Leonora Johnson

**Leonora Dawn Johnson** (August 29th, 1952 - January 17th, 1975) was an American actor and model. She began her work in magazines and television ads in the late 1960s and slowly gained notoriety for her work in films such as “Rum Runner” and “The Era That Man Forgot” throughout the early 1970s.

**Early Life**

Leonora was born in the small midwestern town of Parkersville Wisconsin. She grew up on a chicken farm with her father, Harold and her mother, Ellen. While her dad tended to the chickens and her mom worked as a slopper at a dairy farm, she would spend her days dreaming of setting out on her own towards the bright lights of Los Santos to become a movie star. Around the age of 9 in early 1962, she began to smoke cigarettes, which would eventually lead to her suffering from lung problems later in her life. In school, Leonora was seen as an unremarkable and forgettable student, but as soon as puberty rolled around the summer of 1964, the students and faculty began to pay her a lot more attention.

In 1967 at the age of fifteen, Leonora dropped out of high school and hitch hiked to Los Santos, not only to make it big in the film or modeling industry, but also to escape from her creepy uncles advancements. After hitching rides for four day, she arrived in Los Santos on March 23rd 1967. To support herself and her career, she began working as a waitress at the Chili Bowl diner for several months. One day while working her usual shift, her natural beauty and child-like naivete caught the eye of Vinewood Magazine CEO, Bradly DiCaprio. After chatting with Leonora about her modeling and acting dreams, he offered the girl a two year contract at Vinewood Magazine modeling for print ads. She agreed and became a common face on the Vinewood party circuit and casting-couch circuit.

**Movie Career**

In the spring of 1969, Leonora was getting regular work as a model in the Vinewood Magazine print ads and was even doing television ads for Black Skimmer Sun Tanning oil and Dollar Pill drug store. As 1969 came to an end and 1970 came rushing around the corner, she had done eight different magazine ads, four television commercials and one minor acting role in the movie, High School!. She began working with an agent by the name of Branden Handler in 1970 and continued to model and do small television ads while he searched for her big break. In 1971, her big break finally came when she was casts in Richards Majestic Productions' film “Yellow Clock" in which she played Dahlia, a 47 year old taxi driver with kallmann syndrome. The film was released on May 19, 1972 and Leonora's performance was well received from both the audience and the critics, however all the media seemed to focus on was her beauty. Later that year in October, she met and began dating a casino croupier by the name of Everett Rogers. The two were together for only two months until Leonora decided to break things off due to him stalking her, she later filed a restraining order against him in early 1973.

All though her first major film role wasn’t the hit she expected, it landed her a role in the 1973 Richard Majestic Production, “**Rum Runner**” where she played Beryl, a wise-cracking disabled prostitute. The film released on May 19th 1973. Like the last film, she was described by the media as "a pretty face to watch without perhaps much spark in the eyes". In July of 1973 she signed a seven year contract with Richard Majestic and began working on “**The Era That Man Forgot**” playing Linda Harperton. Much of her career throughout 1974 consisted of filming The Era That Man Forgot, doing television interviews and continuing modeling for magazines cover shoots.

On December 29th 1974, **The Era Man Forgo**t premiered at the Oriental Theater in Los Santos, Leonora attended the premiere with her lover of two months Bobby Swimmen. After the showing, she was being interviewed by the Daily Globe when she mentioned an encounter with a Vinewood eliteIt who had taken advantage of her in 1969. Although she didn’t drop any names, it’s believed she was referring to a night she spent with movie star Mitch Dexter.

By the end of December 1974, Leonora had four movies under her belt, was appearing on every television screen in San Andreas and graced the cover of Vinewood Magazine two years in a row. She was also being concerned for the lead female role in the film "The Many Wives of Alfredo Smith". By all accounts it seemed as if 1975 was going to be a bright and bouncing year for Leonora.

**Death and Aftermath**

On January 17th 1975, following an anonymous tip-off to the LSPD, the mutilated body of Leonora Johnson was found by the side of the Land Act Dam. Both her hands and feet were cut off and placed in opposite areas, she had multiple incisions on her breasts and face, a big star symbol on her back made with cigar burns as well as a portion of her thigh that was removed with "ham" sliced into it laying next to her. By the time the LSPD come into the scene, dozens of reporters had already trampled over all the usable forensic evidence. Due to this, the police and detectives were unable to find any form of evidence to figure out who killed Leonora at the time, so the case was closed shortly afterwards in March of that year. On January 20th 1975, Leonora Johnson was laid to rest in the Vinewood Cemetery, she was only 22 years old. Leonora’s death would go unsolved for 38 years until in 2013 a torn up confession letter revealed the then very recently killed Peter Dreyfuss had been responsible for the death of Leonora, the letter went into detail about how Peter killed Leonora and why he did so.

After Leonora's death, Peter began to taunt her family for years by sending letters, making anonymous phone calls, and went as far as to send Leonora's locket and her severed lips to them on the anniversary of her murder.

A pornographic version of her murder was produced in 1984. The movie was called "Lay Enormous Jonhson" and Leonora was portrayed by Jessica Barlow, a person who claimed to be "Leonora's best friend at high school" although Leonora's parents had no idea who she was.

A less disrespectful and more well known film about Leonora was the 1985 Barry Andrews film, “My Leonora” which starred Anna Catinski as the slain starlet. There was also a true crime book entitled, “The Starlet Of Land Act Dam: The Leonora Johnson Story” that was written by American author, Axel Milton and was released in 2009. More information about Johnson's murder can be found the website www.whokilledLeonoraJohnson.com.

Near the 20 year anniversary of her death in January 1995, a slew of serial killings began in the greater Los Santos area that took the lives of three woman. Although the killings were preformed in the same manner as Leonora’s, the LSPD believe these murders were not committed by Dreyfuss but rather a copycat, apprehended.