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The illegitimate son of a Danish farmer and his Swedish housekeeper, Carl Theodor Dreyer was born in Copenhagen on the 3th of February, 1889. He spent his early years in various foster homes before being adopted by the Dreyers at the age of two. Contrary to popular belief (perhaps nourished by the fact that his films often deal with religious themes) Dreyer did not receive a strict Lutheran upbringing, but was raised in a household that embraced modern ideas: in his spare time the adoptive father was an avid photographer, and the Dreyers voted for The Danish Social Democrates. When he was baptized the reasoning was culturally, not religiously motivated. Dreyer's childhood was an unhappy one. He did not feel his adoptive parents' love (especially the mother), and longed for his biological mother, whom he never knew.
After working as a journalist, he entered the film industry, and advanced from reading scripts to directing films himself. In the silent era his output was large, but it quickly diminished with the arrival of the talkie. In his lifetime he was recognized as being a fanatical perfectionist amongst producers, and thus difficult to work with. His career was dogged by problems with the financing of his films, which led to large gaps in his output - and after the critics, too, denounced Vampyr (1932), he returned to journalism in 1932, and became a cinema manager in 1952 - though he still made features up to the mid- 1960s, a few years before his death. His films are typically slow, intense studies of human psychology, usually of people undergoing extreme personal or religious crises. He is now regarded as the greatest director ever to emerge from Denmark.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ove Sprogøe was one of Denmark's finest and most treasured actors. Born in 1919 in Odense, where he also grew up, his parents were Arthur and Inger Sprogøe. He married his wife Eva in 1945, the same year as his stage debut at Folketeatret in Copenhagen.
Through a long career in film, television and theatre, his most famous role was as Egon Olsen in the film series "Olsenbanden". The characters and the 14 films are common ground for all Danes and also became popular in Germany as well as in Norway and Sweden where local versions were produced.
Even so, Sprogøe was always able to maintain a diverse range as an actor, playing all genres on stage as well as on screen. This included a multitude of popular comedies, a recurring role in the popular series Matador (1978) and a great number of variety shows.
Ove Sprogøe died in the fall of 2004 and is remembered as one of the true greats of Danish film.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Andersen experienced an unhappy childhood marked by deep poverty. When he was 14 years old, he left his parents' home and fled alone to Copenhagen. Here the director of the Royal Theater, Jonas Collin, took care of the child and gave him shelter and work. With his help, the young Hans Christian Andersen was also able to attend school. Inspired by his theater work, he began to write his first plays, which he later wanted to expand into stage plays. The first stories, stories and poems were created at this time. In 1822, Andersen's first plots were published with great success. He became a recognized writer in 1829 with his fantastic stories, which were entirely based on the example of the German writer Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann.
Andersen's debut novel, "The Improviser", was written in 1835 and received extremely positive reviews from critics. The Danish philosopher and writer Sören Kierkegaard was critical of him in his 1837 work "Only a Violinist". From 1839 Andersen was provided with a state poet's salary. As a result, financially secure, he traveled to Europe, Asia and Africa. However, he spent most of his time in Germany. He recorded his adventures and experiences in dramas, novels and travel books. Anderson became a literary figure with worldwide recognition through his precise portrayal of individual characters, which the writer wrote in everyday language that was atypical at the time. The secret fears and longings of the characters were portrayed, and their exemplary behavior also represented an educational goal.
During his literary work, Andersen wrote some of the most popular children's stories of modern times. Andersen's collected fairy tales and poems were published between 1835 and 1848 under the Danish title "Eventyr, fortalte for børn". His most successful stories include "The Ugly Duckling", "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Snow Queen" and "The Princess and the Pea". Andersen's extensive legacy includes over 150 fairy tales, including "The Little Mermaid", which gave rise to the sculpture of the same name in memory of him in the harbor of Copenhagen. Andersen's stories have been translated into over 80 languages and served as plays, ballets, picture books and later as successful films.
Hans Christian Andersen died on August 4, 1875 in Copenhagen.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Poul Bundgaard was born on 27 October 1922 in Hellerup, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Strike First Freddy (1965), Hærværk (1977) and Flagermusen (1966). He was married to Kirsten Pedersen and Kjær, Bente Elisabeth. He died on 3 June 1998 in Gentofte, Denmark.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Danish leading woman of German films who became one of the greatest stars of the silent era. A native of the Copenhagen suburb of Vesterbro, Nielsen was the daughter of a coppersmith and a washerwoman, both of whom died before Nielsen was fifteen. Her stage debut came as a child in the chorus of the Kongelige Teater's production of Boito's opera "Mephistopheles." She studied at the Royal Theatre School of Copenhagen and embarked upon a stage career in her late teens. She toured Scandinavia and became one of the highest-paid and most popular stage actresses of her time and place. In 1909, director Urban Gad suggested that the silent screen would allow her to transcend her Danish language barrier, and she agreed appear in his film 'Afgrunden (1910)'. The film was successful and Nielsen was encouraged to continue in this new art form. A German distributor, Paul Davidson, invited Nielsen to Germany, where he was building a film studio which would eventually become Europe's largest--the Universum Film Union A.-G. (or Ufa). Nielsen and her director, Gad, whom she had married, went to Germany and spent the next quarter century there. She became one of the true superstars of the silent screen, a tragic heroine whose photograph during the First World War accompanied German and also British and French troops into battle. Among her notable films after the war was a version of "Hamlet, " which was not so much a Shakespearean film as it was an exploration of a then-current theory that the real Hamlet had been, in fact, a woman. Nielsen played the title role. She continued to play a wide variety of roles in Germany and occasionally in Denmark and Norway, never losing the respect and popularity she had maintained almost from the beginning of her career. She abandoned her film work just as sound was taking over the industry. Aside from one or two brief forays in talkies, her acting was thereafter confined to the stage. She died in 1972 at the age of 89, shortly after her fifth marriage.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Morten Lindberg was born on 23 September 1965 in Munkebo, Fyn, Denmark. He was an actor and writer, known for Clemens Show (2000), The Hideaway (1991) and Spektrum (1994). He was married to Herminia Mabunda. He died on 26 March 2019 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Pouty-lipped, kittenish Annette Stroyberg was best known, and briefly known, as the sexy young nubile blonde who replaced bombshell Brigitte Bardot in the late 1950s as the wife and object of exploitation of Svengali-like French director Roger Vadim. Possessing Bardot's similar erotic balance of melancholy and fragility within her Lolita-like stunning looks, Vadim married Annette in June of 1958. Billing her as Annette Vadim, he was unable, however, to recreate the same Bardot magic and their marriage and her career quickly fell by the wasteside.
The beautiful Stroyberg was born on the island of Fyn, in Denmark, on December 7, 1936. Her father was a physician who died when she was quite young. She and her sister then moved to Copenhagen where she was raised. She found her way to Paris in her late teens where she worked at couture houses as a model, later finding employment with such fashion notables as Chanel. Annette hooked up with Vadim during the filming of his legendary first feature ...And God Created Woman (1956), the movie that catapulted BB to mythic status. When BB started up a heated affair with young co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant, Vadim moved in with Annette, who subsequently gave birth to their daughter Nathalie Vadim in 1957. Vadim then proceeded to build and groom a replica of BB with Stroyberg. Her biggest chance for fame was when he put her on display in the film of the classic novel Dangerous Liaisons (1959) as Marianne de Tourvel, the virtuous victim of the evil Jeanne Moreau and Gérard Philipe. Making her debut, Annette was stunning, of course but found herself quite outclassed by her cast, hardly ready for such a demanding role. She earned far more recognition when Vadim cast her as a society girl-cum-lesbian vampire Carmilla (catch the cozy scene with "victim" Elsa Martinelli) in the exploitive Blood and Roses (1960). By the time of the film's release, however, her marriage to Vadim was history. He had moved on to try and conquer underage actress Catherine Deneuve and she put designs on guitarist Sacha Distel.
Annette subsequently packed her bags for Italy where she made a few unmemorable pictures, reverting to her maiden name of Stroyberg on the marquee boards. In between she managed to amass a number of love affairs with such available (and unavailable) playboy actors as Vittorio Gassman, her co-star in Roberto Rossellini's Anima nera (1962), Alain Delon, Omar Sharif and Warren Beatty. Her last film was Lo scippo (1965). Giving up on her career, she turned socialite and married Moroccan sugar king Guy Senouf in 1967, dividing her time between Paris and Africa. The couple had a son, Yan, but this marriage, like her first, was short-lived. In 1974 she married Gregory Callimanopulos, a Greek shipping magnate, and settled for a time in America. They had a son, Peri Callimanopulos. She returned to Europe after their divorce in the early 1990s and married a fourth time to lawyer Christian Lillelund. Stroyberg died at age 69 of cancer on December 12, 2005, and was survived by her husband and three children. - Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Dirch Hartvig Passer was born on May 18, 1926, on Østerbro, Copenhagen, to Ragnhild Fich and Capt. Vilhelm Passer (seaman). He never did well in school, being the class clown, which had a negative effect on his grades. He did especially badly in mathematics, which came to follow him the rest of his life. When Passer left school he wanted to become an actor, but his father insisted that he should become a seaman like himself. In 1944 he attended maritime school. Life at sea, however, did not go well - he was seasick all the time.
After his failure as a seaman he had all kinds of small jobs. In 1946 he made his stage debut with "Six Comrades [seks kammerater]" in "Riddersalen". In the same year he was accepted to theatre school: De Frederiksbergske Teatres elevskole. After he had completed this education in 1948 he had many small parts in different plays all around Denmark's theatres. He made his film debut in 1947 as an extra in the Danish movie Lykke paa rejsen (1947) and teamed up with Ove Sprogøe in the 1950s in many films. He became famous in 1953 with Ved Kongelunden... (1953), which let all of Denmark see his comedic genius. He made many other well-received Danish films, such as The Baroness from the Gas Station (1960), Mig og min lillebror (1967), Sommer i Tyrol (1964), the Mafia-movies and Charles tante (1959).
Passer worked from 1967 to 1974 at the famous "Cirkusrevyen på Bakken", where he was responsible for their greatest success ever. Many of the sketches which he made here were so famous that they are seen all over the world. He made his last film in 1978, Fængslende feriedage (1978).
In 1978 he acted in the "Tivolirevy", which he continued until his death on stage of a heart attack on September 3, 1980. Like all great comedians, he always wanted to play serious parts in movies and plays, but never got the chance. Dirch Passer was without a doubt the greatest Danish comedian ever.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
In the 1960s and 1970s, Dick Emery was one of the most successful comics on the box. He was voted BBC TV Personality of the Year, thanks to creations such as his toothy vicar, sex-starved spinster Hettie, crusty old Lampwick, outrageously camp Clarence, who coined the phrase: "Hallo honky tonks". Perhaps the most memorable of all was Mandy, a busty middle-aged woman whose repressed nature was usually betrayed by a sudden affectionate slap and a cry of: "Ooh, you are awful. But I like you!".
While his creations left millions howling, in private Emery was a man with a terrible fear of failure. He was often sick before performances and would sleep to escape stage nerves prior to a performance. Bob Monkhouse once incurred his wrath by accidentally waking him before a Royal Variety Performance. Emery exploded in a torrent of abuse as Monkhouse recalled in his book 'Over the Limit'. Emery used to spend hours in analysis, was hypnotised, tried many sedatives and drugs to cure his tension - though the pills scared him as much as the fear of failure.
He once told friend and co-star Roy Kinnear: "I don't just envy the confidence that other comics seem to have, I resent it. I hate them for it, just like my dad did. If there's such a thing as a chip off the old block, it's on my shoulder."
Emery married five times and left his last wife to live with a showgirl 30 years younger than him. His BBC show was axed after 12 years in 1979 and he died four years later.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ole Søltoft was born on 8 January 1941 in Denmark. He was an actor, known for Tickled Pink (1975) and Bedside Dentist (1971). He was married to Ulla Asbjørn Andersen. He died on 9 May 1999 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Tove Maës was born on 30 April 1921 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was an actress, known for Himlen er blaa (1954), Det er nat med fru Knudsen (1971) and Felix (1982). She was married to Jesper Gottschalck and Carl Ottosen. She died on 31 December 2010 in Gentofte, Denmark.
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Erik Balling was one of the most beloved Danish filmmaker in the 20th century. Balling was a director, a producer and a writer. Erik Balling was mostly famous for creating such TV epics as "Matador" and "Huset På Christianshavn" and the film-series of "Olsen banden". Erik Balling was born the 19th of November 1925 in the Danish city of Nyborg, as a son of a priest. In 1946 Balling was hired as an assistant at "Nordisk Film Kompagni" - the world's oldest film production company. His talent was soon recognised, and Balling soon had the opportunity to work as a director. His debut as a director came in 1952, with the film: "Vi arme syndere". Balling soon gained a reputation of having good technical skills, and after that film his talent was widely recognised. In 1957 he became head of "Nordisk Film" - the youngest one ever. Balling was mostly famous for his comedies. In his early days he directed Poeten og Lillemor (1959) and Sommer i Tyrol (1964), which were very popular at the time. In the middle of the 1960s Balling tried to chance his style when it came to comedies. At this time the popular James Bond films circled the globe, Balling's next film was inspired by those films, teaming up with Henning Bahs to make the Jamed Bond spoof "Slå Først Frede" (1965), which became very popular in Denmark - so popular it spawned a sequel Slap af, Frede! (1966). This co-work with Henning Bahs was so fruitful that they made many more movies together. This co-work eventually led to film-series of "Olsen banden", which started with Olsen-banden (1968) - and eventually they made a total of 14 "Olsen banden" film, plus a TV series and a movie version where the characters in "Olsen banden" are children. "Olsen banden" was about a small band of small time criminals, trying to become millionaires. "Olsen banden" were not only very popular in Denmark, but also in East-Germany, Poland, Sweden and Norway - especially in Norway and Sweden, who eventually made their own national versions of "Olsen banden", namely the Norwegian "Olsen banden" and the Swedish "Jönssonligan" - Henning Bahs and Erik Balling also helped the Norwegians and the Swedes to write those. In that late 60s and early 70s Balling made the popular Danish TV series "Huset På Christianshavn", which also became the basis for a movie: "Ballade på Christianshavn (1971)".
In 1970 Balling produced the very popular Danish TV epic "Matador". More than fifty percent of Denmark's population watched "Matador" in those days. "Matador" was about life in a smaller city in Denmark in the 30s and 40s.
Balling was always known for his warm style, when he portrayed humans. Throughout his life, he received many prizes. He was 80 years old when he died the 19th of November 2005.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Gabriel Axel was born on 18 April 1918 in Århus, Denmark. He was a director and actor, known for Babette's Feast (1987), The Red Mantle (1967) and Christian (1989). He was married to Lucie Axel Moerch. He died on 9 February 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Jens Okking was born on 18 December 1939 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was an actor and writer, known for Strømer (1976), At klappe med een hånd (2001) and Nitten røde roser (1974). He was married to Anette Walther. He died on 21 January 2018 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Ole Thestrup was born on 12 March 1948 in Nibe, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Flickering Lights (2000), Adam's Apples (2005) and Ronal the Barbarian (2011). He was married to Hanne Marie Knudsen. He died on 2 February 2018 in Tuse Næs, Denmark.- Karen Blixen was born on 17 April 1885 in Rungsted, Denmark. She was a writer, known for Out of Africa (1985), Babette's Feast (1987) and The Heroine (1967). She was married to Bror Frederik von Blixen-Finecke. She died on 7 September 1962 in Rungsted, Denmark.
- Actor
- Director
- Composer
Poul Reichhardt was born on 2 February 1913 in Ganløse, Denmark. He was an actor and director, known for Jenny and the Soldier (1947), Flagermusen (1966) and My Name Is Petersen (1947). He was married to Charlotte Ernst, Margareta Fahlén and Lili Lani. He died on 31 October 1985 in Denmark.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Benjamin Christensen was born on 28 September 1879 in Viborg, Denmark. He was a director and writer, known for Blind Justice (1916), Häxan (1922) and Seven Footprints to Satan (1929). He was married to Karen Winther, Sigrid Stahl and Ellen Arctander. He died on 2 April 1959 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Trine Michelsen was born on 21 January 1966 in Gentofte, Denmark. She was an actress, known for The Idiots (1998), Tentazione (1987) and The Girl in a Swing (1988). She died on 17 January 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Director
Born in Odense, Denmark on December 9th, 1934, Morten Grunwald is "World famous in Denmark" for several popular film roles. Most famous, however, will always be his Benny in all of the "Olsen Banden" films, where he starred alongside Ove Sprogøe and Poul Bundgaard.
He attended Odense Theatrical School in 1958 and graduated from The Royal Theater of Denmark's Theatrical School in 1962. Since 1971, he has been the director of several theatres in Copenhagen: Bristol Teatret (1971-1980), Betty Nansen Teatret (1980-1992), Østre Gasværk (1992-1998).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jan Priiskorn-Schmidt was born on 22 February 1951 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Døden kommer til middag (1964), Six Kids and Their Uncle (1966) and Kid Gang on the Go (1971). He died in December 2023 in Denmark.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Carl Brisson was born on 24 December 1893 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Murder at the Vanities (1934), The Ring (1927) and The Manxman (1929). He was married to Cleo Willard Brisson. He died on 26 September 1958 in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Birte Tove was born on 16 January 1945 in Denmark. She was an actress, known for The Kingdom (1994), Bedside Dentist (1971) and The Bamboo House of Dolls (1973). She was married to Ole Schächter. She died on 6 February 2016 in Denmark.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Karl Stegger was one of the greatest Danish actors. Karl Stegger was born: Carl Johan Stegger Sørensen. He later replaced the "c" in his first name with a "k" to further his acting-career. He was born in Aarhus on the January 11th 1911. Stegger was educated at Aarhus theatre, where he was hired as an actor for 5 years until 1951. After 1951 he worked at various theatres all around Denmark. But Karl Stegger was mostly famous for his various, and mostly, bi-roles in Danish films and TV. Karl Stegger had his film debut in 1950 with smaller role in [Smedestræde 4]. Stegger subsequently acted in well over 160 films (almost everyone Danish), where he mostly played down-to-earth and sly types. Stegger seldom had a lead part in any film. He became famous in Denmark when he got the part of the father in the Danish film-series: "Far til Fire" in 1955, after Ib Schønberg died (who originally had the part). Another famous part he had was as the scrap dealer in "Olsen-banden i Jylland" from 1971. In 1971 he got a Danish film-price, a "Bodil", for a role as a real-estate salesman in "Ballade på Christianshavn". In his later years, Stegger became even more famous for his role as the Swedish-consul in the Danish TV-epic "Matador". His last role was in 1980 in "Trællenes børn". Karl Stegger died on the 13th of April 1980, he is buried in Søndermark cemetery, Frederiksberg.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Birgitte Federspiel was born on 6 September 1925 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was an actress, known for Babette's Feast (1987), A Stranger Knocks (1959) and Gøngehøvdingen (1961). She was married to Freddy Koch, Henning Ahrensborg and Jens Østerholm. She died on 2 February 2005 in Odense, Denmark.