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Whatever Happened To:
Lynn Holly Johnson

Talk about your six degrees. A couple late-night searches (mostly in vain) for further info on the elusive actress/ice skater Lynn Holly Johnson (!) unearthed a May 30, 1998 story from the Naples (FL) Daily News, where Johnson was to appear with Champions/Nuveen Tour stalwart JOHAN KRIEK in a celebrity Sports Fest. And to think, I used to handle PR for Johan. If only...[Posted 4:15 p.m. 10/16/98]

Former ice-skating champion plans to attend
Marco-Naples Sports Fest
By Eric Tiansay, Naples Daily News Staff Writer

She's performed a twin-axle skating maneuver for James Bond. She's starred opposite Bette Davis on the silver screen. And this summer, she wants to get in the game.

Unfortunately, motherhood will keep the former ice-skating champion and actress on the sidelines for the third annual Marco-Naples Sports Fest, which features the slogan, "Get In The Game."

"I wanted to do the mini-triathlon last year, but I was pregnant," Lynn-Holly Johnson, 39, said in a phone interview this week from her home in Newport Beach, Calif. "Now, of course, I'm not quite fit enough to compete. I just started running again two weeks ago. Having a baby 41/2 months ago sure has changed my workout schedule."

But Johnson plans to be part of the Sports Fest when she joins several past and present big-name athletes for the event's annual celebrity dinner set for Friday, June 5, at the Radisson Suite Beach Resort on Marco Island.

Other sports personalities scheduled to attend include tennis player and Naples resident Johan Kriek, former University of Florida quarterback Terry Dean, CBS golf commentator and Marco resident Ken Venturi and Olympic gold-medal swimmer Shaun Jordan.

Johnson first made her mark as a U.S. national champion ice skater in the mid-'70s. She then parlayed a professional skating stint into a moderately successful acting career in Hollywood, where she appeared in more than a dozen movies during the late 1970s and 1980s.

Johnson drew raves for her performance in the Olympic drama, "Ice Castles," and she later co-starred with Roger Moore in the 007 thriller, "For Your Eyes Only." She also played opposite Bette Davis in the Disney film, "The Watcher In The Woods."

The Marco-Naples Sports Fest, formerly known as the Marco Island Sports Festival, is set for Friday through Sunday on Marco and in Naples. The Sports Fest will feature more than 20 sporting events, including a mini-triathlon, 5K run, and in-line skating marathon.

Johnson has close family ties in Collier County. Her parents, Margaret and Alan Johnson, have been full-time Marco residents for 20 years. Her brother, Gregg, has lived in Naples part time for five years.

Although she hasn't been to Marco since last summer, Johnson said she visits her parents at least three times a year. For the last several years, Johnson's family and her siblings have spent the Independence Day holiday at her parents' home on Marco. Johnson has been married for four years to her husband, Kelly. They have a son, Kellen Dane.

"It's pretty cool to have parents who live in a resort island," the petite, blond-haired, green-eyed Chicago native said. "Marco is wonderful. Dad's got the boat in the waterway. There's nothing better than a sandbar picnic. And I love that bathtub water in the Gulf."

She may love the tropical waters off Marco, but ice skating is still near and dear to her. Johnson, who competed professionally until the mid-'80s, tries to skate during ski trips in the winter. Johnson is also a close friend of Olympic skating champion Scott Hamilton.

Johnson said there's no comparison from the time she skated to the current popularity of the sport, which has produced ice skating prodigies Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski.

"It's amazing how far it's come along," Johnson said. "In my era of competition, unless you were a world champion, nobody cared. Now, you don't have to have a title. That's not to say they're not wonderful skaters."

Johnson remembers when ice-skating competitions, usually featuring Dorothy Hamill, were often shown in the afternoon on ABC's "Wide World of Sports."

"The public has become so educated about skating," she said. "Today, they know what the difficult moves are. It's a whole different ballgame."

As for her other career, Johnson admitted making some poor choices for movie roles, but overall she's proud of her acting stint. By the time she made her last movie in 1992, Johnson was ready to make another career change.

She moved to Laguna Beach, Calif., where she went to college to become a physician's assistant. From 1993 to 1996, Johnson traveled to Mexico and Guatemala as a medical missionary, where she assisted surgeons who operated on deformed children.

Show business, though, eventually wooed Johnson back. Last year, Johnson helped write a script on a family drama with Little League baseball as the backdrop. Johnson also has acquired the movie rights to a couple of true stories, including the life story of ice skater Sonja Henie.

---JHD---