Ellen Winther Lembourn (née Sørensen; 11 August 1933,

Århus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

– 13 August 2011) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

opera singer Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

, best known internationally for her participation in the 1962 Eurovision Song Contest. Winther trained as an opera singer and made her professional debut in 1957 at the

Royal Danish Theatre 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 s ...

, where she would be employed for 30 years both as a singer and a dramatic actress. In the 1959 Disney animated classic ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

'' she voiced the Danish version of

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

. In 1962, Winther won the Danish Eurovision Song Contest selection with the song " Vuggevise" ("Lullaby"), and went forward to the seventh Eurovision Song Contest, held in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Gr ...

on 18 March. "Vuggevise" finished in joint 10th place out of 16 entries. Besides her succes in operas, stage musicals and revues, Winther also became well known to Danish audiences by many appearances in film and television. This included her portrayal of Minna Varnæs in ''

Matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

'' in 1978. In 1983, she was awarded the Order of the Dannebrog for her contribution to the arts in Denmark..

Marriages

Winther was married to pianist John Winther from 1960-66, with two children from this marriage, and to writer and politician Hans Jørgen Lembourn from 1973 until his death in 1997.

Death

Ellen Winther Lembourn died on 13 August 2011, two days after her 78th birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winther, Ellen 1933 births 2011 deaths Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Denmark Danish women singers Danish opera singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1962 Singers from Aarhus