Odd Horn Grythe (14 November 1918 – 7 February 1995) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

radio and television personality.

Personal life

He was born in Lillehammer as a son of a travelling salesman. He had four older siblings. From 1955 to 1958 he was married to Kirsten Sørlie. In March 1962 he married Ada Haug. With his first wife he had the daughter Hilde Grythe, who married Terje Tønnesen.

Career

He finished his secondary education in his hometown, and then moved to

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 ...

. He worked different office jobs, and also for a short time at Centralteatret. During the Second World War he was a part of the

Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled governmen ...

in Lillehammer. He was arrested on 23 March 1945 and was imprisoned in

Grini concentration camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location=Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates= List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderm ...

from 13 April 1945 until the war's end. After the war, Grythe was a journalist and subeditor in '' Dagningen'' from 1946 to 1950. He was also a city council member for the Labour Party. He worked in ''Lillehammer og omlands tiltaksråd'' from 1950 to 1953, and from 1953 to 1959 as a film producing assistant and producer. In 1959 he was hired as program secretary in Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation radio. On 20 August 1960 he hosted the first show after the official opening of

Norwegian television Television in Norway was introduced in 1954, but the first television program was only shown in 1958, and regular broadcasts did not start until 1960. Like Denmark, Norway had only one television channel until the 1980s. Some 40% of the populatio ...

, ''Startskuddet går''. He hosted the

Melodi Grand Prix Melodi Grand Prix (), commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, sometimes as Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix ( no, Norsk Melodi Grand Prix), is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK). It det ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

(with

Erik Diesen Erik Tangevald Diesen (8 October 1922 – 13 September 1999) was a Norwegian revue writer and radio and television personality. Personal life He was a son of Thorstein Diesen, Jr. (1894–1962) and Ragna Marie Tangevald (1891–1945), grandnep ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

(with Erik Diesen),

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and 1965. In 1961 he was officially transferred from the radio department to television, and from 1966 to 1971 he headed the information department. From October 1971 to his retirement in 1985 he hosted the show ''Husker du...'', an entertainment show for the elderly with

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...

performances, evergreens and musical numbers of the past. In 1979 he was awarded the second ''

Se og Hør ''Se og Hør'' (; "See and Hear") is a TV guide and celebrity journalism magazine published in three independent versions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden (where it is called ''Se & Hör'' ) by the Danish company Aller Media. The Danish version is ...

'' readers' TV personality of the year award. He also received the Humanist Prize from the

Norwegian Humanist Association The Norwegian Humanist Association ( no, Human-Etisk Forbund; HEF) is one of the largest secular humanist associations in the world, with over 130,000 members. Those members constitute 2.3% of the national population of 5.47 million, making HEF b ...

in 1989. Part of his qualifications for the job stemmed from him touring retirement homes and sanatoria with musical acts. He continued doing so after retiring from television. In 1988 he released his memoirs, ''Dette husker jeg...'' (a play on ''Husker du...''). He died in February 1995 in Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grythe, Odd 1918 births 1995 deaths People from Lillehammer Norwegian resistance members Grini concentration camp survivors Labour Party (Norway) politicians Oppland politicians Norwegian radio personalities Norwegian television presenters NRK people Norwegian memoirists Norwegian humanists 20th-century Norwegian writers 20th-century Norwegian journalists 20th-century memoirists