Born on July 13, 1963 in Vermont, Kenneth Johnson is an actor best known for his role as Detective Curtis Lemansky on the FX police drama The Shield. Growing up, Johnson started out by doing television commercials, including one of the earliest LA Gear ads. He attended Central Connecticut State University. Johnson is a sports aficionado, and he participated in several sports teams when he was in college. In fact, he was a former champion arm wrestler. Johnson was married Cathleen Oveson in 2005. he suffers from dyslexia and needs someone to read his script to him so he can memorize his lines.
In 1998, Johnson appeared in the opening sequences of Blade as Heatseeking Dennis, the person saved by Blade from a vampire. He then appeared on an episode of the hit CW series Smallville on its fifth season. His other screen credits include the 2006 Hallmark Channel original movie Desolation Canyon alongside Stacey Keach and Patrick Duffy, the 2005 independently produced film Zzyzx, a thriller, Just Shoot Me, Boomtown and Grace Under Fire.
Regarding Johnson’s most well-known role on The Shield, he originally auditioned for the role of Terry Crowley, which ultimately went to Reed Diamond. Series creator Shawn Ryan, however, liked his audition so much that he created a role especially for him. His character was killed off in an episode which aired on March 21, 2006. After the police drama, Johnson was cast in the TNT series Saving Grace where he played yet another detective. He also had a recurring role on Cold Case.