Biographie

[Dan Tanna Spenser]

David Janssen (* 27. März 1931 in Naponee, Nebraska als David Harold Meyer; † 13. Februar 1980 in Malibu, Kalifornien) war ein US-amerikanischer Schauspieler, der seine größten Erfolge beim Fernsehen feierte. Seine bekannteste Rolle ist die des Dr. Richard Kimble in der Fernsehserie Auf der Flucht (1963–1967).


Seine Jugend verbrachte David Janssen in Hollywood, nachdem seine Mutter, Berniece Graf Meyer, eine ehemalige Miss Nebraska, die auch bei den Ziegfeld Follies aufgetreten war, sich von seinem Vater Harold getrennt hatte. 1937 heiratete sie Eugene Ashley Janssen, dessen Namen ihr Sohn mit Beginn seiner Tätigkeit im Showgeschäft benutzte. Janssen, der zunächst eine Sportlerkarriere anstrebte, musste diese wegen eines Unfalls aufgeben. 1945 hatte er seine erste Rolle in It’s a Pleasure, doch die Produktionsfirma 20th Century Fox ließ ihn wegen seiner abstehenden Ohren bald wieder fallen. Er wechselte zu Universal Studios und erhielt dort Anfang der 1950er Jahre zahlreiche Rollen, die allerdings in den meisten Fällen klein ausfielen. So ist er beispielhaft in Douglas Sirks Melodram Was der Himmel erlaubt von 1955 in nur einer Szene zu sehen. In dieser Zeit lernte er Clint Eastwood kennen, den Janssen ermunterte, es ebenfalls als Schauspieler zu versuchen.

Seinen schauspielerischen Durchbruch schaffte Janssen ab 1958 durch die Serie Richard Diamond, Private Detective, in der er die Titelrolle des Privatdetektivs spielte. Die beliebte Serie lief insgesamt drei Jahre. Noch erfolgreicher wurde er mit seiner Darstellung des nach dem Mörder seiner Frau suchenden Richard Kimble in der Serie Auf der Flucht, die von 1963 bis 1967 lief und für die er mit dem Golden Globe Award ausgezeichnet wurde. Nachdem er durch Auf der Flucht weltweit populär geworden war, erhielt Janssen in den späten 1960er Jahren in einigen Kinofilmen profilierte Rollen, beispielsweise in In den Schuhen des Fischers (1968) an der Seite von Laurence Olivier sowie im Science-Fiction-Film Verschollen im Weltraum (1969).

In den 1970er Jahren konnte er an diese Kinoerfolge nicht mehr anknüpfen, und er konzentrierte sich wieder vornehmlich auf Fernsehrollen. In der kurzlebigen Serie O'Hara, U.S. Treasury war er in den Jahren 1971 und 1972 als Beamter des US-Finanzministeriums zu sehen. Größeren Erfolg hatte er mit der Harry O (1974–1978), in der er als Polizeibeamter Harry Orwell seine vierte und insgesamt letzte Serienhauptrolle übernahm. 1978 war er in der historischen Serie Colorado Saga Teil des umfangreichen Schauspielensembles, ebenfalls war er in der englischen Originalfassung als Erzählerstimme zu hören. Janssen arbeitete bis zu seinem Tod als Schauspieler, seine letzten Produktionen wurden posthum veröffentlicht. Insgesamt umfasst sein filmisches Schaffen mehr als 90 Film- und Fernsehproduktionen.

Von 1958 bis zu ihrer Scheidung 1970 war Janssen mit Ellie Graham verheiratet. Ab 1975 war er mit seiner Schauspielkollegin Dani Crayne in einer Ehe. Janssen war schwer alkoholkrank und ein starker Raucher. Als Gründe für seinen plötzlichen Tod 1980 aufgrund eines Herzinfarkts werden sein exzessiver Lebenswandel wie auch Überarbeitung vermutet. Seine letzte Ruhe fand er auf dem Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, Kalifornien.


Quelle: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Janssen

[Dan Tanna Spenser]

Die amerikanische Biographie ist ausführlicher....

David Janssen (March 27, 1931 – February 13, 1980) was an American  film and television  actor who is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive (1963–1967) and as Harry Orwell on Harry O.

Early life

Janssen was born as David Harold Meyer in Naponee, Nebraska to Harold Edward Meyer, a banker (May 12, 1906 – November 4, 1990) and Berniece Graf (May 11, 1910 – November 26, 1995). At 5 years of age he had a girlfriend named Edna Patty Andres, daughter of Ross and Edna Andres of Alma, Nebraska. Following his parents' divorce in 1935, his mother moved with five-year-old David to Los Angeles, California. She eventually married, to Eugene Janssen (February 18, 1918 – March 30, 1996) on September 29, 1940 in Los Angeles. Young David used his stepfather's name after he entered show business as a child. He attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. His first film part was at the age of 13, and by the age of 25 he had appeared in twenty films and served two years as an enlisted man in the United States Army. During his Army days Janssen became friends with fellow enlistees, Martin Milner and Clint Eastwood.

Acting career

Janssen appeared in many television series before he landed programs of his own. In 1956, he and Peter Breck appeared in John Bromfield's syndicated series Sheriff of Cochise in the episode "The Turkey Farmers". Later, he guest starred on NBC's medical drama The Eleventh Hour in the role of Hal Kincaid in the 1962 episode "Make Me a Place", with series co-stars Wendell Corey and Jack Ging. He joined Milner in a 1962 episode of Route 66 as the character Kamo in the episode "One Tiger to a Hill."

Janssen starred in four television series of his own:

    * Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1957-60),
    * The Fugitive, the hit Quinn Martin produced series, (1963-67),
    * O'Hara, U.S. Treasury (1971–72), and
    * Harry O (1974–76).

At the time, the final episode of The Fugitive held the record for the greatest number of American homes with television sets to watch a series finale, at 72% in August 1967.

His films include To Hell and Back, the autobiography of Audie Murphy, who is considered the most decorated soldier in the military history of the United States; John Wayne's war film The Green Berets (1968), and opposite Gregory Peck in the space story Marooned about three stranded astronauts. Janssen played an alcoholic in the 1977 TV movie A Sensitive, Passionate Man, which co-starred Angie Dickinson.

At the time of his death, Janssen had just begun filming a television movie playing the part of Father Damien, the priest who dedicated himself to the leper colony on the island of Molokai. The part was eventually reassigned to actor Ken Howard.

Personal life

He was married twice. His first marriage was to Ellie Graham on August 23, 1959 in Las Vegas, Nevada. They divorced on August 25, 1970. He dated actress Rosemary Forsyth for a few years. From October 4, 1975 to his death, he was married to sometime actress and model Dani Crayne Greco (born Darlyne Danielle Swanson, December 25, 1934, Minneapolis, Minnesota). Dani was previously married to singer Buddy Greco and they divorced in April 1974. Ms. Janssen resides in the penthouse of the west tower of The Century Towers in Century City, Los Angeles, California. She is known for her annual Oscars party in the penthouse where the who's who of the film crowd attend.

In his 2008 autobiography, "Ernie", the American actor Ernest Borgnine recounts his interactions with Janssen both on and off the movie set.

Death

Janssen died of a heart attack on the morning of February 13, 1980 at his home in Malibu, California, two days into the filming of Father Damien. Two days earlier, he told his wife, Dani, that he had a bad dream that he was being carried in a coffin following a heart attack [1] He was interred in the Hillside Memorial Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Filmography

Movies

    * It's a Pleasure (1945)
    * Swamp Fire (1946)
    * Bonzo Goes to College (1952)
    * Francis Goes to West Point (1952)
    * Yankee Buccaneer (1952)
    * Back at the Front (1952)
    * Untamed Frontier (1952)
    * Leave It to Harry (1954)
    * Chief Crazy Horse (1955)
    * Cult of the Cobra (1955)
    * The Private War of Major Benson (1955)
    * Francis in the Navy (1955)
    * To Hell and Back (1955)
    * All That Heaven Allows (1955)
    * The Square Jungle (1955)
    * Never Say Goodbye (1956)
    * The Toy Tiger (1956)
    * Francis in the Haunted House (1956)
    * Away All Boats (1956)
    * Mr. Black Magic (1956)
    * The Girl He Left Behind (1956)
    * Showdown at Abilene (1956)
    * Lafayette Escadrille (1958)
    * Hell to Eternity (1960)
    * Dondi (1961)
    * King of the Roaring 20's - The Story of Arnold Rothstein (1961)
    * Ring of Fire (1961)
    * Twenty Plus Two (1961)
    * Man-Trap (1961)
    * My Six Loves (1963)
    * Warning Shot (1967)
    * The Green Berets (1968)
    * The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968)
    * Where It's At (1969)
    * Marooned (1969)
    * Generation (1969)
    * Macho Callahan (1970)
    * Once Is Not Enough (1975)
    * The Swiss Conspiracy (1976)
    * Two-Minute Warning (1976)
    * Warhead (1977)
    * Golden Rendezvous (1977)
    * Covert Action (1978)

TV Movies

    * Belle Sommers (1962)
    * Night Chase (1970)
    * O'Hara, U.S. Treasury (1971)
    * The Longest Night (1972)
    * Moon of the Wolf (1972)
    * Birds of Prey (1973)
    * Hijack (1973)
    * Pioneer Woman (1973)
    * Don't Call the Police (1974)
    * Fer-de-Lance (1974)
    * Stalk the Wild Child (1976)
    * Mayday at 40,000 Feet! (1976)
    * A Sensitive, Passionate Man (1977)
    * Superdome (1978)
    * Nowhere to Run (1978)
    * S.O.S. Titanic (1979)
    * The Golden Gate Murders (1979)
    * High Ice (1980)
    * City in Fear (1980)

Television

    * Boston Blackie (1 episode, 1951)
    * Lux Video Theatre (3 episodes, 1955-1956)
    * Matinee Theatre (1 episode, 1956)
    * Sheriff of Cochise (1 episode, 1956)
    * Conflict (1 episode, 1957)
    * You Are There (1 episode, 1957)
    * U.S. Marshal (1 episode, ?)
    * Alcoa Theatre (2 episodes, 1957-1958)
    * The Millionaire (2 episodes, 1957-1958)
    * Zane Grey Theater (4 episodes, 1957-1959)
    * Richard Diamond, Private Detective (77 episodes, 1957-1960)
    * Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse (1 episode, 1959)
    * Death Valley Days (1 episode, 1961)
    * Adventures in Paradise (1 episode, 1961)
    * Thriller (1 episode, 1962)
    * Target: The Corruptors (1 episode, 1962)
    * G.E. True Theater (1 episode, 1962)
    * Follow the Sun (2 episodes, 1962)
    * Checkmate (1 episode, 1962)
    * Cain's Hundred (1 episode, 1962)
    * Kraft Mystery Theater (1 episode, 1962)
    * Route 66 (1 episode, 1962)
    * The Eleventh Hour (1 episode, 1962)
    * The Dick Powell Theatre (1 episode, 1963)
    * Naked City (2 episodes, 1961-1963)
    * The Fugitive (120 episodes, 1963-1967)
    * O'Hara, U.S. Treasury (22 episodes, 1971-1972)
    * Cannon (1 episode, 1973)
    * Harry O (45 episodes, 1973-1976)
    * Police Story (1 episode, 1977)
    * The Word (1978)
    * Centennial (10 episodes, 1978-1979)
    * Biography (1979)