Betzy Marie Holter (née Jordal, May 28, 1893 – November 9, 1979) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

actress. Holter made her stage debut in 1913 as Randi in Olav Hoprekstad's ''Bjørnefjell'', one of the opening performances at the Norwegian Theater. She had a number of major roles at the theater in the years that followed, such as Milja in

Oskar Braaten Oskar Braaten (25 November 1881 – 17 July 1939) was a Norwegian novelist and playwright. Biography Oskar Alexander Braaten was born in Sagene, a borough of the city of Oslo. Sagene was one of Norway's oldest industrial areas dating to the mid ...

's ''

Ungen ''Ungen'' (The Child or The Kid) is a Norway, Norwegian drama film from 1938 directed by Rasmus Breistein. The lead roles are played by Eva Sletto, Harald Heide Steen, and Ragnhild Hald. It is a film adaptation of Oskar Braaten's 1911 play ''Ungen ...

'' and Klara Gullborg in a stage version of

Selma Lagerlöf Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish author. She published her first novel, ''Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the 1909 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Pr ...

's '' Kejsarn av Portugallien''. Between her successes in the capital, she also made some guest appearances in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

and

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

. From 1924 onward, Holter was engaged with the National Theater and played realistic figures from the Oslo's

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

such as Alvilde in ''

Den store barnedåpen ''Den store barnedåpen'' (The Great Christening) is a 1931 Norway, Norwegian comedy film. It was directed by Tancred Ibsen and featured Einar Sissener, Aase Bye and Unni Torkildsen. It was the first feature-length Norwegian sound film. It wa ...

'' and a street girl in

Sigurd Christiansen Sigurd Christiansen (17 November 1891 – 23 October 1947) was a Norwegian novelist and playwright. He made his literary debut with the novel ''Seieren'' in 1915. His literary breakthrough was the trilogy ''Indgangen'' (1925), ''Sverdene'' (1927 ...

's play ''Edmund Jahr''. Her last role at the National Theater was Hedvig in ''

The Wild Duck ''The Wild Duck'' (original Norwegian title: ''Vildanden'') is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It is considered the first modern masterpiece in the genre of tragicomedy. ''The Wild Duck'' and ''Rosmersholm'' are "often t ...

'' in 1928. Then she returned to the Norwegian Theater, where she remained until the spring of 1930. After five years away from the stage, she performed again from 1935 to 1941/42 as a stage actress in Oslo. She appeared on

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

Radio Theater Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

in the 1930s. In 1947, Holter returned to the stage, when she was engaged at the

Rogaland Theater Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

. Here she was an important actress in supporting roles for many years, and she also directed performances. Holter also wrote the radio play ''Kamerat'' (1932). Betzy Holter was married to her fellow actor

Karl Holter Karl Holter (June 30, 1885 – June 7, 1963) was a Norwegian actor, writer, and Waffen--SS soldier. Holter was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He debuted in 1912 at the Central Theater and after that was mainly engaged with the Norwegi ...

(1885–1963). However, they divorced in the mid-1930s and had had no contact with each other thereafter. Betzy Holter starred in the 1943 propaganda film ''

Unge viljer ''Unge viljer'' (Young Wills) is a Norwegian film from 1943 written and directed by Walter Fyrst. It is about an upper-class girl and a working-class boy that join forces and become members of Nasjonal Samling (NS), Vidkun Quisling's far-right pol ...

'', but three of her children took an active part in the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled government, ...

. Two of them (two daughters) later served in the Norwegian Navy in England from 1942 onward, after about a year in Stockholm. Holter's only son, Tord Holter, was wounded by the Germans in battle at

Kongsvinger Fortress Kongsvinger Fortress ( no, Kongsvinger festning) is located in the city and municipality of Kongsvinger in the county of Hedmark, Norway. It is situated on a hill west and north of the Glomma river, standing astride the ancient Vinger Royal Road, ...

in April 1940, and he never fully recovered.

Filmography

* 1912: '' Anny – en gatepiges roman'' * 1926: '' Baldevins bryllup'' as Madam Salvesen * 1939: ''

Gryr i Norden ''Gryr i Norden'' (Dawn in the North) is a Norwegian film from 1939 that was directed by Olav Dalgard. ''Gryr i Norden'' is the last film in the "worker trilogy." The other two films are ''Det drønner gjennom dalen'' (1938) and ''Lenkene brytes'' ...

'' as Andrine, Karlsen's wife * 1943: ''

'' as Mrs. West * 1952: ''

Andrine og Kjell ''Andrine og Kjell'' is a 1952 Norwegian drama film directed by Kåre Bergstrøm, starring Inger Marie Andersen and Toralv Maurstad Toralv Maurstad (24 November 1926 – 4 November 2022) was a Norwegian stage, film, and television actor. He w ...

'' as Mrs. Bergan, Kjell's mother * 1958: ''

Ut av mørket ( en, Out of the Dark) is a 1958 Norwegian film directed by Arild Brinchmann. It was entered into the 8th Berlin International Film Festival. Cast * Urda Arneberg as Kari Holm * Pål Skjønberg as Per Holm, an architect * Ola Isene as Enger, ...

References

External links

*
Betzy Holter
at

Filmfront Filmfront is a Norwegian website for films and television series similar to Internet Movie Database. Filmfront also covers various news on movie and celebrity material from both within and outside Norway. It has information on over 28,000 films, 3 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holter, Betzy 1893 births 1979 deaths Norwegian stage actresses Norwegian film actresses Norwegian silent film actresses 20th-century Norwegian actresses People from Nærøy