Emma Alice Thomsen née Lange (21 November 1863 – 15 January 1910) was an attractive Danish actress who performed mainly in

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

productions at 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 s ...

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 ...

. Described as "the world's most beautiful women" by the Norwegian painter Christian Krohg, she was given a wider repertoire than would normally have been possible for an actress without formal training, thanks in part to her sweet singing voice. She progressed over the years, performing in more serious works, for example as Portia in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as a ...

'' and Elisabeth in Heiberg's ''

Elverhøj ''Elves' Hill'' ( da, Elverhøj) is a comedy by Johan Ludvig Heiberg, with overture and incidental music by Friedrich Kuhlau (Op. 100), which is considered the first Danish national play. History ''Elves' Hill'' was commissioned by Frederik V ...

''.

Biography

Born on 21 November 1863 in Copenhagen, Emma Alice Lange was the daughter of the translator Carl Vilhelm Lange (1820–75) and Dorothea Stibolt (1833–98). In 1888, she married the actor Poul Nielsen (divorced in 1897) and in 1897 Captain Fritz Thomsen (1864–1935). She débuted in 1883 at the Royal Danish Theatre in

Jens Christian Hostrup Jens Christian Hostrup (20 May 1818 in Copenhagen – 21 November 1892 in Frederiksberg) was a Danish poet, dramatist and priest. Comforting and encouraging the people, he created poems that filled the hearts of his compatriots. His precise person ...

's ''Eventyr paa Fodrejsen'', making such an impression with her attractive looks that she was immediately engaged to play the roles of beautiful young women in other Vaudeville works by Heisberg, including ''Abekatten'', ''Køge Huskors'', ''Aprilsnarrene'' and ''Nej''. Her major breakthrough came in December 1900 when she took on a more mature role, playing Maria in

Edvard Brandes Carl Edvard Cohen Brandes (21 October 1847, in Copenhagen – 20 December 1931, in Copenhagen) was a Danish politician, critic and author, and the younger brother of Georg Brandes and Ernst Brandes. He had a Ph.D. in eastern philology. Biograp ...

' ''Under Loven'' at Copenhagen's

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. ...

, with a passion no one had expected of her. Among the most interesting of the 170 roles she played were Henriette in ''Skyldig – ikke skyldig'', Maria in ''Paa Storhove'', Akulina in ''Mørkets Magt'', the romantically desolate Katuscha in ''Opstandelse'' and the gipsy artist in ''Johan Ulfstjerna''. Thereafter she felt increasingly threatened by the success of

Betty Nansen Betty Nansen (née Betty Anna Maria Müller) (19 March 1873 – 15 March 1943) was a Danish actress and theatre director of the theater that carries her name, the Betty Nansen Theatre. Biography She was born on 19 March 1873. She had her debut ...

. Her last role was the Jewish women Gerda Sommer in

Henri Nathansen Henri Nathansen (17 July 1868 – 16 February 1944) was a Danish writer and stage director, today best known for the play ''Inside the Walls'' ( da, Indenfor Murene). Biography Nathansen grew up in a merchant family in Copenhagen. Abandoning a l ...

's ''Daniel Hertz''. Emma Thomsen died on 15 January 1910 in Copenhagen and is buried in Assistens Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomsen, Emma 19th-century Danish actresses Danish stage actresses 1863 births 1910 deaths Actresses from Copenhagen