Øyvind Thorsen (1943 – 4 May 2025) was a Norwegian journalist,
causerist, revue writer, scriptwriter and author of humour books.
Life and career
Born in
Tønsberg
Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...
in 1943, Thorsen grew up in
Nøtterøy
Nøtterøy is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The island municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution on 1 January 2018. The area is now part of Færder Municipality. The admini ...
, and later settled in
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) 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 of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
.
[
He worked as journalist for the newspaper from 1965, and for from 1968 to 1984, and thereafter as ]freelancer
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
.[ He was a columnist for for several decades, under the signature Vito.][ He was also known for his radio ]causerie
Causerie (from French, "talk, chat") is a literary style of short informal essays mostly unknown in the English-speaking world. A causerie is generally short, light and humorous and is often published as a newspaper column (although it is not defi ...
s, including for the radio show [ and the column .
He delivered material for several ]revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...
artists, including Arve Opsahl
Arve Opsahl (14 May 1921 – 29 April 2007) was a Norwegian movie and stage actor, singer and stand-up comedian.
Opsahl began his career as a comedian in 1942, and played numerous roles both on stage and in more than forty movies. He was then ch ...
, Leif Juster
Leif Juster (born Leif Normann Nilsen) (14 February 1910 – 25 November 1995) was a Norwegian comedian, singer and actor, arguably the most popular of his generation in Norway. Juster started out as a variety show performer, and for a period h ...
, Aud Schønemann, and the Dizzie Tunes
Dizzie Tunes was a Norwegian musical show group from the city of Skien. Dizzie Tunes was one of the most successful in Norwegian show business.
Biography
The group was founded as the dance band ''Rex Band'' in 1959, was named ''Dizzie Tunes'' ...
.[ He wrote a number of humorous books,][ a total of 19 books, issued seven albums,][ and was screenwriter for two ]Olsen Gang
The ''Olsen Gang'' (, ) 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's leader is the criminal genius and habitual offender ...
films.[
]
References
1943 births
2025 deaths
People from Tønsberg
Norwegian journalists
Norwegian columnists
Norwegian screenwriters
Norwegian humorists
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