Anders Wilhelm Sandberg (22 May 1887 – 27 March 1938) was a Danish

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 ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Sandberg was born 22 May 1887 in

Viborg, Denmark Viborg () is a city in central Jutland, Denmark, the capital of both Viborg municipality and Region Midtjylland. Viborg is also the seat of the Western High Court, the Courts of Denmark, High Court for the Jutland peninsula. Viborg Municipality ...

, the son of Otto Carl Sandberg, a merchant and his wife Anna Mathilde Wilian. He was educated as a bookhandler and then worked as a journalist and photographer for the weekly magazine ''Verdensspejlet'' (English: ''World's Mirror'').

Career

Sandberg began in 1914 as a cinematographer and director for

Nordisk Film Nordisk Film A/S () is a Danish entertainment company involved in film production and distribution and a subsidiary of Egmont Group. The multimedia entertainment company is also involved in television production, cinemas, computer games and ...

. After directing a series of low-budget comedies, he directed his most acclaimed work: 1917's ''Klovnen'' (''The Clown'') starring

Valdemar Psilander Valdemar Einar Psilander (9 May 1884 – 6 March 1917) was a Danish silent film actor, who was the highest-paid performer of his period and received critical acclaim as the greatest male lead during the golden era of Cinema of Denmark, Danish ci ...

. The film's premiere two months after Psilander's sudden death created a media sensation which launched Sandberg's career. Between 1918 and 1927, Sandberg was the film company's leading director and succeeded

August Blom August Blom (26 December 1869 – 10 January 1947) was a Danish film director, producer, and pioneer of silent films during the "golden age" of Danish filmmaking from 1910 to 1914. Career Blom began his acting career in 1893 in Kolding, and was ...

as Nordisk's artistic director. During that period, his reputation was cemented by adaptations of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

novels: ''

Our Mutual Friend ''Our Mutual Friend'', published in 1864–1865, is the last novel completed by English author Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining savage satire with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. ...

'' (1921), ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...

'' (1922), ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...

'' (1922) and ''

Little Dorrit ''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published in Serial (literature), serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea pris ...

'' (1924). He produced 58 films of which he wrote 19. In 1926, Sandberg directed a remake of ''Kloven'' starring

Gösta Ekman Hans Gösta Gustaf Ekman (; 28 July 1939 – 1 April 2017) was a Swedish actor, comedian, and director. Career Ekman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to the Swedish actor and director Hasse Ekman and Agneta (née Wrangel). Ekman represent ...

and Karina Bell. Following the switch to sound films in the 1930s, Sandberg restricted his film work to documentaries.Marguerite Engberg: AW Sandberg in Danish Biographical Lexicon, 3rd ed., Gyldendal 1979-84. Retrieved 5 July 2017 from http://denstoredanske.dk/index.php?sideId=296867

Personal life

Sandberg was married to the actress

Karen Kragh Møller Karen Caspersen (20 August 1890 – 14 May 1941) was a Danish actress. She appeared in more than 30 films between 1910 and 1939. She was credited as Karen Sandberg in the Danish version of ''Blind Justice'' (1916), as well as Katherine Sande ...

from 1911 to 1916. In 1916, he married the actress

Else Frölich Else Frölich (August 31, 1880 – September 15, 1960), was a Norwegian-Danish star of silent film. Biography She was born Eli Marie Thaulow to a Danish mother, Ingeborg Charlotte Gad (1852–1908), and a Norwegian father, the impressionist p ...

. He was married a third time in 1935 to the German actress Ruth Helweg Jacobsen. Sandberg died 27 March 1938 while on vacation in

Bad Nauheim Bad Nauheim () is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany. As of 2020, Bad Nauheim has a population of 32,493. The town is approximately north of Frankfurt am Main, on the east edge of the Taunus mountain range. It is a w ...

, Germany. He was the father of Danish film producer

Henrik Sandberg Henrik Sandberg (15 May 1915 – 19 March 1993) was a Danish film producer. He produced 39 films between 1955 and 1979. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. His father was the Danish film director A. W. Sandberg. Filmography * '' Charly ...

Selected filmography

* ''

Millionærdrengen ''Millionærdrengen'' is a 1936 Danish family film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that generally relates to children in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessa ...

'' (1936) * '' 7-9-13'' (1934) * ''

5 raske piger 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

'' (1933) * ''

Den gule Danserinde Den may refer to: * Den (room), a small room in a house * Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth Media and entertainment * ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler * Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita'' ...

'' (1931) * '' The Last Night'' (1928) * '' The Clown'' (1926) * '' Maharajahens Yndlingshustru'' (1926) * ''

Fra Piazza del Popolo Fra is a title of a friar. Fra or FRA may also refer to: Codes * fra, the ISO 639-2 code for the French language * FRA, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code for France * FRA, the IOC country code for France at the Olympics * Framingham station, Amtra ...

'' (1925) * ''

'' (1924) * '' Wienerbarnet'' (1924) * '' Kan Kvinder fejle?'' (1924) * '' Min Ven Privatdetektiven'' (1924) * '' Kærligheds-Øen'' (1924) * '' Morænen'' (1924) * '' Lasse Månsson fra Skaane'' (1923) * '' Nedbrudte Nerver'' (1923) * '' Paa Slaget 12'' (1923) * ''

Den sidste Dans Den may refer to: * Den (room), a small room in a house * Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth Media and entertainment * ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler * Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita'' ...

'' (1923) * '' Pigen fra Sydhavsøen'' (1922) * ''

'' (1922) * ''

'' (1922) * '' Vor fælles Ven'' (1921) * '' Kan disse Øjne lyve?'' (1921) * '' Stodderprinsessen'' (1920) * '' Kærlighedsvalsen'' (1920) * '' Det døde Skib'' (1920) * '' Kærlighedsleg'' (1919) * '' Solskinsbørnene'' (1919) * '' Kærlighedens Almagt'' (1919) * '' Rytterstatuen'' (1919) * ''

The Mysterious Footprints ''The Mysterious Footprints'' (Danish: ''De mystiske fodspor'') is a 1918 Danish silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emot ...

'' (1918) * '' Manden med Arret'' (1918) * '' En Kunstners Kærlighed'' (1918) * '' Klovnen'' (1917)

References

External links