Ada Kramm (née Egede-Nissen, 14 March 1899 – 17 December 1981) was a Norwegian stage and film actress whose career spanned more than six decades.Norsk biografisk leksikon
(Norwegian). Retrieved 14 July 2011.

Early life and career

Born Ada Egede-Nissen in

Vardø Vardo or Vardø may refer to: Places * Vardø Municipality, a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway *Vardø (town) (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the administrative centre of Vard� ...

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, her parents were the Norwegian politician

Adam Egede-Nissen Adam Hjalmar Egede-Nissen (29 June 1868 – 4 April 1953), was a Norwegian postmaster and politician, who began his political career in the Liberal Party and was first elected to the Storting (parliament) in 1900. He later switched to the L ...

(1868–1952) and Georga ("Goggi") Wilhelma Ellertsen (1871–1959). She had ten siblings; six of her siblings,

Aud Egede-Nissen Aud Egede-Nissen (30 May 1893 – 15 November 1974) was a Norwegians, Norwegian actress, director and producer. She appeared in many early 20th-century German silent films. Early life Born in Bergen, Norway in 1893, Egede-Nissen was a daughter ...

(1893–1974), Gerd Grieg (1895–1988),

Oscar Egede-Nissen Oscar Egede-Nissen (March 7, 1903 – November 1, 1976) was a Norwegian actor. He appeared in dozens of films from his debut in 1936 onward, his last being ''An-Magritt'' in 1969. Egede-Nissen was an unruly child, and he was sent to the alterna ...

(1903–1976),

Stig Egede-Nissen Stig Egede-Nissen (December 11, 1907 – October 4, 1988) was a Norwegian actor and naval officer. Biography Egede-Nissen was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of Communist Party of Norway leader Adam Egede-Nissen and Goggi ...

(1907–1988), Lill Egede-Nissen (1909–1962) and Gøril Havrevold (1914–1992), became stage and film actors.

Nils Johan Ringdal Nils Johan Ringdal (6 March 1952 – 11 September 2008) was a Norwegian author and historian, known mostly for his works on Norwegian occupation history and Norwegian cultural history, and for his controversial book "''Nationaltheaterets Histori ...

: Nationaltheatrets historie, 1899–1999. 2000 When she was eleven years old, the family moved to

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

, where she began studying at the Stavanger Faste Scene (Stavanger Fixed Scene) theatre. She made her stage début in 1916 in

Selma Lagerlöf Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish writer. She published her first novel, ''Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which she was ...

's ''Dunungen''. In 1917, Kramm accompanied her two older sisters Aud and Gerd to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

where the three young women opened a small film production and distribution company called the Egede-Nissen Film Company

Anton Rønneberg Anton Johan Rønneberg (9 August 1902 – 7 May 1989) was a Norwegian writer, theatre critic, dramaturg and theatre director. Rønneberg was a theatre critic for several Oslo newspapers: ''Norges Kommunistblad'' in 1924, '' Middagsavisen'' ...

: ''Teater hjemme og ute''. Artikler i utvalg, 1945 The trio used the studio to promote themselves in film roles directed by George Alexander from 1917 until 1920. Kramm appeared in a number of crime serials as the character Ada van Ehler beginning in 1917. In 1920 she married German violinist Hugo Kramm and began using her married name as a professional moniker and the young newly-weds returned to Norway. They later had a daughter together, actress Ilse Kramm (born 1934). From 1921 until 1924 Kramm appeared at the

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

and Den Nationale Scene. After her husband joined the

Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra The Oslo Philharmonic () is a Norwegian symphony orchestra based in Oslo, Norway. The orchestra traces its roots to the Philharmonic Society founded in 1847 and the Christiania Musical Association co-founded by Edvard Grieg in 1871, and was esta ...

in 1924 they moved to

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 ...

and she worked at

Det Nye Teater Det Nye Teater was a theatre that opened in Oslo, Norway, in 1929, and operated independently until 1959, when it merged with Folketeatret to form Oslo Nye Teater. Its original purpose was to support contemporary Norwegian drama. History The ...

(The New Theatre) from 1925 until 1928, 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 Theatre) from 1928 to 1934 and later at the

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 Theatre). She also returned to film, and appeared in roles in the 1928 Norwegian-German coproduction of ''Schneeschuhbanditen'' opposite her sister Aud Egede-Nissen and Austrian actor

Paul Richter Paul Richter (1 April 1895 – 30 December 1961) was an Austrian film actor. He owed his great popularity in German films of the silent era largely to the directors Joe May and Fritz Lang. Biography Richter made his film debut right before W ...

and 1930's ''Eskimo'' opposite

Mona Mårtenson Monica Ingeborg Elisabeth "Mona" Mårtenson (4 May 1902 – 8 July 1956) was a Swedish film actress. She appeared in 28 films between 1923 and 1949. She was born and died in Stockholm, Sweden. Early career Mona grew up in Helsingborg and s ...

and again with Paul Richter.

Later career and death

Kramm spent the next several decades on Norwegian stages in productions 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 ...

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

and

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

. At age 72 she appeared in the role of Aunt Julie in ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage.Meyer, Michael Lever ...

'' on a tour of Japan. After over six decades on stage, she went into semi-retirement and occasionally made appearances on Norwegian television. Her last role before her death was in the 1979

Anja Breien Anja Breien (born 12 July 1940) is a Norwegian film director and screenwriter. One of the leading figures of the Norwegian film industry, and one of the first women to rise to prominence as a writer-director in Norway, Breien's body of work in f ...

-directed,

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

nominated dramatic film '' Arven'' (''Heritage'') with

Espen Skjønberg Espen Henrik Skjønberg (7 April 1924 – 26 August 2022) was a Norwegian actor of stage, screen, and television. Career Skjønberg made his first movie appearances as a child in the 1932 film '' En glad gutt'' and in the 1937 Norwegian classic ...

Anita Björk Anita Björk (25 April 1923 – 24 October 2012) was a Swedish actress. Björk was born in Tällberg, Dalarna and attended the Royal Dramatic Training Academy from 1942 to 1945. She was a leading lady of Swedish theatre for many years and ...

and

Jan Hårstad Jan Edgar Hårstad (born 23 April 1943) is a Norwegian actor and political writer. Hårstad played Johannes Rosmer in NRK Fjernsynsteatret's production of ''Rosmersholm ''Rosmersholm'' () is an 1886 Play (theatre), play written by Norwegian ...

. She died on 17 December 1981 in Oslo at age eighty-two and was buried in the

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 ...

cemetery.Ada Kram: Geni
Retrieved 14 July 2011.

Awards

*Teaterkritikerprisen ( Norwegian Theatre Critics Award), 1947–1948 for her role as Amanda Wingfield in ''

The Glass Menagerie ''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his histrionic mo ...

'' by Tennessee Williams *

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

in Gold *

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

, Knight, First Class, 1977

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Ada Egede-Nissen
at Women Film Pioneers Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Kramm, Ada 1899 births 1981 deaths People from Vardø Norwegian stage actresses Norwegian film actresses Norwegian silent film actresses 20th-century Norwegian actresses Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold Burials at Vestre gravlund Women film pioneers