Olaf Poulsen (26 April 1849 – 26 March 1923) was perhaps the best-known Danish comedic stage actor of his time. He was famous for playing such roles as Nick Bottom in ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' and

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

, among others for the Royal Danish Theatre. His performance as Old Ekdal in an 1885 production of

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 '' The Wild Duck'' was particularly acclaimed. Olaf was by accounts an outsize personality, unafraid to insult wealthy or noble men even when insulting a man in public was a crime in Denmark. Five minutes of his improvisation on a 1913 film reel were described at the time as "the best film ever to leave a Danish factory.""About the First Danish Film Archive," Esben Krohn
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/ref> Poulsen's brother

Emil Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...

staged Royal Danish Theatre plays in addition to being an acclaimed dramatic actor. Poulsen was the uncle of actor and director

Johannes Poulsen Johannes Poulsen (17 November 1881 – 14 October 1938) was a Danish actor and director. He debuted with the Dagmar Theatre in 1901. In 1909 he joined the Royal Theatre as an actor, and from 1917 was also a stage director. Memorable roles ...

, who married the ballerina Ulla Iversen.

References

External links

* Danish male stage actors 19th-century Danish male actors 20th-century Danish male actors Poulsen family 1849 births 1923 deaths {{stage-actor-stub