Else-Marie Juul Hansen (19 October 1904, Copenhagen — 12 August 2003, Copenhagen) was a Danish actress and a particularly successful soprano operetta singer. Initially a dancer, she made her operetta debut in ''

No, No, Nanette ''No, No, Nanette'' is a musical with a book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel based on Mandel's 1919 Broadway play ''My Lady Friends''; lyrics by Irving Caesar and Harbach; and music by Vincent Youmans. The farcical story centers on three coup ...

'' at Fønix-Teatret,

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

, in 1927. From the 1930s to the 1950s, she played leading operetta roles in various Copenhagen theatres, frequently performing with Hans Kurt Jensen. In addition to her many film roles, Hansen is remembered for playing Oda Holm in the popular Danish television series ''

Matador A bullfighter or matador () is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter, and describe all the performers in the activ ...

'' (1978–81).

Early life and education

Born on 19 October 1904 in Copenhagen, Else-Marie Juul Hansen was the daughter of the prosperous shoemaker Hans Frederik Hansen (1875–1946) and his wife Maren Jensigne née Nielsen (1875–1951). The family's only child, she was brought up in a well-established bourgeois home in the city's

Nørrebro Nørrebro (, ) is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It is northwest of the city centre, beyond the location of the old Northern Gate (''Nørreport''), which, until dismantled in 1856, was near the current N ...

district. She attended a private school and from the age of five took dancing lessons under Agnes Nyrop Christensen which led to her performing as a child at Tivoli's Pantomime Theatre where she eventually danced as Columbine. She later attended drama courses in London and

Stratford-on-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-west of ...

Career

In 1927, Hansen made a sensational debut at Fenix Teatret in Frederiksberg performing in the operetta ''No, No, Naneete''. She went on to perform leading operetta roles in Copenhagen and the Danish provinces as well as in Norway and Sweden. These included ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' ( ) is an operetta by the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The Libretto, librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's ...

'' with Erling Schroeder at the Frederiksberg Theatre. From 1938, together with Hans Kurt at Nørrebros Theater, she became Denmark's leading operetta actress performing in a considerable number of popular attractions including ''

Balalaika The balalaika (, ) is a Russian string instrument, stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck, and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the third string is a perf ...

'', ''

Me and My Girl ''Me and My Girl'' is a musical with music by Noel Gay and its original book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose. The story, set in the late 1930s, tells of an unapologetically unrefined Cockney gentleman named Bill Snibson, wh ...

'' and ''

The Gypsy Baron ''The Gypsy Baron'' () is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II which premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 24 October 1885. Its German libretto by Ignaz Schnitzer is based on the unpublished 1883 story ''Saffi'' by Mór Jókai. Jokai ...

''. Together with Hans Kurt, she performed in ''The Merry Widow'' about a thousand times 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 ...

where she become known for her delivery of the Vilja Song. In 1948, she performed Mimi in '' La Bohême'' at the Odense Teater. Her final stage performance was in 1949 where she once again appeared with Hans Kurt in ''

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

''. Else-Marie Juul Hansen died in Copenhagen on 12 August 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Else-Marie

External links

Else-Marie Hansen singing the Vilja song from ''The Merry Widow''
(Odeon Records) 1904 births 2003 deaths Actresses from Copenhagen 20th-century Danish actresses Danish film actresses Danish operatic sopranos Danish musical theatre actresses