Andreas Hornbeck Isachsen (31 May 1829, Grimstad - February 22, 1903, Cologne) was a Norwegian actor and playwright.

Life

In 1850, still a student, Isachsen briefly edited the student-society newspaper ''Samfundsbladet'' alongside the future playwright

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 ...

. On 18 January 1852 he made his debut as an actor at Det norske Theater in Bergen as Ruy Gomez in the one act play ''Man kan hvad man vil'' (''One can what one wants''). He was employed in

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 ...

until 1858, when he left the stage for a time. On 10 November 1853, in Bergen, he married the actress Janny Grip (1835-1894). He resumed acting in 1860 at the

Christiania Norwegian Theatre The Christiania Norwegian Theatre () was founded in 1852 under the name Norwegian Dramatic School. The initiative came from lieutenant engineer Johannes Benedictus Klingenberg (1817–1882) after he had been disappointed by the un-Norwegian rep ...

, then under Ibsen's artistic direction. He remained in that company until the theatre went bankrupt in 1862, on which he moved to the theatre in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. In 1865 he returned to the

Christiania Theatre Christiania Theatre, or ''Kristiania Theatre'', was Norway's finest stage for spoken drama from 4 October 1836 (opening date) to 1 September 1899. It was located at Bankplassen by the Akershus Fortress, in central Christiania. It was the fir ...

, but joined

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished ...

's walkout to the Folketheater at Møllergaten, where he acted from September 1870 to February 1872. From 1872 until his retirement from the stage in 1894, Isachsen remained at the Christiania Theatre. Isachsen was known as a

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

with a particular talent for comedic roles. Isachsen argued with Ibsen over an 1873 play reading of ''

Emperor and Galilean ''Emperor and Galilean'' (in ) is a play written by Henrik Ibsen. Although it is one of the writer's lesser known plays, on several occasions Henrik Ibsen called ''Emperor and Galilean'' his major work. ''Emperor and Galilean'' is written in two ...

'' held at Christiania on his own initiative. He had previously held readings of lyric poems by

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (15 January 18125 January 1885) was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore. They were so closely united in their lives' work that their folk tale collection ...

and Moe, receiving praise for them from Asbjørnsen himself. Relations between Isachsen and Ibsen remained soured for the rest of Isachsen's career - Ibsen wrote a letter to the theatre's management specifically demanding that "the terrible Isachsen" would not be given any parts, since Ibsen felt he had a tendency towards over-acting and caricaturing roles.

Bibliography

*Skuespiller Isachsen (s. 86-87). Folkebladet No. 6. Søndag 15de Marts 1903.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Isachsen 1829 births 1903 deaths Norwegian male stage actors 19th-century Norwegian male actors People from Grimstad 19th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights Norwegian male dramatists and playwrights