Jay Johnson (model)

Jay Johnson (born December 30, 1948) is an American business executive and former model.

Johnson was born in Alexandria, Minnesota on December 30, 1948.

He was the third of six children, born 15 minutes before his fraternal twin brother Jed Johnson.

His family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona when he was 10 years old before settling in Fair Oaks, California.

His father was a physician and an amateur pilot with his own airport.

In 1967, Johnson arrived in New York from California with his twin brother Jed Johnson and they were soon absorbed into artist Andy Warhol's social circle.

Johnson pursued modeling and supported projects at The Factory.

In 1967, Johnson and his Brother Jed dropped out of college and hitchhiked with an AWOL soldier from Sacramento, California to New York City.

They found an apartment in the East Village, Manhattan through a heroin addict, got robbed, and lost all their money.

When they went to collect money their mother had sent them through Western Union, they were offered a job as messengers.

In 1968, Jed delivered a telegram to artist Andy Warhol's Factory and was offered a job on the spot as a custodian by director Paul Morrisey.

Morrissey had promised them parts in the film Lonesome Cowboys (1968), but those plans fell through.

Warhol helped the brothers move into an apartment in a safer neighborhood and they were quickly assimilated into his entourage.

Jed would become Warhol's live-in boyfriend for 12 years, edited films produced by Warhol and Morrissey, and eventually directed a film.

Johnson became a Warhol superstar and pursued professional modeling while assisting with projects at the Factory.

Johnson posed for renowned photographers such as Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon, Jack Mitchell, and Francesco Scavullo.

He also modeled jewelry made by Robert Mapplethorpe in 1970.

Johnson said that when he and Jed first lived in New York City they "had not yet recognized that they were gay."

Johnson dated future Playboy model Barbi Benton in high school.

Soon after arriving in New York City, he dated Jane Forth, whom he introduced to Warhol and she became a Warhol superstar.

Johnson was feistier than his timid twin and considered the "bad boy" of the duo.

he struggled with drinking and drug addiction.

By 1977, Johnson's Brother Jed had begun a decorating business.

After Johnson went to rehab he worked as a bookkeeper for his brother's company.

He became President of Jed Johnson Associated Inc. following his brother's death in 1996, he created Jed Johnson Home in 2006.

In 1996, Johnson's Brother Jed was killed as a passenger aboard TWA Flight 800 when the plane exploded off the coast of Long Island, New York.

Johnson took Jed's decorating business Jed Johnson & Associates.

In 1997, Johnson nominated Jed's protégé Arthur Dunnam as design director.

The company's name was changed to Jed Johnson Associates and later to Arthur Dunnam for Jed Johnson Studio.

In 2006, Johnson created Jed Johnson Home and continues to produce fabrics and furniture for the collection.

His longtime partner Tom Cashin is the co-director.

They reside in New York City and Brookhaven Hamlet, New York.

In 2022, Johnson appeared in the Netflix docuseries The Andy Warhol Diaries.