Sæbjørn Buttedahl (10 November 1876 – 10 July 1960) was a Norwegian stage and film actor who later found prominence as a sculptor.

Stage and film career

Nils Sæbjørn Buttedahl was born in

Lier, Norway Lier is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lierbyen. The municipality of Lier was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannsk ...

and began his career as a stage actor in 1896 at the age of twenty. From 1907 to 1924 he was engaged at the

Centralteatret Centralteatret (); (full name: Oslo Nye Centralteatret) is a theatre on Akersgata, in the city centre of Oslo, Norway. Centralteatret was established by the husband-and-wife acting team of Johan Fahlstrøm and Alma Fahlstrøm, in 1897. The thea ...

(Central Theater) 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 ...

(then known as Kristiana).Norsk Kunstnerleksikon
(in Norwegian) He appeared in a number of stage plays by

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

, and appeared onstage with such eminent Norwegian actors of the era as Agnes Mowinckel and

Martin Linge Martin Jensen Linge, (11 December 1894 – 27 December 1941) was a Norwegian actor who, in World War II, became the commander of the Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1) (pronounced as ''Norisen'' by the Norwegians), formed in March 19 ...

. Buttedahl appeared in three feature-length

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

s during his career as an actor. Two of these films, 1926's ''Simen Mustrøens besynderlige opplevelser'' and 1927's ''

Den glade enke i Trangvik ''Den glade enke i Trangvik'' (English language, English: ''The Merry Widow of Trangvik'') is a 1927 Norway, Norwegian silent film, silent drama film directed by Harry Ivarson. The movie is based on the content of Jacob Hilditch's satirical news ...

'' were directed by Harry Ivarson. His final film role was in the 1927 romantic drama '' Fjeldeventyret'' (A Mountain Romance), directed by his son-in-law

Leif Sinding Leif Sinding (19 November 1895 – 13 May 1985) was a Norwegian film director and journalist. He worked for the newspapers ''Verdens Gang (1868–1923), Verdens Gang'', ''Aftenposten'', and ''Morgenbladet''. Among his silent films are ''Himme ...

Sculpture

During his time as an actor, Buttedahl also began a career as a sculptor, mainly as a sculptor of busts and almost exclusively sculpted notable theater personalities. He debuted his work at the Autumn Exhibition in Oslo in 1912. Notable works in the public collection include: *

Nationaltheatret The National Theatre in Oslo () is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiania Theatre, which was ...

(National Theater), Oslo: busts of Jens Selmer (marble) and

Ingolf Schanche Ingolf Findregaard Schanche (13 June 1877 – 15 April 1954) was a Norwegian actor and theatre director. He spent most of his career at Nationaltheatret in Oslo, and was also the first artistic director at Det Nye Teater. Personal life Schanc ...

(bronze, 1921) *

Vestre gravlund Vestre Gravlund is a cemetery in the Frogner borough of Oslo, Norway. It is located next to the Borgen (station), Borgen metro station. At , it is the largest cemetery in Norway. It was inaugurated in September 1902 and also contains a cremator ...

(Western Cemetery), Oslo: bust of Fredrik Wilhelm Wingar (bronze, 1923) * Oslo Theatre Museum, Oslo: busts of Kaja Eide Norena, Ingolf Schanche and Halvor Urdahl *Copenhagen Theater Museum,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

: bust of Peter Fjelstrup (alabaster, 1913) * Oslo Bymuseum (Oslo City Museum), Oslo: busts of Jens Selmer (alabaster) and Ole Thommessen (alabaster) *Drammens Faste Galleri (Drammen Fixed Gallery),

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

: bust of

Harald Otto Harald Otto (January 24, 1865 – May 13, 1928) was a Norwegians, Norwegian actor and theater director. Otto was born in Nes municipality, Nes, Norway, the son of the stationmaster Hans Otto Hansen (1815–?) and Maren Paulsen (1832–?). He mov ...

(alabaster, 1914)

Personal life

Sæbjørn Buttedahl married Danish stage actress Clare Petrea Margrethe "Maggie" Benelli (1870–1933). They had one daughter, Ellen (Buttedahl) Sinding (1899–1980), who married film director Leif Sinding and became a film actress and dancer.

Later life

In 1926, Buttedahl emigrated to the United States, where he toured the country with appearances reciting poems and singing folk songs. He settled in San Diego, California, where he died in 1960 at age 83.

References

External links

* * 1876 births 1960 deaths Norwegian male stage actors Norwegian male film actors Norwegian male silent film actors People from Lier, Norway People from Drammen Norwegian emigrants to the United States 19th-century Norwegian male actors 20th-century Norwegian male actors 20th-century Norwegian sculptors {{Norway-sculptor-stub