Gerd Egede-Nissen
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 7477.
Gerd Grieg (maiden name Gerd Egede-Nissen; born 21 April 1895 in Bergen, died 9 August 1988) was a Norwegian actress and director who also became a recognised resistance fighter during the Second World War.
Gerd was the daughter of NKP leader Adam Egede-Nissen and Goggi Egede-Nissen. She was the sister of actors Aud Richter (née Aud Egede-Nissen), Ada Kramm (née Ada Egede-Nissen), Oscar Egede-Nissen, Stig Egede-Nissen, Lill Egede-Nissen, and Gøril Havrevold (née Gøril Egede-Nissen). Gerd made her debut at the National Theatre at the age of 15 in 1910, as Lersol in the fairytale play The King's Heart. She made an immediate breakthrough and played a number of major roles on the main stage until 1917. In 1912-13 she appeared in four short silent films made by the Danish August Blom, while in 1916 she acted in Holger-Madsen's crime film Den hvide Djævel. In 1917 she started a five-year career in Berlin to make films for her sister Aud Egede-Nissen's film company, in which Aud's husband Georg Alexander was involved. She was presented as Gerd Nissen. Yet, only a few films were made such as Die Rachegöttin (Alexander, 1918), while it is unclear if another film Die Jugendsünde (Alexander, 1918) she or her sister Aud had the lead. She also acted in the Danish film En Fare for Samfundet (1918), with Valdemar Psilander, released after his death in 1917. Gerd returned to Norway in 1922, did only one last film there (Pan, Harald Schwenzen, 1922), and married. She had guest appearances at various theatres before returning to the National Theatre in 1928. Gerd Grieg had several guest appearances abroad, most notably at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen in 1933 and 1946.
Gerd Grieg was one of the most important Ibsen actors of her generation, playing leading roles such as Hedda, Hilde Wangel, Irene, Svanhild, Ella Rentheim and Rebekka West. She was also a great Bjørnson interpreter, portraying characters such as Birgit Rømer and Tora Parsberg. In 1937 she gave a strong interpretation of Lucretia in Holberg's The Recalcitrant. Grieg also played Schiller's Maria Stuart, Viola in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the title roles in Kjeld Abell's Anna Sophie Hedvig and Amalie Skram's Agnete, as well as taking on demanding operetta roles such as Rosalinde in The Bat and Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow. Gerd Grieg also staged plays, including five plays at the Icelandic National Theatre Þjóðleikhúsið, which was inaugurated in 1950.
From 1922 to 1940 Gerd Egede-Nissen was married to the surgeon Ragnvald Ingebrigtsen (1882-1975), who was a good deal older. She gained a reputation as the femme fatale of Norwegian theatre, and her name was linked to several more or less piquant "society scandals" in the interwar period. Her relationship with her colleague Odd Frogg (1901-34) culminated in his suicide by jumping off a roof and leaving behind a piece of paper labelled "G.E.N.I.", which may have stood for "Gerd Egede-Nissen Ingebrigtsen". From New Year 1935, Gerd had been dating the writer and later resistance fighter Nordahl Grieg (1902-43), whom she had known since 1931. After divorcing the surgeon, the two married in 1940, but Grieg died in 1943 when the bomber he was travelling in was shot down over Berlin. Gerd and Nordahl had previously met Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States. Gerd remained active in the Norwegian resistance movement in London and Iceland during World War II Wartime nerves and the loss of her husband meant that after the war she only performed sporadically as an actress and director. She retired from the stage in 1955 and in 1957 published a book about her and her husband's life together: Nordahl Grieg as I Knew Him.
Sources: Norwegian Wikipedia, IMDb, Filmportal.
Gerd Egede-Nissen
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 7477.
Gerd Grieg (maiden name Gerd Egede-Nissen; born 21 April 1895 in Bergen, died 9 August 1988) was a Norwegian actress and director who also became a recognised resistance fighter during the Second World War.
Gerd was the daughter of NKP leader Adam Egede-Nissen and Goggi Egede-Nissen. She was the sister of actors Aud Richter (née Aud Egede-Nissen), Ada Kramm (née Ada Egede-Nissen), Oscar Egede-Nissen, Stig Egede-Nissen, Lill Egede-Nissen, and Gøril Havrevold (née Gøril Egede-Nissen). Gerd made her debut at the National Theatre at the age of 15 in 1910, as Lersol in the fairytale play The King's Heart. She made an immediate breakthrough and played a number of major roles on the main stage until 1917. In 1912-13 she appeared in four short silent films made by the Danish August Blom, while in 1916 she acted in Holger-Madsen's crime film Den hvide Djævel. In 1917 she started a five-year career in Berlin to make films for her sister Aud Egede-Nissen's film company, in which Aud's husband Georg Alexander was involved. She was presented as Gerd Nissen. Yet, only a few films were made such as Die Rachegöttin (Alexander, 1918), while it is unclear if another film Die Jugendsünde (Alexander, 1918) she or her sister Aud had the lead. She also acted in the Danish film En Fare for Samfundet (1918), with Valdemar Psilander, released after his death in 1917. Gerd returned to Norway in 1922, did only one last film there (Pan, Harald Schwenzen, 1922), and married. She had guest appearances at various theatres before returning to the National Theatre in 1928. Gerd Grieg had several guest appearances abroad, most notably at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen in 1933 and 1946.
Gerd Grieg was one of the most important Ibsen actors of her generation, playing leading roles such as Hedda, Hilde Wangel, Irene, Svanhild, Ella Rentheim and Rebekka West. She was also a great Bjørnson interpreter, portraying characters such as Birgit Rømer and Tora Parsberg. In 1937 she gave a strong interpretation of Lucretia in Holberg's The Recalcitrant. Grieg also played Schiller's Maria Stuart, Viola in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the title roles in Kjeld Abell's Anna Sophie Hedvig and Amalie Skram's Agnete, as well as taking on demanding operetta roles such as Rosalinde in The Bat and Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow. Gerd Grieg also staged plays, including five plays at the Icelandic National Theatre Þjóðleikhúsið, which was inaugurated in 1950.
From 1922 to 1940 Gerd Egede-Nissen was married to the surgeon Ragnvald Ingebrigtsen (1882-1975), who was a good deal older. She gained a reputation as the femme fatale of Norwegian theatre, and her name was linked to several more or less piquant "society scandals" in the interwar period. Her relationship with her colleague Odd Frogg (1901-34) culminated in his suicide by jumping off a roof and leaving behind a piece of paper labelled "G.E.N.I.", which may have stood for "Gerd Egede-Nissen Ingebrigtsen". From New Year 1935, Gerd had been dating the writer and later resistance fighter Nordahl Grieg (1902-43), whom she had known since 1931. After divorcing the surgeon, the two married in 1940, but Grieg died in 1943 when the bomber he was travelling in was shot down over Berlin. Gerd and Nordahl had previously met Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States. Gerd remained active in the Norwegian resistance movement in London and Iceland during World War II Wartime nerves and the loss of her husband meant that after the war she only performed sporadically as an actress and director. She retired from the stage in 1955 and in 1957 published a book about her and her husband's life together: Nordahl Grieg as I Knew Him.
Sources: Norwegian Wikipedia, IMDb, Filmportal.