Preben Kristensen (born 14 March 1953) is a Danish actor. He first came to attention as one of the musical comedy trio Linie 3 in 1979. He was educated from the drama school of

Aarhus Theatre The Aarhus Theatre (Danish: ''Aarhus Teater'') in Aarhus, is the largest provincial theatre in Denmark. The present theatre house was constructed in the late 19th century, as a replacement for the old theatre, nicknamed "''Svedekassen''" (The Swe ...

in 1978 and has since the played at most major theaters in Denmark. Kristensen has starred in shows and plays including roles like Tony in ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

'', King Claudius in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'', McMurphy in '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'', George in ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...

'', Arnold in ''

Torch Song Trilogy ''Torch Song Trilogy'' is a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein rendered in three acts: ''International Stud'', ''Fugue in a Nursery'', and ''Widows and Children First!'' The story centers on Arnold Beckoff, a Jewish homosexual, drag ...

'', Albin in '' La Cage Aux Folles'', Phantom in Lloyd Webber's ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pierr ...

'', and Max Bialystok in

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began h ...

's musical comedy '' The Producers''. In 1979 he created the musical and comedy group Linie 3 together with Thomas Eje and

Anders Bircow Anders Bircow (born 15 December 1951 in Helsinge) is a Danish actor and comedian. He is best known as a member of the comedy act Linie 3. Anders Bircow was born in the town of Helsinge, and attended schools in Nærum, Ramløse and Helsinge. He r ...

. He has performed with the best symphony orchestras in Denmark. Kristensen is the localized Danish voice of Lumiere in Disney's ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...

'', Genie in Disney's ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

'', Berkeley Beetle in

Don Bluth Donald Virgil Bluth (; born September 13, 1937) is an American film director, animator, production designer, and animation instructor, best known for his animated films, including ''The Secret of NIMH'' (1982), ''An American Tail'' (1986), ''Th ...

's ''

Thumbelina Thumbelina (; da, Tommelise) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" in t ...

'', Woody in ''Toy Story'' 1, 2, 3 and 4, and Ramon in ''

Happy Feet ''Happy Feet'' is a 2006 computer-animated jukebox musical comedy film directed, produced, and co-written by George Miller. It stars the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, and E.G ...

'' and ''

Happy Feet Two ''Happy Feet Two'' is a 2011 computer-animated film, computer-animated jukebox musical comedy film directed, produced and co-written by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller. It is the sequel to the 2006 film ''Happy Feet'', it stars Ava Acres ...

''. On television, Kristensen was one of the main characters in season two of '' The Killing'' and also appeared in the final season of ''

Borgen Borgen may refer to: Places * Borgen, Akershus, Norway * Borgen, Oslo, a neighborhood of Oslo, Norway **Borgen (station) * Borgen, Østfold, a suburb of Sarpsborg, Norway * Borgen, Ullensaker, Norway * ''Borgen'' ('the castle'), colloquial name ...

''. Kristensen has received several awards for his acting, and was in 2003 knighted by

Margrethe II of Denmark Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

References

External links

*
Preben Kristensen , Gyldendal - Den Store Danske

Ridder Preben og Alexander
* Linie 3 on the Danish Wikipedia page * * Living people 1953 births Danish male stage actors Danish male voice actors Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog People from Skive Municipality Danish male television actors Danish LGBT actors {{Denmark-actor-stub