Liv Dommersnes (née Strømsted; 28 September 1922 – 6 April 2014) was a Norwegian

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a 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 term is (), li ...

and reciter of poetry. She was a member of group that founded

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 ...

in 1945.

Personal life

Liv Strømsted was born in

Kristiania 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 o ...

(now Oslo), Norway. She was the daughter of storekeeper Jørgen Andreas Strømsted (1891–1942) and Signe Beatrice Hansen (1893–1984). She was married to actor

Jens Bolling Jens Bolling (23 June 1915 – 13 December 1992) was a Norwegian actor and theatre director. He was among the founders of Studioteatret, and a well-known interpreter of Norwegian fairy-tales. Early and personal life Bolling was born in Leva ...

(1915–1992) from 1945 to 1952, and to physician Ivar Dommersnes (1913–1994) from 1968 until his death in 1994. She was also in a secret relationship with

Johan Borgen Johan Collett Müller Borgen (28 April 1902 – 16 October 1979) was a Norwegian writer, journalist and critic. His best-known work is the novel ''Lillelord'' for which he was awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature in 1955. He was ...

, as chronicled in her 2001 memoirs ''Alt har sin tid''.

Career

She made her stage debut as "Helga" in

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguishe ...

's play ''Geografi og kjærlighed'' at the National Theatre in Oslo in 1942, in the last production directed by Bjørnson's son Bjørn Bjørnson. She was employed at the National Theatre from 1941–45, and again from 1949. 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 ...

the situation at the theatres was characterized by severe nazification attempts from the authorities, and boycott from the public. Strømsted joined the group of actors that started underground meetings where they secretly studied

Stanislavski's system Stanislavski's system is a systematic approach to training actors that the Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski developed in the first half of the twentieth century. His system cultivates what he calls the "art of experiencing" ...

. The result of these undercover meetings was the founding of the theatre

in 1945. She played for Studioteatret from 1945 to 1949. Among her roles were "Emily" in an adaption of

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel '' The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and '' The Skin of Our Teeth'' — ...

's play ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 thr ...

'', "Polly" in Weill and Brecht's '' The Beggar's Opera'', and "Natasja" in

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

's ''

A Marriage Proposal ''A Marriage Proposal'' (sometimes translated as simply ''The Proposal'', russian: Предложение, translit=Predlozheniye, italic=yes) is a one-act farce by Anton Chekhov, written in 1888–1889 and first performed in 1890. It is a fast ...

''. She interpreted several roles from

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 pla ...

's plays. One of her most important roles was "Nora" in ''

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 ...

'', which she played at

Rogaland Teater Rogaland Teater is a theatre in Stavanger, Norway. Background The theatre building was built in 1883 on a parcel of '' Kannik prestegård''. It was designed by architect Hartvig Sverdrup Eckhoff, and initially held close to 500 seats. The buil ...

in 1950, for

Radioteatret Radioteatret is a department of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation which produces audio plays for radio broadcasting. It was established in 1927. In January 2021, ''Verdens Gang'' cited a report from NTB, saying that Radioteatret ow isbeing ...

in 1953, for

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 ...

in 1956, and at the National Theatre in 1957. She acted in the films ''Andrine og Kjell'' from 1951 and '' Blodveien'' from 1955. She participated in nearly 100 productions for Radioteatret. From 1965, Dommersnes initiated a career as a reciter of poetry, performing all over Scandinavia, either alone or with musicians. Several of her performances were broadcast by radio or television. Her 50th anniversary as an actor was celebrated at the National Theatre in January 1992. In 2001. she wrote an autobiography, ''Alt har sin tid''. She was honorary member of The Association of Artists (''Kunstnerforeningen'') from 1975, and of 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 1999. She was a member of the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature.

Honours

She received several prizes, including Oslo City's Artist's award in 1985, the Herman Wildenvey Poetry Award in 1999, and the honorary prize of the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the larges ...

in 2001. In 2000 she was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

. In 2000, she was also awarded the Anders Jahres Cultural Prize (''Anders Jahres kulturpris'').

Death

She died on 6 April 2014, aged 91.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dommersnes, Liv 1922 births 2014 deaths Actresses from Oslo Norwegian stage actresses Norwegian memoirists Members of the Norwegian Academy Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Women memoirists