Walter Morten Grunwald (9 December 1934 – 14 November 2018) was a Danish actor, stage director and theatre manager.

Early life and education

He was born in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

, Denmark, attended Odense Theatrical School in 1958, and graduated from 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 ...

's Theatrical School in 1962. Beginning in 1971, he was the manager of several theatres in

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 ...

Career

Grunwald made his debut in ''En blandt mange'' ("One among many") in 1961. He played one of the lead roles in the popular series of ''

Olsen Gang The ''Olsen Gang'' ( da, Olsen-banden, no, Olsenbanden, german: Die Olsenbande) is a Danish comedy film series created by Danish director Erik Balling and special effects expert Henning Bahs about the eponymous fictional criminal gang. The gang ...

'' movies, starring as Benny Frandsen, alongside

Ove Sprogøe Ove Wendelboe Sprogøe Petersen (21 December 1919 – 14 September 2004) was a Danish actor. Life Born in Odense, his parents were Arthur and Inger Sprogøe Petersen. He married Eva Rasmussen in 1945, with whom he had three children. O ...

's Egon Olsen and

Poul Bundgaard Poul Arne Bundgaard (27 October 1922 – 3 June 1998) was a Danish actor and singer. He is probably best known for his role as the henpecked Kjeld in the ''Olsen-banden'' films. He also appeared in the 1966 spy film '' Strike First Freddy'' as t ...

's Kjeld Jensen. Grunwald founded and led Bristol Teatret in Copenhagen from 1971 to 1980. In 1979, Grunwald succeeded Bent Meiding as manager of the Betty Nansen Theatre, a post he held until 1992. From 1977, together with Peder Sadolin, his partner from Bristol Teatret, he was also a driving force behind the establishment of

Østre Gasværk Teater Østre Gasværk Teater is a theatre in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark, located in an abandoned gasholder house of the former Østre Gasværk (‘Eastern Gasworks’). The theatre is constructed within the masonry shell that used t ...

in an abandoned gasometer. Grunwald retired on 11 June 2017, stating his body was too old.

Death

On 16 October 2018, the 83-year-old Grunwald informed Danish media that he had developed

thyroid cancer Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck. C ...

, and that he only had months left to live. Shortly before, he had cancelled an appearance at an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Olsen Gang film, citing illness. He died a month later on 14 November 2018 in

Hellerup Hellerup () is a very affluent district of Gentofte Municipality in the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. The most urban part of the district is centred on Strandvejen and is bordered by Østerbro to the south and the Øresund to the east. It compr ...

, Denmark, aged 83.

References

External links

*
Olsenbandenfanclub Germany :: Morten Grunwald as Benny Frandsen ::
1934 births 2018 deaths People from Odense Actor-managers Best Supporting Actor Bodil Award winners Danish male film actors Danish male stage actors Danish theatre directors Deaths from cancer in Denmark Deaths from thyroid cancer Best Actor Bodil Award winners {{Denmark-actor-stub