Introduction
Besedka Johnson (October 5, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American film actress and former businessperson. Johnson was discovered by a film executive producer while working out at a Hollywood YMCA when she was 85 years old. She was subsequently cast in a starring role in her only movie, the 2012 independent film Starlet and garnered excellent reviews and several awards for her performance.
Early years
Johnson was born Beatrice Vivian Divic in Detroit, Michigan, on October 5, 1925, one of two children of Milan and Frances Divic. When she was around 17, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a modeling career.
She began using the first name "Besedka" during the 1960s, which came from the name of a dress shop she owned on Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills, California, at the time. She took the surname "Johnson" from her first husband. She later opened another Besedka dress store on Riverside Drive in North Hollywood, which she closed in 1981.
Death
Johnson died from complications following surgery for a bacterial infection on April 4, 2013, at Glendale Memorial Hospital in Glendale, California, at the age of 87. Twice divorced, she was survived by her three sons from her first marriage and two grandchildren.