Bentein Baardson (born 6 November 1953 in New York City) is a Norwegian actor, instructor and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

. He was born in New York, and is the son of Brynjolv Baardson. Bentein Baardson graduated from Teaterhøyskolen in 1975. He has set up plays at a number of theatres, including

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 ...

, Det Norske Teatret, Den Nationale Scene and Agder Teater. He was theatre director at Rogaland Teater from 1986 to 1989, leading Agder Teater from its opening in 1991 to 1994, was art director for the opening and closing ceremonies at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

, and theatre director at Den Nationale Scene from 1998 to 2001. In 2005 he directed the gala concert at Oslo Konserthus in connection with the 1905 jubilee. Baardson was the artistic and executive director of the 2006 Ibsen Year. In 1980, Bentein Baardson was awarded the first Per Aabels ærespris, an annual honorary award which is named for respected Norwegian comic actor, Per Aabel. In 1998, Baardson received the Anders Jahres kulturpris, an honorary award named for Norwegian shipping magnate, Anders August Jahre. He was decorated Knight, First Class of the

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 ...

in 2000. He has been appointed member of the

Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature (), commonly known as the Norwegian Academy, is a Norwegian learned body on matters pertaining to the modern Norwegian language in its Dano-Norwegian variety, now commonly known as Riksmål and Bo ...

. Managing Director in Kilden Performing Arts Centre from February 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baardson, Bentein 1953 births Living people Norwegian theatre directors Norwegian male stage actors Members of the Norwegian Academy