The JJs

Justine Johnstone and Julanne Johnston. Yeah, I get them confused.  I am surprised one or both of them didn't have to change their names, although in the silents it wasn't as much of a studio came as it became in the 30s and 40s. Julanne was on The Oneida when Tom Ince was taken ill, Justine was not. I am putting them both in here because they both stick together in my head. Kinda like Aileen Pringle/Alma Rubens and Pola Negri/Alla Nazimova stick in my head as pairs.

Let's start with Julanne first because that will round out the Oneida crew. And because there isn't that much information about her out there :(

Julanne Johnston was born May 1, 1900 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her parents were Howard Petterman and Ann Johnston. Not 100% sure judging by this info if her parents were married.

I am not sure if this is her birth name because she used the names 'Julanne Johnstone' and 'Julianne Johnston' in her earlier films.

Her family moved to Hollywood when she was in her teens. While there, she studied dance at the Denishawn School and honed her acting chops at the Hollywood Community Theatre.

She appeared in her first film in 1917 in an uncredited role.

Some notable silent movies she was in include The Thief of Baghdad (1924) with Douglas Fairbanks, The Big Parade (1925) with John Gilbert and Mae Murray, and Twinkletoes (1926) with Colleen Moore.

Julanne did appear in some talkies, but they were in uncredited roles. Her last film was supposedly Cleopatra (1934) with Claudette Colbert, but her part has yet to be confirmed. She retired from films when she was around 35.

She was only married once. She met her husband, David Rust while she was travelling to New York and she made a pit stop in Michigan. I couldn't find anymore information on their marriage until I looked up an ancestry record and well, I found a little bit more info. I couldn't find out when they were married, but I did find out that they had three kids. Son, David, and daughters, Patricia and Peggy.

Julanne Johnston passed away on December 26, 1988 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

She was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan. (I was pretty excited to read that she was buried about 30 minutes away from where I live....until I failed to find exactly where she is buried. Looks like I am gonna have to make a trip up there!)

Julanne was a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1924, along with Clara Bow and Lucille Ricksen.

She was handpicked by Douglas Fairbanks to star with him in The Thief of Baghdad.

She supposedly was only five feet tall and had gray eyes.

Apparently was president of The Mary Pickford Club.......no idea what that is/was.


Like I said before, Julanne was a guest of William Randolph Hearst on The Oneida's fateful trip, and once again, no quotes from her about the incident.

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Justine Johnstone was born January 31, 1895 in Englewood, New Jersey.

Her family moved to New York when she was still young, and this is where she received her education.

Justine appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies, the Follies-Bergere, and a Broadway play called Over the Top with one of the best hoofers ever, Fred Astaire.

She made her film debut in the 1914 version of The Crucible, which starred Marguerite Clark. She only made a total of 8 films, and they were all silent. She retired from films in 1926.

Why did she leave the silver screen after such a short career? Well, Justine was one smart cookie! She enrolled in Columbia University and worked in studies in the medical field. She was a partner with two colleagues in the development of the I.V. unit used in hospitals today. She also made excellent discoveries in the fields of endocrinology, and cancer and syphilis research. Justine eventually had a laboratory built onto her home.

Justine Johnstone passed away on September 3, 1982 in Santa Monica, California.

She was interred at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory.

Justine Johnstone was married once, to producer Walter Wanger in 1919. They divorced in 1938.

According to a 1920's magazine article, Justine loved sports.