In 1968, Johnny and his sister, Barbara, drove to a cemetery in Pittsburgh to visit their deceased father's grave. During the visit, Johnny often teased Barbara about their childhood, in which Barbara was often subject to cruel scare-jokes. Johnny then kept chanting, "They're coming to get you, Barbara!" and when a strange man was seen walking through the cemetery, he made cruel jokes about how that man was going to come after her, not realizing how right he was.

Annoyed, Barbara was about to walk up to the stranger and apologize for her brother's juvenile behavior, until the stranger attacked her. Johnny rushed to her aid and fought the stranger until he was thrown down on the ground and suffered a fatal blow to the head when the stranger threw it down on a gravestone.

Later, when revived as a zombie, Johnny pulled Barbara into a group of more zombies who quickly surrounded her.

''Night of the Living Dead'' entered the public domain because the original theatrical distributor, the Walter Reade Organization, neglected to place a copyright indication on the prints. In 1968, United States copyright law required a proper notice for a work to maintain a copyright. Image Ten displayed such a notice on the title frames of the film beneath the original title, ''Night of the Flesh Eaters''. The distributor removed the statement when it changed the title.
Category:Undead Characters
Category:Horror Characters
Category:George A. Romero - Creator
Category:Male Characters
Category:Walter Reade Characters
Category:1968 Debuts
Category:Film Serial Characters
Category:Movie Characters
Category:Surname Unknown
Category:John A. Russo - Creator
Category:Rifftrax Characters