Sadie Johannsson

Born Sadie Anna Palewsky in Nahariya, Israel to American born parents, a Father of Russian Jewish descent (Martin Palewsky) and a Mother of Danish/Austrian descent (Jean Eleanor Essig). Before Sadie was two, she had already lived in more than a dozen countries from England to France to Italy, Spain, Croatia, Scandinavia, Netherlands and some, before returning to her father's birthplace in the US - Brooklyn, NY. Both her parents eventually traveled West to Southern California where her mother's family had made Los Angeles history on Miracle Mile with the Wilshire Oil Company and Gilliland Oil Company many years before and had also been involved in the entertainment industry simultaneously during the early days of MGM. A Father who was a singer and a Mother a painter, Sadie's future would certainly include more than one achievement in the panoply of the arts. At the age of four, she started playing piano at the encouragement of her parents. By the time she was eight she was playing classical music. During this time her father took her to see the musical Annie. From that point on she knew she wanted to be on the stage singing, dancing and acting. She began writing songs for her own "Broadway Musicals" that she would put on for the neighborhood parents whose children she would coerce and bribe to partake in. Meanwhile, her father coached her on her singing, teaching her how to harmonize and her mother helped her move forward with her dancing and acting. Her mother also exposed her to the world of Jazz music, having herself been a friend with some of the Jazz Greats back in the day such as Anita O'Day and Herb Jeffries. By the time Sadie was 10, she had already been well educated in this genre of music and took a liking to the Big Band Era and was influenced by the likes of Martha Tilton ("And The Angels Sing") whom she saw perform live as well as Herb Jeffries who she had the honor of privately meeting many years later and singing "L-O-V-E" to. Her Grandfather who was a friend of Jimmy Van Heusen introduced her to him around this same time. Growing up in Long Beach, California and living in a predominately African American neighborhood, her second family was African Americans and would invite her to Baptist Church where she was exposed to the beauty of Gospel music. This genre of music she unequivocally added to her repertoire for more reasons than one. With her heart and mind dead set on a career in entertainment, she won a scholarship at age 10 to the Los Angeles Community School of Performing Arts where she would continue her study of classical music and drama. At age 12 she became serious about dancing and was well trained in classical ballet and jazz. Although her dream was to be good enough to dance on tour with Michael Jackson, she was too young or as her dance teacher said, "born a few years too late". However, she got a break when her dance teacher took her to a taping of a show called Kid's Incorporated in 1983, which lead her to working on this production for the next two years off and on as a background dancer with her interest more and more navigating towards an acting career. She was also singing and had been noticed by a talent scout from Nashville who was interested in her possibly making a career in country music. With her schooling unfinished and her goals set on acting professionally, she headed towards theatre instead. Meanwhile, she moved forward to advancing her skills in acting, auditioning and going to the shows at the Long Beach Playhouse and hanging out at California State University, Long Beach while her Mother was studying to get a BA in Art and did. There she would sneak into the drama classes on the university campus and watch the live shows of such productions as Jesus Christ Superstar, West Side Story and other iconic classics. When she moved onto High school, attending Woodrow Wilson High in Long Beach, she was part of the drama class and played a role in Twelve Angry Jurors a coed version of Twelve Angry Men as well as the role of Laura and again as Amanda in the High school production of The Glass Menagerie. As a child she played an orphan in Annie more than once, The Sound of Music as one of the Trapp Family children as well as the young Dagmar in the play, I Remember Mama. When she got older she also played the role of Jeanne d'Arc and a similar role years later in a short feature film. She became interested in the technical side of film making and made a 20 year career making films working as a 1st AC, makeup artist, casting director and finally directed some shorts. She is also a graduate of the New York Institute of Photography. She moved to Yucca Valley, CA. to take a break from film making to have her daughter who was born on Memorial Day, 28 May 2012 and is doing professional photography on the side and continuing to perform in Community Theatre to stay in touch with her acting profession. She was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical for her performance as Emma Goldman in Ragtime in 2013 by the Desert Theater League. She has since been in multiple productions from commercials to film and television. Relations: Sadie is related through her Mother's family to Director Robert (Bob) Lally, director of the '70's sitcom - The Jeffersons and who also directed some of the episodes for the '80's sitcom - Silverspoons, to former Wilshire Oil tycoons; George and Elsinore Machris who were key to the establishment of Yucca Valley and original supporting charity members to City of Hope, Salvation Army and other charitable organizations that still receive grants from the Machris Estate. She is also an heir to Louise Rasmussen, Countess Danner of Denmark.