On 25 January 2025, Horst Janson (1935) died from complications of an earlier stroke. He was 89. Janson was one of Germany’s most popular film and television actors of the 1970s. He had his breakthrough when he played the first male character with long hair in German television history, in the hit show Der Bastian (1973). Janson appeared in many international films, including Spaghetti Westerns with Franco Nero and Tomas Milian.
German autograph card. Photo: Eva Renzi.
West German postcard by Rüdel Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 3021. Photo: Deutsche Film Hansa (DFH) / Meroth. Horst Janson in Das Glas Wasser / A Glass of Water (Helmut Käutner, 1960).
West German Collector Card by Penny-Bildbände in the Unsere Bambi-Lieblingee series, no. 13. Andreas Blum, Horst Janson, Gitty Djamal, Gustav Knuth, Margitta Scherr, Hans Jürgen Bäumler and unindentified woman in Salto Mortale (Michael Braun, 1969). Caption: The TV series Salto Mortale with Gustav Knuth (centre) was so well received by viewers that it was continued.
German autograph card. Photo: Peter Raba.
Horst Janson was born in Mainz-Kastel, Germany, in 1935. He found his passion for theatre while still at school. He gained his first experience as an actor in student performances. At the age of 16, Janson took an aptitude test as an actor at the Frankfurter Bühnengenossenschaft. He then took acting lessons at the Wiesbaden School for Acting run by Hertha Genzmer. During this time he earned his living as a taxi driver.
Following his acting training, he made his stage debut at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden in Alfred de Musset's dance drama 'Lorenzaccio'. He completed his training in the UFA junior studios. His film career started very early with Buddenbrooks (Alfred Weidenmann, 1959), based on the novel by Thomas Mann. He then featured in Helmut Käutner’s Das Glas Wasser / A Glass of Water (1960), where he played alongside Gustaf Gründgens, Hilde Krahl, Liselotte Pulver and Sabine Sinjen, and became a star.
This was followed by numerous leading and supporting roles in German and international productions. Horst Janson appeared in films such as Ruf der Wildgänse / The Cry of the Wild Geese (Hans Heinrich, 1961), Das Riesenrad / The Giant Wheel (Géza von Radványi, 1961) with Maria Schell, Das Mädchen und der Staatsanwalt/The Girl and the Prosecutor (Jürgen Goslar, 1962) and Robert Siodmak’s Escape from East Berlin (1962) with Don Murray.
Television discovered him early and he appeared in the TV film Bernadette Soubirous (Hans Quest, 1961). In 1969 he worked on the TV series Salto Mortale (Michael Braun, 1969) and his role as the trapeze artist Sascha Doria was a great success. He played supporting parts in the British war films You Can't Win 'Em All (Peter Collinson, 1970), starring Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson, The McKenzie Break (Lamont Johnson, 1970), and Murphy's War (Peter Yates, 1971), starring Peter O'Toole and Siân Phillips.
Then he returned to the German cinema and played a supporting part in the comedy Der Kapitän / The Captain (Kurt Hoffmann, 1971). Heinz Rühmann plays the captain of an old tramp steamer, who is offered the chance to take over a luxury cruise ship. In Italy, Janson appeared in the comic Spaghetti Westerns Viva la muerte... tua! / Long Live Your Death (Duccio Tessari, 1971), starring Franco Nero and Eli Wallach, and La vita a volte è molto dura, vero Provvidenza? / Life Is Tough, Eh Providence? (Giulio Petroni, 1972) featuring Tomas Milian.
West German autograph card.
German autograph card by Simon Offset, München. Photo: Fotex / W. Van Eick, Hamburg.
German autograph card by Simon Offset, München. Photo: Hans Rauchensteiner.
German autograph card by ARD1. Photo: M. Laemmerer.
Horst Janson had his breakthrough when he played the first male character with long hair in German television history, on the hit show Der Bastian (Rudolf Jugert, 1973) with Lina Carstens. Although he played a twenty-something student, he was 37 years old at the time. During this period, he won several awards like the Golden Otto (1973) by Bravo magazine and the Bambi in 1974 as the most popular actor.
In the cinema, he starred in the violent mob thriller Zinksärge für die Goldjungen / Battle of the Godfathers (Jürgen Roland, 1973). In Great Britain, he replaced the veteran Van Helsing alias Peter Cushing as a professional vampire hunter in the Hammer Horror film Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (Brian Clemens, 1974) with Caroline Munro.
He had a supporting part in the British war adventure Shout at the Devil (Peter R. Hunt, 1976), starring Lee Marvin and Roger Moore. The film is set in Zanzibar and German East Africa in 1913–1915. Another war film was Breakthrough (Andrew V. MacLaglen, 1979), set on the Western Front. The picture is a sequel to Sam Peckinpah's Cross of Iron (1977) and starred big names like Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum and Rod Steiger.
On television, he appeared in Sesamstraße (1980-1983), the German version of Sesame Street. In 1986, he appeared in The Last Days of Patton (Delbert Mann, 1986), a made-for-television film sequel to the film Patton (1970), which portrays the last few months of the general's life, with George C. Scott reprising his role as Patton. Janson played the character of Captain Bernd Jensen in the TV series Unter weissen Segeln / In White Sails (2004-2006). He also did a lot of theatre tours. In 1998, he played Old Shatterhand at the Karl May Festival in Bad Segeberg. In Italy, he appeared in the international film La corona spezzata / The Broken Crown (Ruben Maria Soriquez, 2014).
Horst Janson suffered from a stroke in the summer of 2024. On 28 January 2025, it was announced that he had died from complications several days earlier. He was 89. He was first married to actress Monika Lundi. In 1982, he married to Helgardt 'Hella' Ruthardt. They had two children, Sarah-Jane (1984) and Laura-Marie (1986).
German autograph card by Simon Offset, München.
West German postcard by Titan Verlag. Photo: Marlen Raabe. Promotion card for 'Das Dreieck des Lebens' (2005) by Uwe Karstädt with a special section by Horst Janson.
German trailer for Viva la muerte... tua!/Long Live Your Death (Duccio Tessari, 1971). Source: Downdarren (YouTube).
Trailer Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (Brian Clemens, 1974). Source: Ian Hendry (YouTube).
Sources: Christian Wolfgang Barth (IMDb), Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.
German autograph card. Photo: Eva Renzi.
West German postcard by Rüdel Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 3021. Photo: Deutsche Film Hansa (DFH) / Meroth. Horst Janson in Das Glas Wasser / A Glass of Water (Helmut Käutner, 1960).
West German Collector Card by Penny-Bildbände in the Unsere Bambi-Lieblingee series, no. 13. Andreas Blum, Horst Janson, Gitty Djamal, Gustav Knuth, Margitta Scherr, Hans Jürgen Bäumler and unindentified woman in Salto Mortale (Michael Braun, 1969). Caption: The TV series Salto Mortale with Gustav Knuth (centre) was so well received by viewers that it was continued.
German autograph card. Photo: Peter Raba.
Salto Mortale
Horst Janson was born in Mainz-Kastel, Germany, in 1935. He found his passion for theatre while still at school. He gained his first experience as an actor in student performances. At the age of 16, Janson took an aptitude test as an actor at the Frankfurter Bühnengenossenschaft. He then took acting lessons at the Wiesbaden School for Acting run by Hertha Genzmer. During this time he earned his living as a taxi driver.
Following his acting training, he made his stage debut at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden in Alfred de Musset's dance drama 'Lorenzaccio'. He completed his training in the UFA junior studios. His film career started very early with Buddenbrooks (Alfred Weidenmann, 1959), based on the novel by Thomas Mann. He then featured in Helmut Käutner’s Das Glas Wasser / A Glass of Water (1960), where he played alongside Gustaf Gründgens, Hilde Krahl, Liselotte Pulver and Sabine Sinjen, and became a star.
This was followed by numerous leading and supporting roles in German and international productions. Horst Janson appeared in films such as Ruf der Wildgänse / The Cry of the Wild Geese (Hans Heinrich, 1961), Das Riesenrad / The Giant Wheel (Géza von Radványi, 1961) with Maria Schell, Das Mädchen und der Staatsanwalt/The Girl and the Prosecutor (Jürgen Goslar, 1962) and Robert Siodmak’s Escape from East Berlin (1962) with Don Murray.
Television discovered him early and he appeared in the TV film Bernadette Soubirous (Hans Quest, 1961). In 1969 he worked on the TV series Salto Mortale (Michael Braun, 1969) and his role as the trapeze artist Sascha Doria was a great success. He played supporting parts in the British war films You Can't Win 'Em All (Peter Collinson, 1970), starring Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson, The McKenzie Break (Lamont Johnson, 1970), and Murphy's War (Peter Yates, 1971), starring Peter O'Toole and Siân Phillips.
Then he returned to the German cinema and played a supporting part in the comedy Der Kapitän / The Captain (Kurt Hoffmann, 1971). Heinz Rühmann plays the captain of an old tramp steamer, who is offered the chance to take over a luxury cruise ship. In Italy, Janson appeared in the comic Spaghetti Westerns Viva la muerte... tua! / Long Live Your Death (Duccio Tessari, 1971), starring Franco Nero and Eli Wallach, and La vita a volte è molto dura, vero Provvidenza? / Life Is Tough, Eh Providence? (Giulio Petroni, 1972) featuring Tomas Milian.
West German autograph card.
German autograph card by Simon Offset, München. Photo: Fotex / W. Van Eick, Hamburg.
German autograph card by Simon Offset, München. Photo: Hans Rauchensteiner.
German autograph card by ARD1. Photo: M. Laemmerer.
The first male character with long hair
Horst Janson had his breakthrough when he played the first male character with long hair in German television history, on the hit show Der Bastian (Rudolf Jugert, 1973) with Lina Carstens. Although he played a twenty-something student, he was 37 years old at the time. During this period, he won several awards like the Golden Otto (1973) by Bravo magazine and the Bambi in 1974 as the most popular actor.
In the cinema, he starred in the violent mob thriller Zinksärge für die Goldjungen / Battle of the Godfathers (Jürgen Roland, 1973). In Great Britain, he replaced the veteran Van Helsing alias Peter Cushing as a professional vampire hunter in the Hammer Horror film Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (Brian Clemens, 1974) with Caroline Munro.
He had a supporting part in the British war adventure Shout at the Devil (Peter R. Hunt, 1976), starring Lee Marvin and Roger Moore. The film is set in Zanzibar and German East Africa in 1913–1915. Another war film was Breakthrough (Andrew V. MacLaglen, 1979), set on the Western Front. The picture is a sequel to Sam Peckinpah's Cross of Iron (1977) and starred big names like Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum and Rod Steiger.
On television, he appeared in Sesamstraße (1980-1983), the German version of Sesame Street. In 1986, he appeared in The Last Days of Patton (Delbert Mann, 1986), a made-for-television film sequel to the film Patton (1970), which portrays the last few months of the general's life, with George C. Scott reprising his role as Patton. Janson played the character of Captain Bernd Jensen in the TV series Unter weissen Segeln / In White Sails (2004-2006). He also did a lot of theatre tours. In 1998, he played Old Shatterhand at the Karl May Festival in Bad Segeberg. In Italy, he appeared in the international film La corona spezzata / The Broken Crown (Ruben Maria Soriquez, 2014).
Horst Janson suffered from a stroke in the summer of 2024. On 28 January 2025, it was announced that he had died from complications several days earlier. He was 89. He was first married to actress Monika Lundi. In 1982, he married to Helgardt 'Hella' Ruthardt. They had two children, Sarah-Jane (1984) and Laura-Marie (1986).
German autograph card by Simon Offset, München.
West German postcard by Titan Verlag. Photo: Marlen Raabe. Promotion card for 'Das Dreieck des Lebens' (2005) by Uwe Karstädt with a special section by Horst Janson.
German trailer for Viva la muerte... tua!/Long Live Your Death (Duccio Tessari, 1971). Source: Downdarren (YouTube).
Trailer Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter (Brian Clemens, 1974). Source: Ian Hendry (YouTube).
Sources: Christian Wolfgang Barth (IMDb), Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.
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