David Roger Johansen was an American rock, protopunk, blues and pop singer, as well as a songwriter and actor. He was a member of the seminal protopunk band The New York Dolls and also achieved commercial success under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter. He played the Ghost of Christmas Past in "Scrooged" (1988).

Johansen was born in the New York City borough of Staten Island to a librarian mother, Helen, and an insurance sales representative father, who had previously sung opera. His mother was Irish American and his father was Norwegian American.

Johansen began his career in the late 1960s as the lead singer of the Vagabond Missionaries, a local Staten Island band and later in the early 1970s as the singer/songwriter in the proto-punk band the New York Dolls. The New York Dolls were in the Mercer's scene, appearing on the bill at a New Year's Eve 1972 gig with Ruby and the Rednecks. They released two albums, the eponymous New York Dolls (1973) and Too Much Too Soon (1974). The bulk of the material was written by Johansen and guitarist Johnny Thunders. The Dolls were sometimes well received critically but did not succeed commercially.

On July 7, 2020, Showtime Documentary Films announced that filmmaker Martin Scorsese would direct a new feature film on Johansen. The Showtime documentary, Personality Crisis: One Night Only, was released on April 14, 2023. Scorsese was joined in the making of the film by his frequent co-director David Tedeschi, and, with Johansen, Scorsese was interviewed about the film by MSNBC host Joe Scarborough.

Johansen wed actress Cyrinda Foxe in 1977 but divorced within a year in 1978. From 1983 to 2011, Johansen was married to photographer Kate Simon.

In 2013, Johansen wed artist Mara Hennessey.

Johansen was diagnosed with stage four cancer and a brain tumor. He fell and broke his back in two places in November 2024 and required surgery. His step-daughter launched a fundraiser to help with his treatment on January 10, 2025. He died from cancer at his Staten Island home on February 28, 2025, at the age of 75. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sources

1. The New York Dolls' frontman has thanked fans on camera following the launch of a fundraiser to help with his medical costs < link > published 16 February 2025
2. "Everything to Know About David Johansen’s Three Wives" (February 11, 2025) < celebsuburb.com >
3. Murphy, Brian. "David Johansen, punk star reinvented as 'Buster Poindexter,' dies at 75." The Washington Post, published 1 March 2025. < link > Accessed 1 March 2025.
4. "David Johansen." Wikipedia. < link > Accessed 1 March 2025.
5. "David Johansen, Who Fronted the New York Dolls and More, Dies at 75." (March 1, 2025) < nytimes.com > In the 1970s, he and the transgressive Dolls were proto-punk pioneers. He later refashioned himself as the pompadoured lounge lizard Buster Poindexter. ... David Roger Johansen was born on Jan. 9, 1950, on Staten Island, the third of six children. His mother, Helen (Cullen) Johansen, was a librarian; his father, Gunvold Johansen, was a life insurance salesman who had been an opera singer in Norway.
   1. Around 1964, Mr. Johansen left St. Peter’s Boys School. By his own account, he was expelled: “They just realized I was not the right person for them,” he told Will Hermes for his 2011 book, “Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever.” He finished his education at Port Richmond High School, graduating in 1967.
   2. Mr. Johansen was the subject of “Personality Crisis: One Night Only,” a 2023 documentary directed by Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi centered on a Buster Poindexter show at the Café Carlyle in New York. “Existence is maimed happiness,” he said in the film, paraphrasing the philosopher William James — but he wasn’t able to conceal the joyful spirit and relentless productivity that animated his decades-long career. There was a irrepressible outlook that drove the New York Dolls in their evanescent moment, which Mr. Johansen applied to the rest of his long life.
6. "Retrospective: A New York Doll Gets the Scorsese Treatment." < newyorker.com >
7. "Underground Royalty Leah Hennessey Wants to Write a Musical With Her Stepdad." < culturedmag.com >
8. "Buster Poindexter - Hot Hot Hot"< youtube >