Knut Mørch Hansson (16 April 1920 – 3 December 1994) was a Norwegian actor.

Biography

Hansson was born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

on 16 April 1920, a son of judge Michael Hansson and Emilie Christensen. He was a brother of diplomat Arthur Mørch Hansson. He made his stage debut at

Det Nye Teater Det Nye Teater was a theatre that opened in Oslo in 1929, and ended as an independent theatre in 1959, when it merged with Folketeatret to form Oslo Nye Teater. The theatre's original purpose was to support contemporary Norwegian drama. History T ...

in 1940. During the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

Hansson joined the Norwegian resistance movement. He was arrested and incarcerated in the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoner ...

in Germany until 1945. In 1945 he continued his acting career with

Studioteatret Studioteatret was a theatre in Norway. It opened in 1945, shortly after the liberation, with Claes Gill as its first theatre director. Studioteatret is regarded as one of the earliest post-war artistic expressions in Norway, and most of its member ...

. He was later appointed at various theatres, including Det Nye Teater,

Den Nationale Scene Den Nationale Scene ( en, National Theater) is the largest theatre in Bergen, Norway. Den Nationale Scene is also one of the oldest permanent theatres in Norway. History Opened under the name '' Det Norske Theater'' in 1850, the theatre has root ...

Trøndelag Teater Trøndelag Teater is a large theater in the city of Trondheim, in Trøndelag county, Norway. Trøndelag Teater stages large-scale dance and musical performances. History Originally built in 1816, the theater is the oldest stage in Scandinavia ...

and

Oslo Nye Teater Oslo Nye Teater is a theater located in Oslo, Norway. The theater has its main stage in its own theater house at Rosenkrantz' gate 10. It is one of Norway's most visited theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing ar ...

, and with guest appearances at

Riksteatret Riksteatret (English: National Traveling Theater) is a Norwegian touring theatre. It was established by law in 1948. Its first performance was in Kirkenes Kirkenes (; ; Skolt Sami: ''Ǩeârkknjargg;'' fi, Kirkkoniemi; ; russian: Киркене ...

and

Fjernsynsteatret Fjernsynsteatret was a department of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) which produced plays for television broadcasting. It opened in 1960 (after about a year of experimental operation), and operated until 1990, when a major reorganisatio ...

. Among his film appearances are ''

Englandsfarere ''Englandsfarere'' ( en, We Leave for England}) is a 1946 Norwegian war film directed by Toralf Sandø, starring Knut Wigert and Jørn Ording. Plot The film follows the Norwegian resistance fighters Harald (Wigert) and Arild (Ording) in the ...

'' from 1946 and ''

I slik en natt ''I slik en natt'' (On a Night Like This) is a Norwegian war film from 1958 directed by Sigval Maartmann-Moe. It stars Anne-Lise Tangstad. The music was composed by Øivin Fjeldstad. The title ''I slik en natt'' is taken from Henrik Wergeland's ...

'' from 1958. He chaired the

Norwegian Actors' Equity Association The Norwegian Actors' Equity Association ( no, Norsk Skuespillerforbund) is an association of Norwegian actors. Its main purpose is to improve actors' working conditions and to protect the artistic, judicial and financial interests of actors in N ...

from 1970 to 1974. He penned the memoirs of Herman Kahan, ''Ilden og lyset'', in 1988, and his own memoirs in ''Kurer og fange'' from 1992. He was father of politician

Rasmus Hansson Rasmus Johan Michael Hansson (born 4 September 1954) is a Norwegian biologist, civil servant, environmental activist and a former national spokesperson for the Green Party. He led the Norwegian chapter of World Wide Fund for Nature from 2000 to 2 ...

References

1920 births 1994 deaths Actors from Alexandria Norwegian expatriates in Egypt Norwegian expatriates in Switzerland Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Norwegian resistance members Norwegian prisoners sentenced to death Grini concentration camp survivors Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors 20th-century Norwegian male actors Norwegian male film actors Norwegian male stage actors Norwegian World War II memoirists 20th-century Norwegian writers {{norway-actor-stub People condemned by Nazi courts