Johnson first became involved in show business in 1965, as an actor playing the sheriff's deputy in the Spanish "Spaghetti Western" "Brandy", directed by Jose Luis Borau. He spent ten years of his youth in Spain, where he worked as a movie extra in films such as Franklin Schaffner's "Nicholas and Alexandra" and David Lean's "Dr. Zhivago". His early experiences led to small acting roles in the European western "Ride and Kill" and the 1964 drama "The Thin Red Line". After earning an undergraduate degree in Drama from the University of Virginia and an MA in Film Scholarship from the University of Iowa, Johnson moved to New York. There he entered the Director's Guild training program. One of his first projects was Paul Mazursky's autobiographical drama "Next Stop, Greenwich Village". Johnson relocated to Los Angeles and worked as an assistant director on such projects as "Movie Movie", "The Brink's Job", "Escape from Alcatraz" and Mel Brooks's "High Anxiety", which was co-written by future business partner Barry Levinson.