Lillebil Ibsen (née Sofie Parelius Monrad Krohn) (6 August 1899 – 12 August 1989) was a Norwegian dancer and actress.

Personal life

Lillebil was born in

Kristiania 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 ...

, as the daughter of engineer Georg Monrad Krohn and actress Gyda Martha Kristine Andersen (later Gyda Christensen). She married

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and film director

Tancred Ibsen Tancred Ibsen (11 July 1893 – 4 December 1978) was a Norwegian military officer, aviator, film director and screenwriter. Background Ibsen was the son of Sigurd Ibsen and Bergljot Bjørnson. He was the grandson of both Henrik Ibsen and Nobel la ...

on 25 August 1919. Their son Tancred Ibsen Jr., born in 1921, was a Norwegian diplomat.

Career

Lillebil Ibsen took

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

lessons at an early age with her mother, who was a professional

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

and ballet instructor. She made her début as a dancer at

Nationaltheatret The National Theatre in Oslo ( no, Nationaltheatret) is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiani ...

in 1911, in the ballet

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

''Prinsessen på erten'', an adaptation of the story ''

The Princess and the Pea "The Princess and the Pea" ( da, "Prinsessen paa Ærten"; direct translation: "The Princess on the Pea") is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a young woman whose royal ancestry is established by a test of her sensitivity. ...

'' by

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

. She then studied ballet with

Hans Beck Hans Beck (6 May 1929, Greiz – 30 January 2009, Markdorf) was the German inventor of Playmobil toys. He is often described as "The Father of Playmobil". He began to make toys at an early age and trained as a cabinet maker, before being recruit ...

in Copenhagen, and later with Russian choreographer

Mikhail Fokine Michael Fokine, ''Mikhail Mikhaylovich Fokin'', group=lower-alpha ( – 22 August 1942) was a groundbreaking Imperial Russian choreographer and dancer. Career Early years Fokine was born in Saint Petersburg to a prosperous merchant and a ...

. She started performing in Berlin under supervision of

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he i ...

when she was sixteen years old, and played leading roles in Reinhardt's pantomimes ''Die Schäferin'', ''Lillebils Hochzeitsreise'', ''Prima Ballerina'', ''Sumurun'' and ''Die grüne Flöte''. She made her stage début as actress at

in Kristiania in 1915, in the children's comedy ''Den uskikkelige lille prinsesse''. Ibsen's first film role was in '' Sången om den eldröda blomman'', in 1919. She made her début as a revue artist at

Chat Noir Chat Noir ( French for 'black cat') is a cabaret and revue theatre in Oslo, Norway. It was established in 1912 by Bokken Lasson. The current director is Tom Sterri. Establishment Chat Noir was established as a cabaret in 1912 by singer Bokken L ...

in 1924. She worked at

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 ...

from 1929 to 1956, where she played classical comedy roles as well as a series of

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 ...

characters, such as "Nora", "Mrs Alving" and "Gina Ekdal". From 1956 to 1969 Lillebil performed at Nationaltheatret, where she played both dramatic and comic roles. She also played for the television theatre

Fjernsynsteatret Fjernsynsteatret was a department of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) which produced plays for television broadcasting. It opened in 1960 (after about a year of experimental operation), and operated until 1990, when a major reorganisati ...

. One of Lillebil's well known film roles was a stand-out performance in

Arne Mattsson Arne Mattsson (2 December 1919 – 28 June 1995) was a Swedish film director. Biography Born in Uppsala, the early films of Mattsson were mostly comedies. His biggest success was '' Hon dansade en sommar'' (1951, aka. ''One Summer of Happiness ...

's cult mystery thriller ''

Mannequin in Red ''Mannequin in Red'' ( sv, Mannekäng i rött) is a 1958 Swedish crime/thriller film directed by Arne Mattson and written by Folke Mellvig. Starring film couple Karl-Arne Holmsten and Annalisa Ericson as the investigating detective couple John ...

'' (1958); where Ibsen played a notable supporting role as the fashion house mogul Thyra Lennberg.The Bloody Pit of Horror: Mannekäng i rött (1958)
/ref> Ibsen authored a autobiography titled ''Det begynte med dansen''. She was decorated Commander of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

in 1969. She died in Oslo in 1989.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibsen, Lillebil 1899 births 1989 deaths Lillebil Norwegian ballerinas Norwegian expatriates in Denmark Norwegian expatriates in Germany Norwegian stage actresses Norwegian film actresses Norwegian silent film actresses 20th-century Norwegian actresses Norwegian autobiographers Actresses from Oslo Women autobiographers