follows the ageing veteran after retirement, when he returns to the diaries of his time in a World War II POW camp. The action switches between the young Weary and his older, wiser self.

In late 2007, he began a relationship with Sarah Hallam, a casting director. They have known each other since they were 15. He stated, "I am really enjoying my new life. It is very different from the other one ... out in the 'burbs with my girl and her little boy, who is five." They live in the outer suburbs of Melbourne with Hallam's young son, while running workshops for aspiring actors.

In September 2007, he was involved in a bar brawl at Star City Casino in Sydney. While attending a wedding with his girlfriend Hallam, he was involved in an altercation with another guest, Ben Benson. Johnson had repeatedly punched Benson before stomping on his head as he lay prone on the floor. The court was told that at the time of the offence Johnson was receiving treatment for depression following the suicide of his long-term partner Lainie Woodlands. Upon leaving the court, Johnson was completely remorseful for his actions, stating, "I am very sorry it all happened, I was a bit of a nincompoop and I'm glad that it's all over. I'm looking forward to moving on". He was given a 12-month good behaviour bond, with Johnson to continue with his counselling, and no conviction was reported.

On 5 February 2006, his girlfriend Lainie Woodlands took her own life. Johnson and Woodlands’ mother Kim then endured a bitter legal tug-of-war for 2 months with Lainie's estranged father in order to bury her close to her chosen home and those she loved. She was eventually buried by Johnson, Kim, Lainie's siblings and many close friends. Johnson took an extended career break to recover from the trauma and returned to Daylesford.

In 2005/06, Johnson joined Nova 100, hosting the 9am – 12pm slot. He was popular in the role but resigned mid-2006, several months after his girlfriend Lainie Woodlands died.

The Secret Life of Us enjoyed consistent success up until the third series, when many major characters left, resulting in a drop in ratings. Johnson's character Evan (one of the last three original major characters alongside Kelly Lewis and Simon Trader) left early in the fourth series in 2004 and the show was axed soon afterwards.

After leaving The Secret Life of Us in 2004, Johnson went on to star in the dark, black comedy The Illustrated Family Doctor as Gary Kelp, a man condensing The Illustrated Family Doctor medical guide. Unfulfilled in every way, Gary starts to develop the physical symptoms of the ills he is transcribing and his life begins to really fall apart. The film divided viewers and critics, with the film resulting in a love-it-or-hate-it divide and was nominated for a handful of awards including Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2005 AFI Awards.

In 2003, during the height of Johnson's Secret Life career, he received rave reviews for his performance in the mini-series After the Deluge. It follows the story of the Kirby family; their father Cliff is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, and relives his disturbing memories of the war and his first love, as a part of his experiences of the present. His three estranged sons Alex (David Wenham), Marty (Hugo Weaving) and Toby (Johnson) are thrown together to care for their father whilst struggling with their own lives and relationships and attempting to come to terms with their father's mental state.

In 2003 Johnson rode from Sydney to Melbourne on a unicycle to raise money for children's cancer charity Canteen.

Johnson is also well known for his role in the 2002 Mick Molloy film Crackerjack. Playing Molloy's slacker pothead flatmate Dave Jackson, the film enjoyed relative success winning a host of awards including Outstanding Comic Screenplay and Outstanding Film Comedy at the Australian Comedy Awards in 2003.

His break, however, came in 2001 when he was chosen for the role of the scruffy, womanising writer Evan Wylde in Channel 10's drama series The Secret Life of Us. Evan was a main character, also narrating the majority of the show (apart from instances narrated by Deborah Mailman's character Kelly Lewis). This made Johnson a household name and earned him an AFI Award in 2001 for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Drama Series.

Johnson's first film role was in the 1995 film Angel Baby where he played Check-Out Cashier. Angel Baby was the tale of two people suffering from schizophrenia who meet at therapy and fall in love. The film was a huge success, sweeping the board at the 1995 AFI Awards.

Samuel Joseph Johnson OAM (born 8 February 1978) is an Australian actor, radio presenter, voiceover artist and philanthropist. He is best known for his roles as Evan Wylde in the television series The Secret Life of Us for which he won the AFI award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Telefeature in 2001, Leon Broznic in Rush, Toby Kirby in After the Deluge and as Molly Meldrum in the miniseries Molly for which he won the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama and won the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Television of 2017.

Born in 1978, Johnson was born and raised in Daylesford, Victoria. He had two sisters, Constance and Hilde, both raised by their father. When Johnson was a toddler, his mother died by suicide. At age 11, his sister Connie was diagnosed with cancer, after a tumour was discovered in her leg. She died in September, 2017 of terminal breast cancer.