It’s a tale that seems too far-fetched to be a true story, but there’s more to Netflix’s Hit Man than meets the eye. So, here’s everything you need to know about the real Gary Johnson.
As far as new movies go this year, Netflix has had an absolute banger. The streaming service has been behind some of the best films of 2024, and is set to do it all over again with Richard Linklater’s Hit Man.
The story follows Gary Johnson (Glen Powell), an undercover police contractor who poses as a professional killer who breaks protocol to help a desperate woman trying to flee an abusive husband. He then finds himself falling for her.
With the movie already having a limited theater release before heading to Netflix on June 7, fans are only just scratching the story’s surface. But is Hit Man a true story, and who is the real Gary Johnson?
Is Hit Man based on a true story?
Hit Man is described as a “somewhat” adaptation of a true story, based on a Texas Monthly article written by Skip Hollandsworth.
Published back in 2001, Hollandsworth was the first person to pick up on Johnson’s story, who disguised himself as various assassins to help Houston police in Texas catch people who tried to order a hit. However, the reality was less like The Godfather, often meeting confused and angry people who didn’t know what else to do.
Johnson was described in the piece as “the Laurence Olivier of the field,” with one source adding: “Gary is a truly great performer who can turn into whatever he needs to be in whatever situation he finds himself.”
Raised in Louisiana, having what many would consider a run-of-the-mill childhood, he had his first taste of control serving as a military policeman in Vietnam. By the time the 1970s rolled around, Johnson took on a side hustle of working with Houston police as an undercover mole for drug busts — and he had a natural knack for it.
“I don’t think the drug dealers ever suspected I might be a cop because my personality was so weird to begin with,” Johnson told Hollandsworth.
By 1989, this progressed to fake hits after cops were tipped off that Kathy Scott, a 37-year-old lab technician, was looking for a hitman. Johnson was told he was the man for the sting, and the rest was history.
Alongside this, Johnson’s real dream was to teach psychology to college students, but instead stumbled into the work of fake hits after being rejected for different posts, instead ending up as an investigator for the district attorney’s office.
In Netflix’s take on Hit Man, Johnson took over after their regular go-to undercover guy Jasper (Austin Amelio) is suspended for attacking teenage suspects, though this wasn’t true in real life.
Did Gary Johnson murder anyone?
Gary Johnson didn’t murder anyone. His role as a fake hitman involved creating a bogus sting for his “clients,” with the police later arriving to arrest them.
Around 60 people tried to hire a hit from one of Johnson’s fake aliases, though he testified at court hearings that some suspects didn’t actually want their target murdered, but just “got carried away.”
Some of Johnson’s most notable cases included 32-year-old Katherine Beisel, who wanted Johnson to kill her married lover for refusing to leave his wife. An 11-year veteran police officer wanted to kill his wife for costing him too much money, while Lynn Kilroy, the former vice president of the Houstonaires Republican Women, tried to get her husband Billy offed.
Kilroy allegedly handed Johnson $200,00 worth of jewelry with the words, “Do what you need to do.” Johnson later told The Washington Post: “It was the same old story. The rich want more, the poor want more. We all want more. Too much is never enough.
“My people have spent their lives living within the law,” he added. “A lot of them have never even gotten a traffic ticket. Yet they have developed such a frustration with their place in the world that they think they have no other option but to eliminate whoever is causing their frustration.
“They are all looking for the quick fix, which has become the American way. Today people can pay to get their televisions fixed and their garbage picked up, so why can’t they pay me, a hitman, to fix their lives?”
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Real Gary Johnson photos
During the end credits of Hit Man, fans can see a collection of photos of the real-life Gary Johnson, alongside how his actual life panned out.
The montage shows his journey from Vietnam veteran to college teacher, alongside a photo of him holding his honorary police badge for his work. There’s also an important footnote — “Zero murders (we made that part up.”
Fans also get a closer look at what Gary was like as a person away from his work, characterized by his long hair and aviator glasses. He’s described as an “animal-loving Buddhist” and the “chillest dude imaginable.”
Is Maddy Masters a real person?
No, Maddy Masters isn’t real — but her story is based on one of Johnson’s actual cases.
During his work, Johnson never admitted to any romantic relationships with his clients, but he did interrupt a bust in order to help one female “client” get to safety.
Instead of the usual police arrest, Johnson contacted social services and set her up in a women’s shelter. At the time, this prompted a reporter from Texas Monthly to remark: “The greatest hit man in Houston has just turned soft.” His response? “Just this once.”
In the Hit Man movie, Powell’s version of Johnson tries to help Maddy (Adria Arjona) in a more personal way, developing a secret romantic relationship with her. The film ends with Johnson sticking to his college classes over stings while building a family with Maddy.
In a separate instance, 61-year-old Patsy Haggard wanted to have her husband killed and offered to perform a sex act on Johnson on the hood of her Cadillac. Johnson stated that he denied this offer.
Real Gary Johnson’s wife
Gary Johnson was married — and divorced — three times during his life, according to Texas Monthly.
Johnson’s second wife Sunny told the publication back in 2001 “The true essence of Gary is that he is a loner. He’ll show up at parties and have a good time, and he’s always friendly, but he likes being alone, being quiet.
“It’s still amazing to me that he can turn on this other personality that makes people think he is a vicious killer.”
In response, Johnson commented on his relationship status “I think it would be fair to say that I don’t let many people get too close.”
What happened to Gary Johnson?
Gary Johnson continued to work as a fake hitman into the early 2000s, while also working as a psychology and human sexuality professor at a local community college. He died in 2022.
He was described by his eventual psychology students as “mild-mannered” and had two cats called Id and Ego. He also had a keen interest in gardening.
Former supervisor Michael Hinton described Johnson as “a truly great performer who can turn into whatever he needs to be in whatever situation he finds himself. He never gets flustered, and he never says the wrong thing.
“He’s somehow able to persuade people who are rich and not so rich, successful and not so successful, that he’s the real thing. He fools them every time.”
Hit Man is streaming on Netflix now. Find even more amazing new movies streaming as well as TV shows streaming this month, or dive into all the new true crime documentaries around right now. If that’s not enough, find out what’s in store this year for K-dramas coming to Netflix.