Janet Louise Johnson in the newspapers

In 1978, Janet Louise Johnson (who changed her name to Janet Julian) debuted as Nancy Drew on the ABC TV series The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, taking over the role from Pamela Sue Martin. Accordingly, Janet Louise Johnson received a fair amount of press during the early months of 1978.

Mostly, people just wanted to get to know the new actress who was taking over the role of Nancy Drew. When Janet Louise Johnson was cast as Pamela Sue Martin's replacement, she was a new face on television (she had previously appeared as a child actor in small roles on Alias Smith and Jones and The Waltons back in 1973). Her assumption of the Nancy Drew role was slightly controversial since the network did not immediately explain why Pamela Sue Martin had departed.

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Janet Louise Johnson is Nancy Drew

Before she took the name Janet Julian, she was known Janet Louise Johnson. She had done two TV appearances in 1973 when she was a kid, but in 1978 she replaced Pamela Sue Martin on The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. It was a fine choice but unfortunately it was not meant to be. Janet Louise Johnson only got to be in four episodes of the show at the end of its second season. The producers chose not to feature a Nancy Drew character at all in the third season and the show ended afterwards. Would the show have survived longer if they had kept Janet L. Johnson on the show? It certainly couldn't have hurt. Unfazed, Janet went on to do a bunch of television guest appearances, changed her professional name to Janet Julian around 1980 and found some success on TV and in movies.


The following images are of Janet Louise Johnson in the 1978 episode 'Mystery on the Avalanche Express' of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries: