Arts & Entertainment
Beverly Johnson: The ‘Beverly’s Full House’ Interview
B
everly Johnson is the first
African-American super-
model, as well as an
actress, author, activist, business-
woman and TV personality. She
was the first black model to appear
on the cover of Vogue magazine,
and her beautiful face has graced
over 500 magazine covers.
Named by one of the 20th Cen-
tury’s most influential people in
fashion by the New York Times,
Johnson is also the mother of suc-
cessful plus-size model, Anansa
Sims Patterson. Her complex rela-
tionship with Anansa is explored
in the new docu-series Beverly’s
Full House which debuted on
OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Net-
work) on March 31st.
Beverly has a niece with Downs
Syndrome and is a spokesperson
for the Global Downs Syndrome
Foundation. And the National Por-
trait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
has a portrait of her on display as
C ELEBRITY
I NTERVIEW
by Kam
Williams
available at Target stores nation-
wide. For more information on her
beauty line, of hair care, skin care,
bath and body products, visit
please visit www.beverlyjohn-
son.com.
An avid golfer, Beverly can be
found unwinding on the golf
course when not working on or off
camera. She lives in Rancho
Mirage, California with her two
collies Flame and Hollywood.
Here, she talks about all of the
above, plus her recent perform-
ance as Brenda in ‘Tyler
Perry’s Good Deeds.’
‘We’re not going to
have any buffoonery.
You’ve got the wrong
family, if that’s what
you’re looking for’
part of its “The Black List” exhi-
bition, featuring photographs of
50 iconic African Americans.
Recently, Johnson launched a
new beauty line — Model Logic
by Beverly Johnson — which
includes hair care products and
Beverly Johnson Ponytails. It is
Kam Williams: Hi Bev-
erly, thanks for the inter-
view. I’m honored to have
this opportunity to speak
with you. We’re the same
age, so I’ve followed your
entire career right from
your meteoric rise.
Beverly
Johnson:
Thanks, Kam. Where did you
grow up?
KW: St. Albans. Have you ever
heard of it?
BJ: Are you kidding? I lived
with my aunt in St. Albans when I
first moved to New York City.
Wow! We were neighbors! It’s sad
that so many special communities
like St. Albans and Baldwin Hills
are really disappearing.
KW: Tell me a little about your
new TV series, “Beverly’s Full
House.”
BJ: I went up to Oprah and told
her I had some shows I wanted to
pitch to her. I had no idea she was
going to like the reality series. It’s
a constructive show about mother
and daughter relationships. In
addition, the cameras follow me
around while I’m building my
company. We’re not going to have
any buffoonery. You’ve got the
wrong family, if that’s what you’re
looking for. Oprah has a certain
integrity about herself and she
knows what image she wants for
her network. So, I felt very com-
fortable working with her. The
show has lots of laughs and a few
tears, and I do know that people
will take a lot away from the show
KW: When I interviewed
Gabrielle Union about ‘Tyler
Perry’s Good Deeds’ recently, she
told me how flattered she was to
have you play her mother in the
film.
BJ: I adore Gabrielle Union.
She reminds me of my daughter so
much. She’s smart… she’s articu-
late…she’s nice… she has a really
sweet soul… she’s ambitious... I
just adore her. I really do. And
Tyler Perry is another person I
admire. I’m not an actress, but if
he calls, you go. Making that
movie was a lot of fun.
KW: Tell me a little about your
new beauty line, Model Logic.
BJ: I decided to take a leap of
faith and go into business for
Beverly Johnson
myself. I’m scared to death! But
this is the hair care line of my
dreams, meaning it uses the for-
mulas that I’ve been chasing for
the last ten years. I might not make
as much money, but there are no
compromises on quality here.
KW: Even if you designed the
dream hair care line, you still had
to land a distribution deal to be
able to reach everybody.
BJ: Yes, that’s where Target
comes in. I still have my Korean
beauty supply stores, as well as the
retail outlets.
KW: Why go into business for
yourself instead of just doing a
licensing and royalties deal where
you lend your name to a product
line?
BJ: I decided it’s now or never.
There’s so much more purpose
behind my getting up in the morn-
ing. Business is hard, really hard,
but it’s worth it. So, I’m very for-
tunate to have managed to develop
this amazing team of people for
this venture.
See MODEL on page 10
April 11, 2012 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 7