Horst Janson is dead: “Sesame Streets” actor at the age of 89

The actor Horst Janson is dead. This was confirmed by his wife of the German press agency after the Bild-Zeitung had reported. Janson was 89 years old.

In the 1970s, he became known to a wide audience by TV series such as “Salto Mortale” and “The Bastian”. In the 1980s he played as a friend of Tiffy and Samson on the “Sesame Road”.

Janson, who was born in Mainz in 1935, gained his first theater experiences on the school stage. After school, he took acting lessons in Wiesbaden, he financed his livelihood with taxi driving and other jobs. He experienced his acting debut at the Wiesbaden State Theater.

Janson had the first film role in Alfred Weidenmann’s drama “Die Buddenbrooks” in 1959. Later he was seen in numerous television rows: “Forsthaus Falkenau”, “Immenhof”, “A case for two”, “crime scene” or rosamunde pilcher romances.

He also played regularly in British and US productions, including alongside Roger Moore, Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson. In addition, he also appeared on stages again and again, for example as an Old Shatterhand at the Karl May Festival in Bad Segeberg.

Janson lived in Grünwald near Munich with his second wife Hella, with whom he had been married for more than 40 years. Since a stroke in the summer of 2024, he had repeatedly struggled with health problems.