Pål Bang-Hansen

Pål Bang-Hansen (29 July 1937 – 25 March 2010) was a Norwegian actor, film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is particularly known as a television personality and film expert at the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, leading the television film show ''Filmmagasinet'' for more than thirty years.

Early life and career

Bang-Hansen was born in Oslo, the son of writer Odd Bang-Hansen (1908–1984) and physician Elise Aas. He was married to Oddbjørg Havik, and was the brother of actor and theatre director Kjetil Bang-Hansen (born 1940). As a young boy he regularly participated in audio plays for children. Among his main characters were the master detective "Blomkvist" in adaptations of Astrid Lindgren's children's books (the Bill Bergson series). He made his film debut as a child, when he played the character "Sofus" in Arne Skouen's film ''Gategutter'' from 1949. He played the character "Tom" in the children's film ''Tom og Mette på sporet'' from 1952, directed by Lauritz Falk, based a book by Bang-Hansen's father. After finishing his examen artium in 1957 he worked for a time on film commercials. He studied film in Italy at , the Italian National film school, from 1959 to 1961, and spent one year with the Italian film industry. He was a journalist and film critic for the newspaper ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1962 to 1966.

Film director

Bang-Hansen directed six films. His first film production was ''Skrift i sne'' (''Script in Snow'') from 1966. He produced the agent film ''Douglas'' in 1970. His satirical film ''Norske byggeklosser'' (1972) was a great success. In 1973 he made the film ''Kanarifuglen'', and in 1974 the thriller ''Bortreist på ubestemt tid'', based on a crime novel by Sigrun Krokvik. His last film was the political drama ''Kronprinsen'' from 1979, based on a true story, with Bjørn Sundquist making his debut in the leading role.

Film critic

Despite his success as a filmmaker Bang-Hansen has for several generations been best known throughout Norway as one of the nation's leading film critics, while working in that capacity for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) for forty years, from 1967 to 2007. He was anchor for the regular television show ''Filmmagasinet'' from 1966 to 1989. Another of his film programs was ''I objektivet'' from 1969 to 1976, where he introduced more special films to the public. In his role at NRK he was the one and only film presenter on Norwegian television for decades.

Bang-Hansen regularly reported from film festivals in Europe, notably from the Cannes Film Festival consecutively for more than forty years, and also the Berlin Film Festival and the Lübeck Nordic Film Days. Over the years he conducted interviews with Alfred Hitchcock, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Sellers, and Jodie Foster. He is the only Norwegian to have interviewed John Lennon.

Writer

Among his books are ''Dager med Douglas'' from 1970, ''24 ganger i sekundet'' from 1988, and
''Norske filmplakatar 1917–1988'' from 1989. He has also written travel books. Among his posthumous works is a film script about an undercover resistance group from World War II, a branch of the clandestine organization XU.

Awards

Bang-Hansen was awarded the Gullruten honorary prize in 2001. In 2002 he was given the Amanda Honorary Award, shared with Rolv Wesenlund. He was awarded the Aamot statuette in 2009. Shortly before his death, in March 2010, he was awarded the order ''Den Hvide Knap'' from the Norwegian Students' Society's theatre ''Teater Neuf'' in Oslo.

He died in March 2010, having been diagnosed with skin cancer a week before.

Selected filmography

* '' Trost i taklampa'' (1955)
* ''Kvinnens plass'' (1956)
* ''Skrift i sne'' (1966)
* ''Douglas'' (1970)
* ''Norske byggeklosser'' (1972)
* ''Kanarifuglen'' (1973)
* ''Bortreist på ubestemt tid'' (1974)
* ''Kronprinsen'' (1979)

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bang-Hansen, Pal
1937 births
2010 deaths
20th-century Norwegian male actors
21st-century Norwegian male actors
20th-century Norwegian writers
Deaths from skin cancer
Norwegian film critics
NRK people
Norwegian male child actors
Norwegian male film actors
Norwegian film directors
Norwegian screenwriters
Norwegian male television actors
Male actors from Oslo
Place of death missing
Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia alumni
Writers from Oslo
Deaths from cancer in Norway