Springfield theater vet Jerry-Mac Johnston dies

Courtesy Springfield Contemporary Theatre

Jerry-Mac Johnston worked in the industry for six decades.

Jerry-Mac Johnston, a Springfield theater veteran with some 60 years of experience as an actor, writer, director and stage technician, has died.

Springfield Contemporary Theatre made a Facebook post yesterday informing theatergoers of the news. Johnston was 76, according to his IMDB.com profile.

"Jerry-Mac appeared on stage with SCT in nine productions over the years," the post reads, noting the most recent was "An Enemy of the People" in 2018.

The fourth generation of a theatrical family, Johnston started acting at age 5 and "performed in over 100 plays on two continents, dozens of independent and student films, commercials and industrials, and on network TV he appeared in the CBS movie of the week, 'Cry for the Strangers,' and the popular series ‘Northern Exposure,'” according to the SCT post. “Jerry-Mac is also a prize-winning, internationally published poet, playwright and children’s book author.”

His career experience also included time as technical director of the Gillioz Theatre and stage technician for Benaroya Hall Music Center, home of the Seattle Symphony, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

"I’ve acted. I’ve designed lights and sets. I’ve managed theaters. I’ve been a stagehand, a technical director and a costumer. It’s a profession where, unless you immediately hit the high point of stardom, you better know how to do everything if you want to make a living," Johnston said in a 2007 interview with SBJ. "Otherwise, you’re going to be asking that age-old question, ‘Do you want fries with that?’"