Ebba Thomsen (3 May 1887 – 18 December 1973) was a Danish actress during the golden era of

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

s in Denmark. Thomsen was best known for her roles as the elegant leading lady opposite the Danish matinee idol Valdemar Psilander.

Life and career

Ebba Thomsen was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Denmark on 3 May 1887, the daughter of Ove Thomsen, one of the leading Danish fashion designers. Thomsen debuted on stage at

Det Ny Teater Det Ny Teater (English: The New Theatre) is an established theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, first opened in 1908. It is based in a building which spans a passage between Vesterbrogade and Gammel Kongevej in Copenhagen's theatre district on the borde ...

in 1910 and began to perform in cinema in 1912 at

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 ...

. From then until the early 1920s, Thomsen appeared in about 75 films—mostly as the lead actress—and achieved star status in Denmark. Her most notables roles were in films in which she worked with Nordisk Film's biggest male star, Valdemar Psilander. In a newspaper interview for her 50th birthday, Thomsen said that her "unique success depended on two things: First, that Psilander and I suited one another. I was actually a little too tall for him, yet our types suited each other, our movements, our acting. In short, we were a born 'film-couple'." Thomsen then credited her father with giving her "an absolute sense of style. I knew precisely how every fabric should look on me, whether it was a princess' gown or a washerwoman's rags." Thomsen was usually cast in roles as princesses, countesses, or artists. In 1915, Thomsen married the Norwegian actor

Thorleif Lund Thorleif Brinck Lund (7 June 1880 – 30 June 1956) was a Norwegian stage and film actor of the silent film era. Early life Thorleif Lund was born in Stavanger, Norway to parents Hans Geelmuyden Lund and Bertella Karen Lauritza Bertelsen in 1880 ...

. She left Nordisk Film in 1917 to open a touring company in Norway with her husband. The company failed and Thomsen quickly returned to filmmaking. In the 1920s she appeared in a series of films for the Danish Astra Film Company under the direction of Fritz Magnussen. She returned to Nordisk for two final films and then retired from film in 1925. She performed on stage for the final time at the Dagmar Theater in 1930. Thomsen returned to give one performance in a sound film when she appeared in the 1952

Alice O'Fredericks Alice O'Fredericks (born Mitzi Otha Alice Frederiksen; 8 September 1899 – 18 February 1968) was a Denmark, Danish actress, screenwriter, and film director. O'Fredericks was the first female director of sound films in Denmark. Having written 38 ...

film ''Husmandstøsen'' at the age of 65. She died on 18 December 1973, aged 86.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Ebba Thomsen
at the Den Danske Film Database (in Danish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomsen, Ebba Danish film actresses Danish stage actresses Danish silent film actresses 20th-century Danish actresses 1887 births 1973 deaths