Jo
Johnson is the mother of Steven, Billy, and Adrienne Johnson. She is
the ex-wife of Duke Johnson. Jo and Duke had married at a very young
age, but their lack of money compounded by both of their alcohol
problems ruined the marriage. Duke became abusive toward Jo and his
children. One night, her eldest son, Steve, set fire to Duke's bed
after he beat Jo. Knowing that Duke would most likely kill Steve for
what he did, Jo placed him and her baby, Billy, in an orphanage. She
left Steve a gold necklace to remember her by. But later on, Jo
regretted leaving Billy and tried to look for him. One day, a wealthy
woman found Jo. She had adopted Billy and begged Jo to quit her
search. Jo agreed, but gave the woman a ring to give to Billy. She
asked the woman to tell him it was from his mother. Jo then returned
to Duke to raise their daughter, Adrienne.
In
February of 1987, Jo appeared battered and bruised on the doorstep of
Salem's Riverfront Emergency Center. She had come to Salem looking
for Adrienne, who had arrived a month earlier to look for her
long-lost brother Steve. After all of these years, Jo and Duke had
remained married despite his abuse of her. But recently the violence
had escalated to the point that Adrienne feared for Jo's life, and
she believed Steve could help them. Following another beating at the
hands of Duke, Jo had fled from Chicago to be with Adrienne. But as
Adrienne helped her recover from her injuries, Jo grew more fearful
of what Duke would do when he'd find that she'd come to Salem.
Adrienne was confident that Steve would help them deal with Duke, but
Jo didn't hold out much hope. Eventually, Jo had to be placed in the
hospital because she had severe internal injuries that needed to be
operated on. Then, finally, Steve showed up to meet her. He was
deeply affected by Jo's condition. Although Steve held a lot of anger
against Jo for having placed him in an orphanage, he agreed to help.
And just in the nick of time. Soon after this, Duke came to
town.
When Duke arrived, he and Steve were immediately at each other's throats. Duke had come to take Jo back home with him; to everyone's surprise, Jo was willing to return to Duke in spite of the pain he had caused her. She felt she had no other choice. However, Steve interfered, assuring Jo that he would protect her if she stayed in Salem. After much discussion, Adrienne and Kayla Brady finally convinced Jo to move into a women's shelter - a place that Jo wasn't even aware that existed - in order to be safe from Duke. But not long after this Jo received a call from Duke threatening to harm Adrienne if she didn't leave the shelter. Naturally she rushed out of the shelter and headed to the Emergency Center, where Adrienne was struggling with Duke. When Jo arrived, Adrienne managed to leave the Center and call the police and Steve. But even now, Jo refused to press charges against Duke. Later that night, Duke was found dead in Adrienne's apartment. Adrienne had been beaten and raped by him...and Steve had killed Duke for it, or so he claimed.
Steve confessed to killing Duke and cited Adrienne being beaten as his motive. Since he had already threatened to kill Duke once before, this scenario was not implausible. What didn't make perfect sense was Steve's account of the events; they didn't match with the evidence found at the scene of the crime. In addition to the inconsistencies in Steve's story, Adrienne couldn't verify or deny his story because she didn't remember what had happened that night. Despite Jo's efforts to get Steve to tell her the truth, he insisted on taking the rap for the murder. But just as Steve's sentence was being declared, Adrienne rushed into the courtroom. She had remembered everything. She remembered being raped, and she remembered shooting Duke as he was trying to rape her again. And finally, she remembered that Steve had wiped her prints off the gun and put his instead. Thanks to this testimony, Steve was cleared. No charges were pressed against Adrienne.
With the trial and Duke behind them, Jo was forced to try and form a family again. Although Steve and Adrienne had grown closer, Steve continued to resent Jo for having given him away and for having stayed with Duke. Slowly but surely, he began to trust his mother. Meanwhile, Jo got a job as a maid at the house of Neil Curtis. From the first moment she set eyes on Neil, Jo was smitten. However, she was convinced that someone as wealthy and good as Neil would never even think of being with her. Though Adrienne tried to encourage Jo, she resigned herself to just be Neil's employee. Soon after this, Neil brought to his home two longterm houseguests: Anjelica and Jack Deveraux. Anjelica was extremely nasty to Jo, but Jack was very good to her. Jo felt close to him and watched out for him in a motherly fashion. And as they became better friends, Jack willingly came to her for advice. This advice mostly had to deal with the fact that Jack was in love with Kayla. Meanwhile, Harper Deveraux, Anjelica's husband and Jack's father, also arrived. Harper seemed vaguely familiar to Jo, but she supposed that it was because he was a senator. While cleaning his desk one day, Jo discovered that Jack had been adopted by Harper and his first wife, Camille. Apparently Jack was not aware of this. This information didn't particularly affect Jo until Jack showed her a ring that he planned to give Kayla. The ring was the exact same ring that she had given the woman who had adopted Billy all those years ago. When Jo asked Jack where he had gotten the ring, he said that it had belonged to his mother. Since the ring had been part of a unique jewelry set, there was no doubt in Jo's mind that it was hers. Therefore, Jack was Billy! As Jo remembered the day she'd given her ring to Billy's adoptive mother, she recalled seeing her husband and realized that it had been Harper. That's why Harper seemed so familiar to her. Despite knowing that Jack was her son, however, Jo decided to keep quiet. Jack was happy living in wealth and oblivious to the fact that he was adopted; Jo didn't want to destroy that.
But
even she had wanted to tell Jack who he really was, there was another
problem. Harper also recognized Jo. When he realized that she'd
discovered who Jack really was, he threatened to harm Jo and her
entire family if she breathed a word of it. Unfortunately, someone
else discovered their secret. While holding on to Jack's ring (he'd
given it to her for safekeeping), Steve saw it and noticed that it
matched his necklace and Adrienne's bracelet. Jo admitted that the
ring was part of that set and that it was hers. But when Steve heard
Jack say that the ring was his, he connected the dots. Jo confessed
that Jack was her son, but begged Steve to keep quiet. Not wanting to
see his little brother hurt, Steve did as Jo told. Soon after this,
Jack was hospitalized to treat his Hodgkin's Disease. Jo faithfully
stood vigil over her Billy whenever possible, always under the
hateful eye of Harper Deveraux. Harper's sinister vigilance soon
became so overwhelming that Jo decided to quit her job at the Curtis
mansion. Surprisingly, Neil was hurt by her decision and begged her
to stay because her presence in the house was something he and Noelle
would terribly miss. Overwhelmed by Neil's words, Jo decided to stay.
During this time, Steve began to push Kayla away from him and toward
Jack, who was in love with her. Jo knew why Steve was doing this and
pleaded with him to think it over. Giving Kayla to Jack would only
cause everyone heartbreak. However, Steve was convinced that this was
the only way to help Jack recover from his illness. Sadly, his plan
worked. Jack eventually recovered and married Kayla, while Steve
stood by and longed to be with her. The grief that Steve suffered as
a result, and the support Jo gave him, finally closed the gap between
him and Jo.
In
the Spring of 1988, Jo was diagnosed with possible breast cancer.
However, after one surgery she fully recovered. Meanwhile, her crush
on Neil Curtis continued to grow, even though he planned to marry
Grace Forrester, an elegant young British girl. Sadly, Grace was
murdered by the Riverfront Knifer one dreadful evening. Jo was once
again there to comfort the grieving Dr. Curtis. As time wore on, she
and Neil surpassed their employer/employee relationship and became
very good friends. Jo watched over him almost in a wifely way, she
cared for his daughter Noelle in a motherly way, and pretty much
considered Neil and Noelle an extension of her family. And yet, Neil
remained oblivious to the love she felt for him. When Neil announced
later that year that he and Anjelica Deveraux would be marrying, Jo
was devastated.
Meanwhile, the secret of Jack's parentage was finally revealed. Jack refused to believe it when he saw his adoption papers so he went to Jo thinking that she'd clear up what he believed to be one big lie. Instead, Jo showed him a picture of her holding him as a baby. Just as Jo had expected, he was destroyed by it. Jo tried to reach out to Jack but was only bitterly rejected over and over again. But on Christmas Day, Jo received a very precious gift from University Hospital's Santa Claus. The gift was a gold brooch. A month later, she would realize that the mystery Santa was none other than Jack. Though Jack still kept a cool front toward her and the family, Jo began to feel that he would finally accept her as a mother. During this time, Jo revealed that she was a recovering alcoholic and a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. As a member of that organization, she became sponsor to another alcoholic, April Ramirez. Jo's support helped April overcome her addiction. Meanwhile, Neil divorced Anjelica and once again turned to Jo for a should to cry on. The fact that Neil did this without thinking about it gave Jo hope that mabe one day her "silly little fantasy" would come true. Adrienne encouraged Jo to hang on to her dream.
In May of 1989, Adrienne mentioned to Jo that someone claiming to be her uncle went to the Kiriakis mansion looking for her. Although Jo pretended to not know anything about it, she seemed worried. Later, while walking home, Jo was confronted by someone who looked exactly like Duke! It was Earl Johnson, Duke's twin brother, fresh out of prison. Before Earl could say much, Jo warned him to stay away from her and her family. The following day, Steve threw a birthday bash for Jo. Just as the party was beginning, however, Jack showed up...with Earl. Since Jo had never told Steve or Adrienne about Earl's existence, they were naturally shocked by the sight of Duke's look-alike. Duke claimed to have come to Salem only to be with his family. But in private, Earl threatened Jo that he'd avenge what he had done to him in the past. Just as their conversation turned sinister, Steve arrived and kicked Earl out. After this, Jo explained that she had turned Earl into the police years before after he robbed a store. It was her testimony that sent Earl to prison, and now she was afraid that he wanted revenge. The following night, Earl attacked Jo in the alley behind Shenanigans. Luckily, Steve saved her and Earl was carted off to prison.
As
time went by, Jo was able to witness the anger between Steve and Jack
dissipate, and Jack became more willing to have her be a part of his
life. By the summer of 1990, the entire Johnson family were able to
sit down for a family dinner. The momentous occasion was to become
one of Jo's happiest memories. In October of 1990, Steve was
tragically killed by a bomb. The immediate police investigation
pointed Nick Corelli as the most likely to have set the bomb. In
fact, before Nick was murdered on Halloween, he had been working out
a plea bargain with police. The investigation into Nick's murder,
soon to become long, fruitless, and drawn-out, dredged up many
suspects. Among them, April Ramirez, Jo's friend and Nick's ex-wife.
Jo and April acted as if they knew more about the murder than met the
eye and quickly worked out an alibi for the night of Nick's murder.
April had a very good motive to kill Nick, and all clues indicated
that Jo was covering for her. Whatever was going on between them was
enough to almost make Jo drink again.
Meanwhile,
Jo stood on the sidelines once again as Neil embarked on yet another
love affair right in front her. This time, with Maggie Horton. But
when the affair was discovered and broken up, Jo was there to pick up
the pieces. By now, her four-year secret crush on Neil had become too
much to bear and she decided to quit working for him. Neil was
devastated by the news and tried to talk her out of the decision.
When he pressed Jo to give him a reason for her resignation, she
finally blurted out that she was in love with him! However, she
realized that he couldn't return those feelings. And even though Neil
agreed that he couldn't, he begged her to stay with him. With Noelle
now living in California with her mother, Jo was all he had left.
Flattered, Jo agreed to stay.
Unfortunately,
things soon began to go downhill. The police closed in more and more
on April as she became their number one suspect in Nick's murder. In
addition to the police, Jack and his girlfriend Jennifer Horton also
suspected April. They were investigating Nick's murder because they
believed that Nick had had in his possession a letter that implicated
the devious Lawrence Alamain in Steve's death. Jo reluctantly helped
Jack in his investigation by allowing him to search April's apartment
(as her sponsor, Jo had April's apartment key.) But in a moment of
desperation, Jo mentioned to Jack that the letter he was looking for
wouldn't help him at all. At that moment, Jack, who had suspected Jo
of having killed Nick, confronted her with the truth. Jo tearfully
confessed that she had held a gun to Nick the night he died to avenge
Steve's death. She had used April's car to get to the site of the
murder, which is why April had been implicated. 
Since
April had known that Jo was guilty, they had given each other alibis
for that night and had been protecting each other all of this time.
Understanding his mother's actions, Jack vowed to protect her. That
night, Jo was arrested and placed in jail. The only thing that kept
her going was a photo of her family. In preparing for the trial, Jack
and Mickey Horton, Jo's attorney, suggested that she plea temporary
insanity. Jo was completely against the idea mainly because she felt
that she needed to atone for her crime. Jack, however, was able to
prove to Jo that she had gone insane for that split second when she
shot Nick because of her son's death. This was also proven to the
court, and Jo was sent to Bayview Sanitarium. At Bayview, she
received therapy and observation, in addition to frequent visits by
Jack. In July of 1991, she was allowed to leave for one special day
-- Jack's wedding to Jennifer.
In early 1992, Jo was released from Bayview. By this time, Neil Curtis had ceased to exist in Salem so Jo got a small apartment near the Riverfront. Aside from aiding Jack in numerous silly situations -- like picking future husbands for Jennifer when he believed he was dying -- Jo had very little to do. In late 1992, Jack was on the verge of bankruptcy when he discovered a fantastic manuscript in the attic of his new house. The manuscript was a woman's story of love and survival...the perfect novel to make a fast buck. He presented the manuscript to Jo and asked her to pretend to be its author, Leslie Morgan. Though Jo's wonderful improvisational skills convinced a publisher's agent to take the book, the deal fell through when that agent was fired. After that, Jo refused to impersonate Leslie anymore.
Meanwhile,
Jo and Jack's assistant, Vern Scofield, began to see each other
frequently. Vern had been interested in Jo for almost two years but
was just now getting the nerve to formally ask her out. Jo was rather
amused by the little guy. Soon, she began to really be interested in
him. But just as their puppy love romance was getting off the ground,
Jo's grandchild, Abigail, came down with aplastic anemia. Though Abby
survived the illness, it tore Jack and Jennifer apart. Furthermore,
Jack felt responsible for it. The day Abby returned from the
hospital, Jack had a very strange, but touching, conversation with
Jo. He implied that he was just like his father - that the sins of
the father had been visited upon the son - and that he had been
responsible for Abby's anemia. Lastly, he did something that he had
never done before: he willingly said that Jo was a good mother. He
thanked her for being there for him through thick and thin and
understood everything she had ever done for him. Needless to say, the
conversation brought Jo down with tears, but she had no idea why Jack
had suddenly told her all of these things. But she realized why the
following day, when Jennifer found a note saying that he had left for
good. In his youth, Jack had been responsible for the dumping of
toxic waste which had caused Abby's illness. Jo continued to visit
Jennifer, mostly to babysit Abigail. Eventually, Jo disappeared from
the Salem canvas, being last mentioned in March of 1994.
The character of Jo Johnson was
played by the following:
Joy Garrett (1987-1993)
Marilyn McIntyre (1993)
Back to the Character Histories
Back
to Beth's Days of Our Lives Page