Horst Janson

• Name — Horst Janson • Born — 4 October 1935 • Birthplace — Mainz-Kastel, Hesse, Germany • Died — 28 January 2025 (aged 89) • Place of death — Munich, Bavaria, Germany • Occupation — Actor • Children — 2 • Awards — * Bravo Otto • Bambi Award

Janson was born in Mainz-Kastel on 4 October 1935, the son of a civil servant. He grew up mostly in Wiesbaden, but temporarily in Bad Soden during World War II. He was already interested in acting at school. He took acting lessons and made his stage debut at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden. Janson made his cinematic debut in 1959 in The Buddenbrooks, and appeared in Helmut Käutner's film Das Glas Wasser (A Glass of Water) in 1960, alongside Gustaf Gründgens and Liselotte Pulver. He also appeared in films such as Ruf der Wildgänse (The Cry of the Wild Geese, 1961), Das Riesenrad (1961), and Robert Siodmak's Escape from East Berlin (1962), opposite Don Murray, Christine Kaufmann and Werner Klemperer. In 1971, Janson starred in Murphy's War opposite Peter O'Toole and Philippe Noiret. In 1974 he portrayed the title character in the Hammer Film production Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter. In 1976, he starred as the German ship captain-lieutenant Ernst Kyller of the SMS Blücher in the German West African-set British war adventure film Shout at the Devil, opposite Lee Marvin and Roger Moore. In 1979, he starred as a German captain in the war film Breakthrough, opposite Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum and Rod Steiger. He appeared in many other feature films, including spaghetti westerns with Franco Nero, Eli Wallach and other international productions with Tony Curtis, Anthony Perkins, Charles Bronson, and Robert Wagner. On television, he had a breakthrough in the series Salto Mortale, from 1969 to 1971. He appeared in the title role of the series Der Bastian from 1973, becoming popular in the role of a young student, despite filming at age 37. Janson appeared in numerous other works for both film and television, including more than 200 episodes of Sesamstraße (the German version of Sesame Street (1980–1985)), and Zwei Schlitzohren in Antalya (1991–1994). Janson also appeared in many German, French, Spanish, Italian, and English-language TV films including Der Bunker (1992), Il segno della scimmia (The Sign of the Ape, 1997), and Freundinnen fűr Immer (2003). He played Captain Bernd Jensen in the ARD series Unter weißen Segeln (In White Sails).

Janson was married to the actress Monika Lundi, with whom he worked, from 1973 to 1976. He was married to his second wife, Hella, from 1982 for over 40 years; they lived in Grünwald near Munich and had two daughters. Janson suffered a stroke in June 2024. A second stroke in August led to a fall and was diagnosed only in hospital. Janson died from related complications in Munich on 19 January 2025, at the age of 89.

Janson's appearances in TV series, miniseries & shorts include: • Das Kriminalmuseum (1 episode, 1967), as Peter Schmelz • ITV Play of the Week (1 episode, 1967), as Franz Muller • The Root of All Evil? (1 episode, 1968), as Max Huber • Salto mortale (18 episodes, 1969–1971), as Sascha Doria • Upstairs, Downstairs (1 episode, A Suitable Marriage, 1971), as Baron Klaus von Rimmer • George (1 episode, 1972), as Max Steiger Jr. • Der Bastian (13 episodes, 1973), as Bastian Guthmann • Härte 10 (5 episodes, 1974–1975), as Piet van Straaten • Sesamstraße (more than 200 episodes, 1980–1983 + 1000th episode 1984) • Zwei Schlitzohren in Antalya (20 episodes, 1991–1994), as Thomas Parler • Unter weißen Segeln (4 episodes, 2005–2006), as Bernd Jensen