David Janssen

David Janssen is one of those actors who absolutely owned the early television era, and I don't think he gets nearly enough credit for it today. His run as Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive from 1963 to 1967 was genuinely gripping television — that perpetual-man-on-the-run premise sounds simple, but Janssen brought a quiet, weathered intensity to it that made viewers care deeply every single week. He had this naturally lined, world-weary face that conveyed exhaustion and determination at the same time, and that's not something you can fake. The 1966 Golden Globe was well deserved. Beyond The Fugitive he kept working steadily in film and TV right up until his death in 1980 at just 48 — a loss that felt genuinely premature, because you sensed there was still a lot of good work left in him. His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame says it all: the industry knew what it had.

Name (English)

David Janssen

Name (Japanese)

デビッド・ジャンセン

Reading

でびっど・じゃんせん

Born

March 27, 1931 – February 13, 1980

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aries / Goat

Origin

Naponee, Nebraska, United States

Occupation

actor / film actor / television actor / dramaturge

High school

Fairfax High School

Awards & achievements

• 1966 Golden Globe Awards
• star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%87%E3%83%93%E3%83%83%E3%83%89%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BB%E3%83%B3

Tags

• Nebraska
• actor
• film actor
• television actor

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.