David Janson (born David Jackson, 30 March 1950) is an English actor and theatre director whose stage debut was in ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the W ...

'' in 1962. He joined the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

in 1963 in ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'' and appeared as the young boy (during Ringo's walk) in

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

film '' A Hard Day's Night'' (billed as "David Jaxon").

Notable roles

Janson became well known for his role as Jimmy Harker in the 1960s British soap opera '' The Newcomers''. He later starred in the sitcom ''

Get Some In! ''Get Some In!'' is a British television sitcom about National Service life in the Royal Air Force, broadcast between 1975 and 1978 by Thames Television. Scripts were by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, the team behind sitcoms such as '' The Good ...

''. He also replaced

Richard Gibson Richard Gibson (born 1 January 1954) is an Ugandan-born British actor, best known for his role as the archetypal Gestapo Officer Herr Otto Flick in the BBC hit sitcom series, Allo 'Allo!''. Early life and education Gibson was born in Kamp ...

as the Gestapo officer Herr Otto Flick in the BBC sitcom ''

'Allo 'Allo! ''Allo 'Allo!'' is a British sitcom television series, created by David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, starring Gorden Kaye, Carmen Silvera, Guy Siner and Richard Gibson. Originally broadcast on BBC1, the series focuses on the life of a Frenc ...

'' in its final 1992 series, after playing Adolf Hitler's double in an episode of series 8. He has also appeared in a variety of other roles including in '' Softly, Softly'', ''

Doomwatch ''Doomwatch'' is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC1 between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist ( ...

'', '' Jason King'', ''

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' is a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 1955 ...

'', ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...

'', ''

Brush Strokes ''Brush Strokes'' is a British television sitcom broadcast on BBC1 from 1986 to 1991. Written by Esmonde and Larbey and set in South London, it depicted the (mostly) amorous adventures of a wisecracking house painter, Jacko (Karl Howman). Ther ...

'', '' T-Bag Strikes Again'', ''

Ever Decreasing Circles ''Ever Decreasing Circles'' is a British sitcom which ran on BBC1 between 1984 and 1989, consisting of four series and one feature-length special. It was written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, and it reunited them with Richard Briers, who ha ...

'', the postman in ''

Keeping Up Appearances ''Keeping Up Appearances'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle-class social climber, Hyacinth Bucket ( Patricia Ro ...

'', ''

The Upper Hand ''The Upper Hand'' is a British television sitcom with dramatic elements broadcast by ITV from 1 May 1990 to 14 October 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom ''Who's the Boss?'' As in the former series, affluent single wo ...

'' and ''Don't Rock the Boat''. In 2019 he directed the stage show ''Hormonal Housewives''.

Personal life

Janson was married to actress

Debbie Arnold Debbie Arnold (born 14 June 1955) is an English actress and producer. She is known for her portrayal of April Branning in BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' between 1995 and 1996. Arnold has portrayed regular characters in ''EastEnders'', ''Coronatio ...

, who played

April Branning April Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Debbie Arnold. April is the eldest daughter of Jim (John Bardon) and Reenie Branning (Joy Graham). April is originally introduced as the sister of establ ...

in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' in 1996. They were married for 13 years, divorcing in 2002. The couple have two daughters, including ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

'' actress

Ciara Janson Ciara Janson, previously ''Janson Zelmerlöw'' is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Nicole Owen on ''Hollyoaks''. Career Janson performed voice acting work as a child, from the age of 18 months, leading Hobson's Internatio ...

. The couple worked on the Streamline English as a Foreign Language video series. He played the role of Kevin Smith, with Arnold playing his wife Sharon Smith.

Television roles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Janson, David 1950 births Living people English male television actors Actors from the London Borough of Lambeth Male actors from London 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Royal Shakespeare Company members People from Clapham