Baby boomers
Baby boomers still fondly recall Johnson's appearance as the title character of the highly rated "spectacular," "The Pied Piper of Hamelin", a musical version of Robert Browning's poem utilizing the music of Edvard Grieg. Featuring Claude Rains in his only singing and dancing role, it aired on November 26, 1957, as part of NBC's week of Thanksgiving specials. The program was so successful it spawned a record album and was repeated in 1958. Syndicated to many local stations, it was rerun annually for many years in the tradition of other holiday specials.