Jens Bolling (23 June 1915 – 13 December 1992) was a Norwegian

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

. He was among the founders of

Studioteatret Studioteatret was a theatre in Norway. It opened in 1945, shortly after the liberation, with Claes Gill as its first theatre director. Studioteatret is regarded as one of the earliest post-war artistic expressions in Norway, and most of its members ...

, and a well-known interpreter of Norwegian fairy-tales.

Early and personal life

Bolling was born in

Levanger Levanger is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the district of Innherred. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Levanger. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Alstadhaug, Ekne, ...

, as the son of saw mill manager Sigvard Bolling and Borghild Elnan. He grew up at the farm Brekke in the valley

Maridalen Maridalen is a valley situated just north of Oslo, Norway, just above the suburb of Kjelsås. Considering that Maridalen is within the Oslo city limits, Maridalen has a very low population density. The valley consists of forests, lakes and agricu ...

north of

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. His mother died early, and his grandmother took her place. She was an eminent narrator of legends and fairytales. Also story telling among the farm workers and mill workers had influence on Bolling's later acting career. He had his first performance experience when he was seven years old, in a former hen house, playing

Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy. He was influenced by Humanism, ...

's ''Jeppe''. He was married three times; first to actress

Liv Strømsted Liv Dommersnes (née Strømsted; 28 September 1922 – 6 April 2014) was a Norwegian actress and reciter of poetry. She was a member of group that founded Studioteatret in 1945. Personal life Liv Strømsted was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norw ...

from 1945 to 1952. He was then married to actress Ingrid Bothner, and later to actress Marit Bolling.

Career

Bolling was employed at the National Theatre in Oslo from 1936 to 1945. During the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

the situation at the theatres was characterized by nazification from the authorities, and boycott from the public. Bolling was forced to play the lead role in Halvorsen's propaganda play ''Før stormen'', after two other actors had fled to Sweden in order to avoid playing the role. Shortly before, in October 1942,

Henry Gleditsch Henry Cochrane Williamsen Gleditsch (9 November 1902 – 6 October 1942) was a Norwegian actor and theatre director. He was born in Kristiania. In his young days he participated in skiing for SFK Lyn. He married Synnøve Tanvik in 1932. He ...

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 ...

in Trondheim had been shot by the German occupants, and from then the actors at Nationaltheatret initiated a silent sabotage, resulting in all sorts of difficulties for the management. In 1941 Bolling was elected chairman of the organisation ''Unge Skuespilleres Forening''. This organisation started underground meetings, often at Bolling's home, where they secretly studied the

Stanislavski's system Stanislavski's system is a systematic approach to training actors that the Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski developed in the first half of the twentieth century. His system cultivates what he calls the "art of experiencing" ...

. The result of these undercover meetings was the founding of the theatre

in 1945. Bolling played for Studioteatret from 1945 to 1949, and served as theatre director 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 ...

from 1949 to 1951. Among his roles at Rogaland Teater was the lead role in

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's ''

Peer Gynt ''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five- act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen published in 1876. Written in Norwegian, it is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays. Ibsen believed ''Per Gynt'', the Norwegian fairy tale on wh ...

'', and "Helmer" in ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' (Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having bee ...

''. He worked for

Den Nationale Scene Den Nationale Scene ( en, National Theater) is the largest theatre in Bergen, Norway. Den Nationale Scene is also one of the oldest permanent theatres in Norway. History Opened under the name '' Det Norske Theater'' in 1850, the theatre has root ...

from 1954 to 1956. He was regarded as an eminent interpreter of Norwegian fairy tales, as a reciter in radio and later television. He issued the book ''Teater i krig'' in 1983.

Filmography

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolling, Jens 1915 births 1992 deaths People from Levanger Norwegian theatre directors Norwegian male stage actors Norwegian male film actors 20th-century Norwegian male actors