Son of legendary comedian Larry Fine and Mabel Fine. His parents named him after their friend Johnny Green, an orchestra leader, pianist, and Academy Award-winning composer. Because his mother didn't like the idea of being a housewife, he and his older sister Phyllis were largely raised in hotels until their parents finally bought their first home, a mansion in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, in the late Forties. For a time his maternal aunt Marguerite lived with his family in their first home. Though by all accounts Johnny had a good childhood, with parents who doted on him and his sister, he went through a bit of a troubled period in his early adolescence. His parents, who couldn't bring themselves to administer strict discipline, decided to send him to a military academy in the hopes that it would straighten him out. He showed a marked improvement during his time at the military academy, and at the age of eighteen entered the Navy, where he served as a Corpsman for nearly two years. Shortly afterwards, in 1957, he married Christy Ann Watson, with whom he had two children, Christy Lynn and Phyllis Lorraine. At first they lived in Los Angeles while Johnny went back and forth from Camp Pendleton in San Diego, but after having their first child, they moved to Claremont and lived with Christy's mother. Since they lived only about thirty miles from Los Angeles, on the weekends they would stay with Johnny's parents. By 1961, he was no longer in the Navy and had begun working at a radio station. One night while driving home from work he lost control of his vehicle and hit a large tree just a few blocks away from his house. He died several hours later from internal injuries. Ironically, some friends and family speculated that he might have lived had he been thrown out of the car and not been wearing a seatbelt, as his only injuries were internal. His death at the age of only twenty-five devastated his parents and young widow. Shortly after his death, his widow Christy found out she was pregnant with their third child, whom she named Johnny in honor of her husband.