Ove Verner Hansen (20 July 1932 – 20 February 2016) was a Danish opera singer and actor. He played the character, "Bøffen" (or "Biffen" in Norwegian, literally meaning "the steak" in both languages) in 16 of the ''

Olsen-banden The ''Olsen Gang'' ( da, Olsen-banden, no, Olsenbanden, german: Die Olsenbande) is a Danish comedy film series created by Danish director Erik Balling and special effects expert Henning Bahs about the eponymous fictional criminal gang. The gang ...

''-movies (11 danish and 5 norwegian). He played a tall, large, and slow-moving henchman, often seen lifting Egon Olsen up over his head, carrying him under one arm, and trying to kill him.

Personal life and career

Hansen began his career as an office clerk, but during his early life he also worked as a sailor, miner, lumberjack, and ambulance driver. Born with a deep and voluminous voice, he later began singing professionally, and in 1958 he became accepted into the Danish National Radio Choir. Two years later, in 1960, he joined the renowned Royal Danish Opera Chorus. For several years afterwards he was considered the

Royal Danish Opera The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first ser ...

's primary

basso buffo A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and has the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', a bass is typically classified as having a vocal range extending from around the second E b ...

. His talent for comedy was soon discovered by movie director

Erik Balling Erik Balling (29 November 1924 – 19 November 2005) was a Danish TV and film director. He created two of Denmark's most popular TV-series, ''Matador'' and '' Huset på Christianshavn''. His feature film '' Qivitoq'' (1956) was nominated ...

, who cast him as the bad guy "Bøffen" in nine of the iconic movies about the unlucky criminals in the

Olsen Gang The ''Olsen Gang'' ( da, Olsen-banden, no, Olsenbanden, german: Die Olsenbande) is a Danish comedy film series created by Danish director Erik Balling and special effects expert Henning Bahs about the eponymous fictional criminal gang. The gang ...

. Hansen was even an accomplished cook, and the author of a number of cook books, including Mandemad (1974) (lit. Man Food) and Fiskekogebog (2001) (lit. Fish Cook Book). He even appeared occasionally as a celebrity chef on television. Hansen died on 20 February 2016 at the age of 83.

References

External links

Ove Verner Hansen at Danskefilm.dk
* Danish male film actors 1932 births 2016 deaths People from Helsingør Danish opera singers {{Denmark-actor-stub