Halfdan Christensen (12 December 1873 – 17 September 1950) was a Norwegian

stage actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

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 ...

Biography

Christensen was born at

Porsgrunn is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Porsgrunn (town), city ...

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

, Norway. His family moved to Kristiania (now Oslo) where he attended Aars og Voss skole and later attended Kristiania Handelsgymnasium. In 1894, he conducted a study trip to Denmark and Germany. He had his stage début at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen during 1896. He was among the leading actors at the National Theatre from its opening in 1899. In 1907, Christensen began to act as stage director. He was theatre director from 1911 to 1923, and again from 1930 to 1933. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he had to flee to Sweden, and there he led the theatre '' Fri norsk scene'' together with his wife Gerda Ring. After returning to Norway after the liberation in 1945, he had held various positions at the National Theater. During the 1920s and 1930s, he had written three plays, all of which were performed at the National Theater, with Christensen as stage director. Christensen was appointed Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1932, he was Commander of the Danish

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

, and Commander of the Swedish

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. His ...

. He was married three times, first in 1896 to Agnes Elisabeth Simonsen, second in 1905 to actress Gyda Christensen (1872–1964), and in 1922 to actress Gerda Ring (1891–1999). He was the father of Pelle Christensen (1923–1995) and Bab Christensen (1928–2017) both of whom were stage actors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen, Halfdan 1873 births 1950 deaths People from Telemark People from Porsgrunn Norwegian male stage actors Norwegian theatre directors Norwegian expatriates in Sweden Commanders of the Order of the Dannebrog Commanders of the Order of Vasa Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Burials at Vestre gravlund