Kimmarie Johnson, ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ Actress and Former Miss Pennsylvania, Dies at 50

Johnson moved from a career in modeling and pageantry to film and television, appearing in the 1998 teen drama and several other screen productions before stepping back from acting after becoming a mother

Before she appeared in Beverly Hills, 90210, Kimmarie Johnson had won a state beauty pageant, competed for the Miss USA title and built a career in modeling. She later moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting, making her screen debut in 1998. Johnson died Nov. 4 at 50, her niece Rhonda Scott told People magazine.

Her death followed a medical emergency at her Los Angeles home on Oct. 27. Johnson was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where doctors diagnosed a condition related to a cardiac aneurysm. She died a week later.

Scott remembered her aunt as someone whose presence had an immediate effect on the people around her. “She radiated such a strong and bright light. People who came into contact with her felt nothing but positive energy,” she told People.

Johnson’s route into entertainment began outside the industry. She worked as a flight attendant before signing with the modeling agency Docherty. In 1992, despite having no previous pageant experience, she entered and won the Miss Pennsylvania competition. The victory earned her a place in the 1993 Miss USA pageant, where she finished among the top six contestants.

She moved to Los Angeles in 1996, seeking to advance her modeling career while exploring acting. Her first film role came two years later in Let’s Talk About Sex, a drama directed by Troy Byer. That same year, she appeared as Judy in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, the television series that became one of her best-known credits.

Her subsequent film and television work included Fatti, strafatti e strafighe, Shadow Fury, Break a Leg and Tucker War. In 2003, she became the mother of a son, Cameron Nino, and stepped away from acting for a period.

The break did not mean abandoning her artistic ambitions. Johnson continued studying performance and took classes at The Groundlings, the Los Angeles school known for its training in improvisation and acting.

(Photo: © AndKronos)