Andre M. Johnson was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was raised by his grandmother in a very rough neighborhood. His grandmother, although only 5' 0" tall was a very strict and tough woman.His grandmother kept him busy since the age of 6 with football,baseball,basketball, boxing, martial arts, and 7 years of acting and piano lessons, at the Chicago Art Institute. She didn't want to leave him with any time to get into trouble, which came easily for the youth growing up on the lower south side. She kept him in the strict Catholic schools from 5 years old until he was 18. She felt the environment would provide Andre with the role models he did'nt have in his life. He received a four year football scholarship to a university and afterwards was invited to try out with the Chicago Bears twice and failed to make the team. He signed a contract with the Canadian Football League, Ottawa Rough Riders. He continued his training to make it into the NFL and suffered a severe knee injury. While getting strong enough to walk without a limp, and then run again, he rediscovered his love for acting. After minor success as a model/actor, his grandmother talked him into moving out to Los Angeles to pursue his dream.