Larry Johnson, a.k.a. Mr Happiness, or ..... is one of Las Vegas' more interesting eccentrics, in the tradition of Harry Perry -- The Rockin' Rollerblader of Venice Beach fame, San Francisco's "World Famous Bushman" (Fisherman's Wharf), or Flash, San Diego's festively and scantily attired Mission Beach staple, who's rumored to be a university professor.
Back to Larry Johnson, whose background was neatly summarized by a 2005 article in City Life, occaisioned by a documentary about him that two indie filmmakers were attempting to produce:
Before he was Mr. Happiness, Johnson was a wannabe gangster in Oakland. He rolled with the older kids in the neighborhood, who used him -- because he was small -- to break into houses. But as he matured, Johnson decided he'd had enough of the criminal life and signed up for the Army, where he remained for over two decades. During this time, he married his wife of 30 years, had a family and, of course, had a good time. Upon retiring from the Army, he moved to Vegas and entered the next stage of his life: The Mr. Happiness stage.
Why this husband, father, and grandfather took it upon himself to become the purveyor of happiness and enemy of all frowns, a role he continued to fulfil for many years, history does not relate, but we can vouch for his diligence thanks to countless personal sightings. (We must add, however, that we've also seen him act somewhat beligerently, and read that along the way, he's been "arrested, maced, and doused with hot coffee."
Still, his typical impromptu act, which we once saw perfectly encapsulated by the phrase "jubilant lunacy," involved an array of outlandish costumes, facial gestures, air guitar, high kicks, claps, and dog barks, performed come rain or shine (family commitments permitting), at the intersection of Sahara and Fort Apache.
The last time we wrote about Mr Happiness was back in 2005 (see "QoD Archives") and our daily commute has changed in the intervening years, hence we had no idea that Mr Happiness was MIA until you sent in this question. So, we took to Google, and here's what we learned.
We came across a message-board entry as far back as in an April, 2007, on the very same subject as your question we found a post saying, "He's not there too much any longer. Josh Towbin pays him now to do his thing over at the Valley Automall." So we called the Dodge dealership in question, but no one there had any clue what we were talking about. (He did appear in some Towbin Dodge TV ads awhile back.)
Fast forward on Facebook, where we found a page dedicated to him with an entry from January, 2010, that states: "For any of you who haven't seen him lately on his home corner of Sahara & Fort Apache, he has also been spotted on Fort Apache & Spring Mountain and Hualapai & Desert Inn."
And that's the last trace we found. So, if anyone out there in Qodland has an update on Larry Johnson's whereabouts and well-being, or has had a recent sighting, please be sure to drop us a line. He's a Vegas institution!
