Johnny Moran was primarily raised in Hickory Hills, Illinois, while spending his summers in Ocean City, Maryland with his grandparents. By age 16, after the divorce of his parents, Johnny was pretty much on his own. His first move was to leave the stuffy private high school he attended for two years, so that he could enroll in the local public high school, and participate in their acting classes. After a few plays at community theaters, he ventured off into the big city of Chicago and signed with his first agent. Three years later, he was filming his first feature, and doing his first professional play, when a talent agent from Los Angeles encouraged him to move out West. He is a Second Degree Black Belt in Hapkido, which he earned under Grand Master Bong Soo Han, and credits the martial arts for teaching him the perseverance it takes to succeed in the entertainment business. When not acting, he is usually teaching or training at one of his martial art schools; the American Hapkido Academy in Santa Clarita, or Mushindo - The Art of No Fear in North Hollywood.