Marie Charlotte Wiehe-Berény (Hansen), born August 28th 1865 in Copenhagen - September 4th 1947 in Skodsborg, was a Danish actor, ballet dancer and singer.

Life and family

She was born to Emma Cathinka Hansen (''born Flor),'' aged 33, and Jacob Julius Georg Hansen, aged 39. She had seven other siblings and her father died when Charlotte was just 3 years old. Her mother single handedly raised the eight children and ran a hat shop. Her first marriage was to silent actor Wilhelm Wiehe (born 10 February 1858-18 August 1916.) They married 5 June 1889. Their marriage lasted 10 years and they had a son named Bent Wiehe (born 11 November 1895) however when Charlotte remarried later, his name was changed to Bent Wiehe Berény. Her second marriage was to Hungarian violinist and composer Henri Berény (born 1 January 1871-22 March 1932.) They married 7 December 1899 in Copenhagen, Denmark and moved to Paris a year later. The marriage was terminated in 1920 but on 6 August 1929, they remarried at

Copenhagen City Hall Copenhagen City Hall ( da, Københavns Rådhus) is the headquarters of the Copenhagen City Council as well as the Lord mayor of the Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. The building is situated on City Hall Square in central Copenhagen. Architect ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the couple's wealth was seized by the French authorities as Henri Berény was Hungarian. Charlotte only returned to Denmark after Berény's death where she remained relatively poor but still appeared on stage. In 1929 she wrote her memoirs, 'From Old Coin to the Great World.' She died 4 September 1947 in Skodsburg where she is buried at

Assistens Cemetery Assistens Cemetery ( da, Assistens Kirkegård) is the name of a number of cemeteries in Denmark. The common nominator is, as the first part of the name implies (Latin: ''assistens'' meaning assisting), an assisting cemetery for a town's churches. ...

with her parents and two brothers.

Career

Charlotte was admitted to the

Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first ser ...

in 1874 where she trained as a ballet dancer and took roles in

August Bournonville August Bournonville (21 August 1805 – 30 November 1879) was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. He was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nep ...

's works. Then from 1881-1890 she was employed by the Theatre. However in 1890, after failing to be promoted as a ballerina, she turned to acting. She performed in operettas and comedies at

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Folketeatret Folketeateret is a theatre in Oslo, Norway. The building has been used as a movie theatre and as an opera house. The theatre has 1,400 seats. History The theatre itself operated from 1952 to 1959, but the institution has a much longer history. ...

and

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becoming one of the favourites of her day. Then after she married Henri Berény, they moved to Paris and Charlotte embarked on an international career in theatre and silent films where she toured Europe and America. Her films included The Hand, The Doll Man, Bankerot and Lotte vil paa Landet In 1940, she received Ingenio et arti

References

20th-century Danish ballet dancers 1865 births 1947 deaths 19th-century Danish ballet dancers 20th-century Danish actresses Actresses from Copenhagen {{Denmark-actor-stub