Knut Kirsebom Wigert (3 October 1916 – 14 June 2006) was a Norwegian actor, known for his many Ibsen roles and the establishment of an Ibsen museum 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 ...

Personal life

Knut Hansen was born in

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the ...

as a son of Major Sigvald Hansen (1881–1954) and his wife Carmen Franciska Christina Kirsebom (1887–1951), and a younger brother of Sonja Wigert. He changed his last name to Wigert in 1935. Wigert was married to Eva Nordlie from 1942 to 1946. In January 1950 he married ship-owner Sofie Helene Huitfeldt, née Olsen. The marriage lasted until her death in September 1989. They resided in Bærum. He was a son-in-law of ship-owner Rudolf Olsen, and the family inherited large properties including the manor Dirhue at

Tjøme Tjøme () is an island in Færder, and a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Tjøme. The parish of ''Tjømø'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see f ...

. Wigert lost this to his step-children in an out-of-court settlement in 1993. In 1991 he married for the third time, to journalist Vera Dietrichson Burkoff (1929–2007). In his later life he lived at Madserud in Oslo. He died in June 2006 in Oslo.

Career

Actor

Wigert finished school when graduating Oslo Commerce School in 1936. He made his stage début at

Centralteatret Centralteatret ( en, Central Theater) is a theatre on Akersgata in the city centre of Oslo, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western ...

in 1937, and started acting for the National Theatre in Oslo from 1938. He played "the pilot" in an adaptation of

Karel Čapek Karel Čapek (; 9 January 1890 – 25 December 1938) was a Czech writer, playwright and critic. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel '' War with the Newts'' (1936) and play '' R.U.R.'' (''Rossum's Universal ...

's anti-Nazi play '' Matka'' (The Mother), which had dress rehearsal on 8 April 1940 and never premièred due to the German invasion of Norway the following day. Among his roles were "Hugo" in a 1950 adaptation of

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lit ...

's ''

Dirty Hands ''Dirty Hands'' (french: Les Mains sales) is a play by Jean-Paul Sartre. It was first performed on 2 April 1948 at the Theatre Antoine in Paris, directed by Pierre Valde and starring François Périer, Marie Olivier and André Luguet. A poli ...

'', and "Brick" in a 1956 adaptation of

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thr ...

's '' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof''. He played a long series of Ibsen characters, such as "Hertug Skule" (from ''

The Pretenders Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete ...

''), "Peer" (from '' Peer Gynt''), "Rosmer" (from ''

Rosmersholm ''Rosmersholm'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in Danish—the common written language of Denmark and Norway at the time—and originally published in 1886 in Copenhagen by the Danish publisher Gyldendal. ''Rosmersholm'' ...

''), "Brack" (from ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been ca ...

''), "Helmer" (from ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' ( Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having be ...

)'', "Rubek" (from ''

When We Dead Awaken ''When We Dead Awaken'' ( no, Når vi døde vågner) is the last play written by Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. Published in December 1899, Ibsen wrote the play between February and November of that year. The first performance was at the Hayma ...

''), "Solness" (from ''

The Master Builder ''The Master Builder'' ( no, Bygmester Solness) is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was first published in December 1892 and is regarded as one of Ibsen's more significant and revealing works. Performance The play was published ...

''), "Borkman" (from ''

John Gabriel Borkman ''John Gabriel Borkman'' is a 1896 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was his penultimate work. Plot The Borkman family fortunes have been brought low by the imprisonment of John Gabriel who used his position as a bank manager to ...

'') and "Julian" (from ''

Emperor and Galilean ''Emperor and Galilean'' (in no, Kejser og Galilæer) is a play written by Henrik Ibsen. Although it is one of the writer's lesser known plays, on several occasions Henrik Ibsen called ''Emperor and Galilean'' his major work. ''Emperor and Gali ...

''). A bust of Wigert, sculptured by Joseph Grimeland, was unveiled at the National Theatre in 1998. He made his film début in 1940, in the film ''

Tante Pose ''Tante Pose'' is a 1940 Norwegian film, directed by Leif Sinding, based on the book by Norwegian author Gabriel Scott. It stars Henny Skjønberg in the title role. Synopsis The Christmas preparations are underway at the wealthy Bals family far ...

'', acted in the 1946 film ''

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 ...

'', and played the role "Fridtjof Nansen" in '' Bare et liv'' from 1968.

Second World War

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Wigert was a member of the

Norwegian Independent Company 1 Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1, pronounced ''Norisén'' (approx. "noor-ee-sehn") in Norwegian) was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) group formed in March 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando raids during ...

, recruited by former actor and leader of the group

Martin Linge Martin Jensen Linge, (11 December 1894 – 27 December 1941) was a Norwegian actor who, in World War II, became the commander of the Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1) (pronounced as ''Norisen'' by the Norwegians), formed in March 19 ...

. He participated in the

Operation Archery Operation Archery, also known as the Måløy Raid, was a British Combined Operations raid during World War II against German positions on the island of Vågsøy, Norway, on 27 December 1941. British Commandos of No. 3 Commando, two troops of ...

raid at

Måløy Måløy () is a town in the municipality of Kinn in Vestland county, Norway. Måløy is located on the southeastern side of the island of Vågsøy, about northeast of the village of Holvika and about south of the village of Raudeberg. The M� ...

in 'December 1941, and later graduated as a lieutenant from the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

in 1943. He published the book ''Landflyktig'' in 1945, describing his travel via Stockholm, Moscow, Istanbul, Cairo and South Africa to England, and later service in the army. He was decorated with the

Defence Medal 1940–1945 The Defence Medal 1940–1945 () is the award rewarded to those military and civilian personnel who participated in the fight against the German invasion and occupation of Norway between 1940 and 1945. The Defence Medal 1940–1945 can be awarde ...

, the Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal and the 1939–45 Star as well as the King's Medal of Merit in gold.

Organizing career

Wigert chaired the

Riksmål Society Riksmålsforbundet (; official translation: "The Riksmaal Society - The Society for the Preservation of Traditional Standard Norwegian") is the main organisation for Riksmål, an unofficial variety of the Norwegian language, based on the official ...

from 1974 to 1983. He was also a supervisory council member of the National Theatre and board member of the companies Tinfos Papirfabrik and Olsen Daughter. He was decorated as a Commander of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

in 1988 for his contributions to Norwegian theatre. He received the city of

's cultural prize in 1992 for his initiative and efforts which resulted in the establishment of a Henrik Ibsen museum in Oslo. He received the

Fritt Ord Honorary Award Fritt Ord Award consists of two prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation (''Stiftelsen Fritt Ord''). Two prizes are awarded in support of freedom of speech and freedom of expression; the Fritt Ord Award ( no, Fritt Ords pris) and the Fritt O ...

in 1996.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wigert, Knut 1916 births 2006 deaths People from Skien Norwegian male stage actors Norwegian male film actors Norwegian Special Operations Executive personnel Norwegian World War II memoirists Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold Members of the Norwegian Academy Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst