Samuel Johnson’s life reads like a movie script – full of love, loss, redemption and unrelenting courage.
But behind the cheeky grin and quick wit of The Secret Life of Us star lies a lifetime of heartbreak few could ever imagine.
He has lost loved ones to suicide, watched his sister lose her battle with terminal cancer, and confronted his own demons in the harsh glare of fame.
Yet through it all, the celebrated actor has found purpose, laughter, and resilience – and a way to turn grief into action.
A childhood marked by tragedy
When he was just three years old, Samuel’s life changed forever.
Samuel Johnson’s life reads like a movie script – full of love, loss, redemption and unrelenting courage (Pictured)
When he was just three years old, Samuel’s life changed forever after his mother Merrill took her own life. Pictured with Sam as a baby
His mother Merrill took her own life, leaving him and his two sisters – Hilde and Connie – to be raised by their father in Daylesford, Victoria.
The shadow of loss followed him from that moment on.
In interviews, he has admitted that grief became his constant companion – an early heartbreak that shaped every chapter that followed.
A brother’s worst nightmare
When Samuel was still a boy, his older sister Connie was diagnosed with bone cancer at just 11 years old.
He remembers the day clearly: the blue Torana pulling into the driveway, his father’s face pale with shock.
‘Dad said, “She’s got a tumour.” I didn’t even know what a tumour was,’ Samuel recalled on the SBS series The Hospital: In the Deep End.
Connie would survive that first battle, and another at 22 – but cancer would return one final time in her 30s.
The loss left Sam and his two sisters – Hilde and Connie – to be raised by their father in Daylesford, Victoria. Pictured with Connie
The shadow of loss followed him from that moment on. In interviews, Samuel has admitted that grief became his constant companion
For Samuel, her strength became a beacon.
When she was told her breast cancer was terminal, the siblings decided to fight back the only way they knew how.
They founded Love Your Sister – a charity dedicated to raising money for cancer research, which he continues in her honour to this very day.
Their bond captured the nation, with Connie’s humour, courage, and warmth lighting up television screens and inspiring countless Australians.
The actor was left heartbroken when Connie passed away on September 8, 2017.
Haunted by loss and self-destruction
Long before the charity rides and Gold Logies, Samuel’s life veered into chaos.
In his 20s and 30s, the actor’s grief collided with fame and self–destruction.
He’d already lost three of the most important women in his life to suicide – his mother, a close friend, and his ex–girlfriend, Lainie Woodlands, who took her own life in 2006, shortly after they called time on their relationship.
‘I kind of bailed on her, and then she died. Charming, considerate,’ he told Meshel Laurie’s Nitty Gritty Committee podcast.
To deal with his inner turmoil, Samuel turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism.
When Samuel was still a boy, his older sister Connie was diagnosed with bone cancer at just 11 years old. Pictured together in their youth
He spiralled into depression, eventually finding himself in a violent brawl at Sydney’s Star City Casino in 2007 and although he escaped jail, he couldn’t get rid of the accompanying shame.
‘I behaved like a goose,’ he told reporters outside court.
‘I’ve been remorseful since the moment it happened.’
It was rock bottom – and the start of his climb back as the actor found some unconventional ways to keep himself on the straight and narrow.
He recently took on a volunteer role as a postman in his home town of Tallarook, regional Victoria – and revealed that the stability of the role helped keep him grounded – and away from alcohol.
A public feud with a music legend
Samuel’s performance in Molly was heralded with critical acclaim.
His performance as the legendary Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum earned him the Gold Logie – and a public feud with the music legend.
At the 2017 Logie Awards, Meldrum, 82, interrupted him in the middle of his acceptance speech.
Samuel’s performance in Molly was heralded with critical acclaim. Pictured with Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum
Sam wanted to use the opportunity to promote his charity, Love Your Sister, and to thank his sister Connie, who was battling cancer at the time.
He later spoke out to 2DAY FM, revealing the Countdown star had asked to accompany him onstage.
‘I told him not to. I told him it was my moment, not his,’ he revealed, admitting he was hurt by the incident.
But just as fans thought he was back for good, Samuel stunned Australia by announcing his semi–retirement from acting.
At the 2017 Logie Awards, Meldrum, 82, interrupted him in the middle of his acceptance speech
‘I can’t act anymore — not if I’m to serve you properly,’ he wrote in a Facebook post for Love Your Sister.
Connie wasn’t thrilled by the announcement.
‘You can do both, you idiot,’ she joked at the time – her wit undimmed even as cancer ravaged her body.
Months later, in September 2017, Connie passed away and Samuel was left without his greatest ally.
Eight years on, the grief still lingers.
‘I don’t remember my sister not having cancer,’ he once told SBS.
‘She copped all the bullets – and for some reason, I’m scot–free so far.’
‘I don’t remember my sister not having cancer,’ he once told SBS
Her death left a hole that Samuel admits he’s still learning to live with.
‘I can’t just bounce back from burying her and push forward blindly,’ he confessed to 9Honey.
Today, the 47-year-old continues to run Love Your Sister, which has raised millions for medical research.
But even with his trademark humour and drive, he admits the fire sometimes flickers.
‘My head just hasn’t been in the game,’ he said.
‘There was a bunch of stuff that Connie left me with that I had to make sense of.’
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