Johnny Seven

Biography: Johnny Seven was the quintessential character actor of the television era, with over 600 small-screen appearance to his credit -- on top of several dozen film roles -- in a career lasting over 50 years. He was born John Anthony Fetto II in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, in 1926. The only son among six children in a working-class family, he didn't aspire to a performing career until after he'd served in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to a combat unit, the 187th Gun Battalion, but happened to appear in some shows while in uniform, and in one army instructional film dating from 1950, and he decided to try acting after returning to civilian life. Based in New York, he did a lot of Off-Broadway theater in the early '50s, and made his movie debut as a longshoreman in Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront (1954). Seven did a lot of live television and also appeared in several episodes of Sgt. Bilko, but he mostly played tough guys in hard-edged crime dramas, such as Cop Hater (1958), starring a youngJohnny Seven was the quintessential character actor of the television era, with over 600 small-screen appearance to his credit -- on top of several dozen film roles -- in a career lasting over 50 years. He was born John Anthony Fetto II in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, in 1926. The only son among six children in a working-class family, he didn't aspire to a performing career until after he'd served in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to a combat unit, the 187th Gun Battalion, but happened to appear in some shows while in uniform, and in one army instructional film dating from 1950, and he decided to try acting after returning to civilian life. Based in New York, he did a lot of Off-Broadway theater in the early '50s, and made his movie debut as a longshoreman in Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront (1954). Seven did a lot of live television and also appeared in several episodes of Sgt. Bilko, but he mostly played tough guys in hard-edged crime dramas, such as Cop Hater (1958), starring a young Robert Loggia and featuring a very young Jerry Orbach in a small role; and The Last Mile (1959), with Mickey Rooney. Seven was put under contract with Universal's television division in 1958, and for the next two decades became something of a fixture on their various action shows, right up to and including The Rockford Files in the 1970s. In the early '60s, he turned up in small roles in a few major motion pictures, such as playing Shirley MacLaine's brother in Billy Wilder's The Apartment. But most of his work was in television, on everything from Get Smart to Marcus Welby, M.D. Ironside gave Seven one of his rare chances for a recurring role, as Lt. Carl Reese in over two dozen episodes across the series' run. He also wrote plays, starting with Salvage in 1958, and screenplays, and turned to directing as well as producing in 1964 with the Western Navajo Run, in which he also starred. His other writing and producing credits included the dramatic short Gina & Me (1980). Seven's last screen credit dated from the mid-'90s, and he died of lung cancer in early 2010. Expand

Johnny Seven's Scores

  • TV
Average career score: 71
Highest Metascore: 71 Murder, She Wrote: Season 1
Lowest Metascore: 71 Murder, She Wrote: Season 1
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
1 tv review
Title: Year: Credit: User score:
71 Murder, She Wrote: Season 1 Sep 30, 1984 Man 8.5
tbd CHiPs: Season 5 Oct 4, 1981 Ernie Rascoe tbd
tbd CHiPs: Season 4 Sep 21, 1980 Brooks tbd
tbd Charlie's Angels (1977): Season 3 Sep 13, 1978 Fenton / Johnny Seven tbd
tbd The Rockford Files (1974): Season 4 Sep 16, 1977 George tbd
tbd CHiPs: Season 1 Sep 15, 1977 Dawson tbd
tbd Ironside: Season 8 Sep 12, 1974 Lt. Carl Reese / Johnny Seven / Lt. Carl Reese tbd
tbd Ironside: Season 7 Sep 13, 1973 Lt. Carl Reese / Johnny Seven / Lt. Carl Reese tbd
tbd Ironside: Season 6 Sep 14, 1972 Lt. Carl Reese / Johnny Seven / Lt. Carl Reese tbd
tbd Ironside: Season 5 Sep 14, 1971 Lt. Carl Reese / Johnny Seven / Lt. Carl Reese tbd
tbd Ironside: Season 4 Sep 17, 1970 Lt. Carl Reese / Johnny Seven / Lt. Carl Reese tbd
tbd Ironside: Season 3 Sep 18, 1969 Johnny Seven / Lt. Carl Reese tbd
tbd Get Smart: Season 2 Sep 17, 1966 Kosovich tbd
tbd Gunsmoke: Season 11 Sep 18, 1965 Barens tbd
tbd Bonanza: Season 6 Sep 20, 1964 Trager / Cunningham tbd
tbd The Untouchables: Season 4 Sep 25, 1962 Murray tbd
tbd The Untouchables: Season 3 Oct 12, 1961 Lefty tbd
tbd The Untouchables: Season 2 Oct 13, 1960 Davas / Frankie tbd
tbd Route 66: Season 1 Oct 7, 1960 Ted Becker / Ted Blocker tbd
tbd The Untouchables: Season 1 Apr 20, 1959 Canello tbd