Pål Bang-Hansen (29 July 1937 – 25 March 2010) was a Norwegian

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

. He is remembered as a television personality and film expert at the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

, leading the television film show ''Filmmagasinet'' for more than thirty years.

Early life and career

Bang-Hansen was born 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 ...

, the son of writer

Odd Bang-Hansen Odd Bang-Hansen (9 April 1908 – 4 March 1984) was a Norwegian educator, journalist and author. Biography He was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. His parents were Lauritz Bang-Hansen (1879–1960) and Astri Halvorsen (1880–1971). Hi ...

(1908–1984) and physician Elise Aas. He was married to Oddbjørg Havik, and was the brother of actor and theatre director

Kjetil Bang-Hansen Kjetil Bang-Hansen (born 16 May 1940) is a Norwegian actor, dancer, stage producer and theatre director. Early and personal life Bang-Hansen was born in Oslo as the son of writer Odd Bang-Hansen and physician Elise Aas. He married dancer and ch ...

(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 Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil i Lönneberga, Emil of Lönneberga, ...

's children's books (the

Bill Bergson Bill Bergson () is a fictional character created by Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren. The first book featuring him was published in 1946. Lindgren's detective story is about Bill Bergson, a more-or-less ordinary Swedish boy with an extraordinary fas ...

series). He made his film debut as a child, when he played the character "Sofus" in

Arne Skouen Arne Skouen (18 October 1913 – 24 May 2003) was a Norwegian journalist, author, film director and film producer. Biography Arne Skouen was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. His parents were Peder Nikolai Skouen (1883-1978) and Jenn ...

'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 A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

. After finishing his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

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 is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999. It has borne several names, and was called ''Arbeiderbladet'' from 1923 to 1997. Eirik Hoff Lys ...

'' 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 Sigrun Krokvik is the pen name of crime fiction writer Sigrun Karin Christiansen (born 1932). She made her literary debut in 1972 with the thriller '' Bortreist på ubestemt tid''. She published the novel ''Kikkeren'' in 1973. She was awarded the ...

. His last film was the political drama ''Kronprinsen'' from 1979, based on a true story, with

Bjørn Sundquist Bjørn Richard Sundquist (born 16 June 1948) is a Norwegian actor, famous for TV, theatre, and movie roles. For many years he worked at Det Norske Teatret and Nationaltheateret in Oslo. Sundquist is especially famous for the roles as Merlin ...

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

(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 festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

s in Europe, notably from the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

consecutively for more than forty years, and also the

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

and the

Lübeck Nordic Film Days The Lübeck Nordic Film Days () is a film festival for movies from the Nordic countries">Nordic and Baltic countries">film festival">/ref> () is a film festival for movies from the Nordic countries">Nordic and Baltic countries held annually in Lü ...

. Over the years he conducted interviews with

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

Gina Lollobrigida Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida (4 July 1927 – 16 January 2023) was an Italian actress, model, photojournalist, and sculptor. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and 1960s, a period in which she was an international ...

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

, and

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. Foster started her career as a child actor before establishing herself as leading actress in film. She has received List of awards and nominations re ...

. He is the only Norwegian to have interviewed

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a branch of the clandestine organization XU.

Awards

Bang-Hansen was awarded the

Gullruten Gullruten ("Golden Screen") is an annual award for the Norway, Norwegian TV industry, founded in 1998 by ''Norske Film- og TV-produsenters forening''. The awarding committee has representatives from the major national TV companies, Norwegian Broa ...

honorary prize in 2001. In 2002 he was given the Amanda Honorary Award, shared with

Rolv Wesenlund Rolv Helge Wesenlund (17 September 1936 – 18 August 2013) was a Norway, Norwegian comedian, singer, clarinetist, writer and actor. Biography Wesenlund was most known for having portrayed the title character in the musical Bør Børson Jr. (m ...

. 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 Norwegian Students' Society () is Norway's oldest student society. The Norwegian Students' Society was established during 1813 in Oslo, Norway. Two years after the Royal Frederick University (today named the University of Oslo) was founded, 18 of ...

's theatre ''Teater Neuf'' in Oslo. He died in March 2010, having been diagnosed with

skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the Human skin, skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells (biology), cells that have the ability to invade or metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. It occurs when skin cells grow ...

a week before.

Selected filmography

* '' Trost i taklampa'' (1955) * ''

Kvinnens plass ''Kvinnens plass'' (A Woman's Place) is a Norwegian drama film from 1956 directed by Nils R. Müller. The script was written by Müller and Eva Seeberg. Plot The journalist Tore Haugen returns to Norway from the United States. He falls in love ...

'' (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