Turid Balke (25 July 1921 – 5 January 2000) 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 the ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

Biography

Born in

Kirkenes Kirkenes (; ; Skolt Sami: ''Ǩeârkknjargg;'' fi, Kirkkoniemi; ; russian: Киркенес) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town ...

, she started her professional career at Trøndelag Teater in 1949. She would spend many of her years as an actress at Folketeatret and the famous Norwegian revue-stage Chat Noir. She was also an artist and a designer, even designing "proper" toys for children, but more importantly she would become one of the pioneers in Norwegian

children's theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. She wrote and staged several plays for children and is also remembered for creating ''Balkeby'' (Balke-town), a miniature-town with puppets and their stories performed by Balke. Her first film appearance came as a secretary in the 1953-comedy ''Brudebuketten''. Throughout the years she would appear in classic Norwegian films such as ''Støv på hjernen'', (1959), its sequels ''

Sønner av Norge "Sønner av Norge" (originally "Sønner af Norge", ) is the common title of the song "Norsk Nationalsang" (), which was the ''de facto'' national anthem of Norway from 1820 until the early 20th century. From the mid-1860s, "Ja, vi elsker dette lan ...

'' and ''Sønner av Norge kjøper bil'', and other popular titles like '' Olsenbanden for full musikk'' (1976) and '' Kamilla og tyven'' (1988). After close to 30 movies her film-career finished off on a high-note, appearing in a small but prominent role as the oracle woman in ''

The 13th Warrior ''The 13th Warrior'' is a 1999 American historical fiction action film based on Michael Crichton's 1976 novel ''Eaters of the Dead'', which is a loose adaptation of the tale of ''Beowulf'' combined with Ahmad ibn Fadlan's historical account of the ...

'' opposite

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Antonio Ba ...

. Balke admitted in an interview shortly after that for her, the greatest thrill was not working with Banderas but meeting his co-star,

Omar Sharif Omar Sharif ( ar, عمر الشريف ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub , 10 April 193210 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the ...

. Balke also had numerous roles on television, even gaining new fans in the sit-com ''Karl & Co'', where she played the title-character's nosy old neighbour from 1998 to 1999. In 1974 she received the Norwegian Arts Council's award for her illustrations to the children's book ''Det begynte en fredag i Finvik''. Known for her characteristic bulging eyes, Balke lived in

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 of ...

throughout most of her life and kept active until her sudden death in 2000, at the age of 78. Her great-grandfather was famous Norwegian painter

Peder Balke Peder Balke (November 4, 1804 – February 5, 1887) was a Norwegian painter. He is known for portraying the landscape of Norway in a romantic and dramatic manner. Biography Peder Andersen was born on the island of Helgøya, in Hedmark county, N ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balke, Turid 1921 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights Norwegian artists Norwegian stage actresses Norwegian film actresses Norwegian television actresses 20th-century Norwegian writers 20th-century Norwegian actresses Norwegian women dramatists and playwrights People from Sør-Varanger