Kimmarie Johnson, a model and actress who appeared in Dude, Where’s My Car? and an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, died Wednesday, November 4, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was 50.
Johnson’s death was announced by her niece, Rhonda Scott, who said Johnson experienced a “heart event” at her Los Angeles home on October 27 and was rushed to Cedars-Sinai, where she was diagnosed with a heart aneurysm. She died peacefully Wednesday afternoon after her heart stopped. “She radiated a light so strong and bright,” Scott said. “People who came in contact with her felt nothing but positive energy. We will miss her tremendously and will continue to honor her life forever.”
Born Kim Marie Johnson on April 8, 1976, in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, Johnson worked as a flight attendant after college before pursuing modeling, winning the Miss Pennsylvania USA pageant in 1992 and placing in the top five at Miss USA the following year. After moving to Los Angeles in the mid-1990s, she continued modeling while breaking into acting, landing the role of Jane in a 1998 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 and later appearing in Pamela Anderson’s series V.I.P. In 2000, she played one of five aliens disguised as “jumpsuit chicks” in Dude, Where’s My Car?, starring Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott.
Johnson scaled back her acting career after giving birth to her son, Cameron Nino, now an L.A.-based musician, in 2003, though she continued taking occasional roles in projects including Wanda at Large, Spanish Fly, and the 2017 series Tucker’s War, her final screen credit. Beyond acting, Johnson built a career in skincare, launching her own brand, SkinGlow by Kimmarie, in 2011, and was later listed as a beauty director for a fashion magazine. She made what appeared to be her final red-carpet appearance in April at the Los Angeles premiere of Michael, and appeared on the cover of a digital edition of Grazia Slovenia in August.
Johnson is survived by her son and her niece.