David Janssen


David Janssen was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive. Janssen also had the title roles in three other series: Richard Diamond, Private Detective; O'Hara, U.S. Treasury; and Harry O.
In 1996, TV Guide ranked him number 36 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list.

Early life

David Janssen was born on March 27, 1931, in Naponee, Nebraska, as David Harold Meyer. His father was Harold Edward Meyer, a banker, and his mother, Berniece Graf, was formerly Miss Nebraska and a Ziegfeld girl. Following his parents' divorce in 1935, his mother moved with David to Los Angeles and married Eugene Janssen in 1940. David identified with his Jewish stepfather and adopted his surname after entering show business as a child.
Janssen attended Fairfax High School, where he excelled on the basketball court, setting a school scoring record that lasted over 20 years. His first film part was at the age of thirteen, and by the age of twenty-five, 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 a friend of fellow enlistees Martin Milner and Clint Eastwood while posted at Fort Ord, California.

Acting career

Janssen starred in four television series of his own:
  • Richard Diamond, Private Detective
  • The Fugitive
  • O'Hara, U.S. Treasury
  • Harry O
At the time of its airing in August 1967, the final episode of The Fugitive held the record for the greatest number of American homes to watch a series finale – 72 percent. In 1996 TV Guide ranked The Fugitive number 36 on its 50 Greatest Shows of All Time list.
His films include: To Hell and Back, the biography of Audie Murphy, who was the most decorated American soldier of World War II; Hell to Eternity, a 1960 American World War II biopic starring Jeffrey Hunter as a Hispanic boy who fought in the Battle of Saipan and who was raised by Japanese-American foster parents; John Wayne's Vietnam war film The Green Berets; opposite Gregory Peck, in the space story Marooned, in which Janssen played an astronaut sent to rescue three stranded men in space; and The Shoes of the Fisherman, as a television journalist in Rome reporting on the election of a new Pope.
He also played pilot Harry Walker in the 1973 action movie Birds of Prey. He starred as a Los Angeles police detective trying to clear himself in the killing of an apparently innocent doctor in the 1967 film Warning Shot, which was shot during a break in the spring and summer of 1966 between the third and fourth seasons of The Fugitive.
Janssen played an alcoholic in the 1977 TV movie A Sensitive, Passionate Man, which co-starred Angie Dickinson, and played an engineer who devises an unbeatable system for blackjack in the 1978 made-for-TV movie Nowhere to Run, co-starring Stefanie Powers and Linda Evans. Janssen's impressively husky voice was used to good effect as the narrator for the TV mini-series Centennial ; he also appeared in the final episode. And in 1979 he starred in the made-for-TV mini series S.O.S. Titanic as John Jacob Astor, playing opposite Beverly Ross as his wife, Madeleine.
Though Janssen's scenes were cut from the final release, he also appeared as a journalist in the film Inchon, which he accepted to work with Laurence Olivier, who played General Douglas MacArthur. 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, Hawaii. The part was eventually reassigned to actor Ken Howard of the CBS series The White Shadow.

Personal life

Janssen was married twice, first to interior decorator Ellie Graham from 1958 until their divorce in 1968. In 1964, amid marital problems with Ellie, Janssen had a three-month affair with Suzanne Pleshette. In 1975, he married actress-turned-socialite Dani Crayne, and they remained married until Janssen's death in 1980.

Death

Janssen was a heavy drinker, and a chain smoker who smoked up to four packs of cigarettes a day. He died from a sudden heart attack in the early morning of February 13, 1980, at his beachfront home in Malibu, California, at the age of 48. At the time of his death, Janssen was filming the television movie Father Damien. Janssen was buried at the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.
A non-denominational funeral was held at the Jewish chapel of the cemetery on February 17. Suzanne Pleshette delivered the eulogy at the request of Janssen's widow. Milton Berle, Johnny Carson, Tommy Gallagher, Richard Harris, Carl Weathers, Stan Herman, Rod Stewart, and Gregory Peck were among Janssen's pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers included Jack Lemmon, George Peppard, James Stewart, and Danny Thomas.
For his contribution to the television industry, David Janssen has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located on the 7700 block of Hollywood Boulevard.

Selected filmography

  • It's a Pleasure as Davey / Boy Referee
  • Swamp Fire as Emile's Eldest Son
  • No Room for the Groom as Soldier
  • Francis Goes to West Point as Corporal Thomas
  • Untamed Frontier as Lottie's Dance Partner
  • Bonzo Goes to College as Jack
  • Yankee Buccaneer as Beckett
  • Back at the Front as Soldier
  • Leave It to Harry as Quiz Show Host
  • Chief Crazy Horse as Lieutenant Colin Cartwright
  • Cult of the Cobra as Rico Nardi
  • Francis in the Navy as Lieutenant Anders
  • The Private War of Major Benson as Young Lieutenant
  • To Hell and Back as Lieutenant Lee
  • All That Heaven Allows as Freddie Norton
  • The Square Jungle as Jack Lindsay
  • Never Say Goodbye as Dave Heller
  • The Toy Tiger as Larry Tripps
  • Francis in the Haunted House as Police Lieutenant Hopkins
  • Away All Boats as Talker
  • Mr. Black Magic as Master of Ceremonies
  • Showdown at Abilene as Verne Ward
  • The Girl He Left Behind as Captain Genaro
  • Lafayette Escadrille as Duke Sinclair
  • Hell to Eternity as Sergeant Bill Hazen
  • Dondi as Dealey
  • King of the Roaring 20s – The Story of Arnold Rothstein as Arnold Rothstein
  • Ring of Fire as Sergeant Steve Walsh
  • Twenty Plus Two as Tom Alder
  • Man-Trap as Vince Biskay
  • My Six Loves as Marty Bliss
  • Warning Shot as Sergeant Tom Valens
  • The Green Berets as George Beckworth
  • The Shoes of the Fisherman as George Faber
  • Where It's At as A.C.
  • Marooned as Ted Dougherty
  • Generation as Jim Bolton
  • Macho Callahan as Diego Callahan
  • Once Is Not Enough as Tom Colt
  • The Swiss Conspiracy as David Christopher
  • Two-Minute Warning as Steve
  • Warhead as Tony Stevens
  • Golden Rendezvous as Charles Conway
  • Covert Action as Lester Horton
  • Inchon as David Feld

    Television films

  • Belle Sommers as Danny Castle
  • Night Chase as Adrian Vico
  • The Longest Night as Alan Chambers
  • Moon of the Wolf as Sheriff Aaron Whitaker
  • Hijack as Jake Wilkenson
  • Birds of Prey as Harry Walker
  • Harry O – Such Dust As Dreams Are Made On as Harry Orwell
  • Pioneer Woman as Robert Douglas
  • Harry O – Smile Jenny, You're Dead as Harry Orwell
  • Don't Call the Police as Harry Orwell
  • Fer-de-Lance as Russ Bogan
  • Stalk the Wild Child as Dr. James Hazard
  • Mayday at 40,000 Feet! as Captain Pete Douglass
  • A Sensitive, Passionate Man as Michael Delaney
  • Superdome as Mike Shelley
  • Nowhere to Run as Harry Adams
  • S.O.S. Titanic as John Jacob Astor
  • The Golden Gate Murders as Detective Sergeant Paul Silver
  • High Ice as Glencoe MacDonald
  • City in Fear as Vince Perrino
  • ''Father Damien: The Leper Priest''

    Television series

  • Boston Blackie as Armored Car Driver
  • Lux Video Theatre
  • * as Ralph
  • * as Joe Davies
  • * as Johnny Reynolds Jr.
  • Matinee Theatre as Paul Merrick
  • Conflict as Sid Lukes
  • You Are There " as Grat Dalton
  • U.S. Marshal
  • Alcoa Theatre
  • * as Mike Harper
  • * as Jim McCandless
  • The Millionaire
  • * as Peter Miller
  • * as David Barrett
  • Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
  • * as Danny Ensign
  • * as Tod Owen
  • * as Seth Larker
  • * as Dix Porter
  • Richard Diamond, Private Detective as Richard Diamond / Chuck Garrett
  • Sheriff of Cochise as Arnie Hix
  • Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse as Ross Ingraham
  • Death Valley Days as Dr. Bill Breckenridge
  • Adventures in Paradise as Scotty Bell
  • Naked City
  • * as Blair Cameron
  • * as Carl Ashland
  • Thriller
  • Target: The Corruptors as Robbie Wilson
  • General Electric Theater as Pat Howard
  • Follow the Sun as Johnny Sadowsky
  • Checkmate as Len Kobalsky
  • Cain's Hundred as Dan Mullin
  • Kraft Mystery Theatre
  • Route 66 as Karno Starling
  • The Eleventh Hour as Hal Kincaid
  • The Dick Powell Show as Kenneth 'Ken' Morgan
  • The Fugitive as Dr. Richard Kimble / varied aliases
  • The Hollywood Palace
  • O'Hara, U.S. Treasury as James O'Hara / Jim O'Hara
  • Cannon as Ian Kirk
  • Harry O as Harry Orwell
  • Police Story as Sergeant Joe Wilson
  • The Word as Steve Randall
  • Centennial
  • Biography as Host