Ellen Isefiær (7 December 1899 – 28 September 1985) was a Norwegian actress and stage director. She staged more than 200 productions during her career.

Biography

Isefiær was born in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

, Norway to Thomas Engelhardt Isefiær and Katharine Margrethe Johnsen. From 1918 to 1920 she was a student at the National Theatre. She was engaged with Stavanger Teater at

Rogaland Teater Rogaland Teater is a theatre in Stavanger, Norway. Background The theatre building was built in 1883 on a parcel of '' Kannik prestegård''. It was designed by architect Hartvig Sverdrup Eckhoff, and initially held close to 500 seats. The bui ...

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 1921, and had her breakthrough as "Elizabeth" in the play '' Mary Stuart'' at this theatre. From 1924 to 1931 she was assigned with

Centralteatret Centralteatret ( en, Central Theater) is a theatre on Akersgata in the city centre of Oslo, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western ...

. She made her film debut in the 1928 film ''

Cafe X ''Cafe X'' is a 1928 Norwegian crime film. The film was directed by Walter Fyrst, who also wrote the screenplay and headed the production through his company Fürst-film. It stars Bengt Djurberg and Tove Tellback. Plot The film tells the story ...

'' directed by

Walter Fyrst Walter Fyrst (né Fürst; 6 July 1901 – 23 February 1993) was a Norwegian filmmaker. He was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), the son of the physician Valentin Fürst and Margarethe Christiane Dedekam. His first film was '' Troll-elgen'' from 1 ...

(1901–1993) and occasionally appeared in films until 1956. Her first task as stage director was the comedy ''Mannen som alle ville myrde'' by Axel Kielland (1907–1963) staged at

Trøndelag Teater Trøndelag Teater is a large theater in the city of Trondheim, in Trøndelag county, Norway. Trøndelag Teater stages large-scale dance and musical performances. History Originally built in 1816, the theater is the oldest stage in Scandinavia ...

. She was assigned with Trøndelag Teater from 1939 to 1940. She chaired the Carl Johan Theater from 1940 until the theatre was closed by the German occupation authorities in 1943, and was then assigned with

Det Nye Teater Det Nye Teater was a theatre that opened in Oslo in 1929, and ended as an independent theatre in 1959, when it merged with Folketeatret to form Oslo Nye Teater. The theatre's original purpose was to support contemporary Norwegian drama. History Th ...

until 1945. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she mostly worked freelance, except for engagements as stage instructor for

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. ...

from 1956 to 1959, and as artistic director for Trøndelag Teater from 1961 to 1962. She staged a total of more than 200 performances during her career, and was honorary member of the Norwegian Stage Instructor's Association (''Norsk Sceneinstruktørforening'').

External links

References

1899 births 1985 deaths People from Kristiansand Norwegian stage actresses Norwegian film actresses Norwegian silent film actresses Norwegian theatre directors 20th-century Norwegian actresses {{norway-actor-stub