Liv Dommersnes (née Strømsted; 28 September 1922 – 6 April 2014) was a Norwegian

actress 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 reciter of poetry. She was a member of group that founded

Studioteatret Studioteatret was a theatre in Norway. It opened in 1945, shortly after the liberation, with Claes Gill as its first theatre director. Studioteatret is regarded as one of the earliest post-war artistic expressions in Norway, and most of its members ...

in 1945.

Personal life

Liv Strømsted was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

(now Oslo), Norway. She was the daughter of storekeeper Jørgen Andreas Strømsted (1891–1942) and Signe Beatrice Hansen (1893–1984). She was married to actor

Jens Bolling Jens Bolling (23 June 1915 – 13 December 1992) was a Norwegian actor and theatre director. He was among the founders of Studioteatret, and a well-known interpreter of Norwegian fairy-tales. Early and personal life Bolling was born in Lev ...

(1915–1992) from 1945 to 1952, and to physician Ivar Dommersnes (1913–1994) from 1968 until his death in 1994. She was also in a secret relationship with

Johan Borgen Johan Collett Müller Borgen (28 April 1902 – 16 October 1979) was a Norwegian writer, journalist and critic. His best-known work is the novel ''Lillelord'' for which he was awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature in 1955. He wa ...

, as chronicled in her 2001 memoirs ''Alt har sin tid''.

Career

She made her stage debut as "Helga" in

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 play ''Geografi og kjærlighed'' at the National Theatre in Oslo in 1942, in the last production directed by Bjørnson's son

Bjørn Bjørnson Bjørn Bjørnson (15 November 1859 – 14 May 1942) was a Norwegian stage actor and theatre director. Biography He was born in Christiania, the son of author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1 ...

. She was employed at the National Theatre from 1941–45, and again from 1949. During the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

the situation at the theatres was characterized by severe nazification attempts from the authorities, and boycott from the public. Strømsted joined the group of actors that started underground meetings where they secretly studied

Stanislavski's system Stanislavski's system is a systematic approach to training actors that the Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski developed in the first half of the twentieth century. His system cultivates what he calls the "art of experiencing ...

. The result of these undercover meetings was the founding of the theatre

in 1945. She played for Studioteatret from 1945 to 1949. Among her roles were "Emily" in an adaption of

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'', and a U. ...

's play ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a three-act play written by American playwright Thornton Wilder in 1938. Described by Edward Albee as "the greatest American play ever written", it presents the fictional American town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 ...

'', "Polly" in Weill and

Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a ...

's ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sati ...

'', and "Natasja" in

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

's ''

A Marriage Proposal ''A Marriage Proposal '' (sometimes translated as simply ''The Proposal'', ) is a one-act farce by Anton Chekhov, written in 1888–1889 and first performed in 1890. It is a fast-paced play of dialogue-based action and situational humour. A you ...

''. She interpreted several roles from

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 ...

's plays. One of her most important roles was "Nora" in ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' (Danish language, Danish and ; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act Play (theatre), play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 De ...

'', which she played at

Rogaland Teater Rogaland Teater is a theatre in Stavanger, Norway. Background The theatre building was built in 1883 on a parcel of '' Kannik prestegård''. It was designed by architect Hartvig Sverdrup Eckhoff, and initially held close to 500 seats. The buil ...

in 1950, for

Radioteatret Radioteatret is a department of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation which produces audio plays for radio broadcasting. It was established in 1927. In January 2021, ''Verdens Gang'' cited a report from NTB, saying that Radioteatret ow isbeing ...

in 1953, for

Riksteatret Riksteatret (English: National Traveling Theater) is a Norwegian touring theatre. It was established by law in 1948. Its first performance was in Kirkenes in 1949, with Sigurd Christiansen's play ''En reise i natten''. The theatre plays on about ...

in 1956, and at the National Theatre in 1957. She acted in the films ''Andrine og Kjell'' from 1951 and '' Blodveien'' from 1955. She participated in nearly 100 productions for Radioteatret. From 1965, Dommersnes initiated a career as a reciter of poetry, performing all over Scandinavia, either alone or with musicians. Several of her performances were broadcast by radio or television. Her 50th anniversary as an actor was celebrated at the National Theatre in January 1992. In 2001. she wrote an autobiography, ''Alt har sin tid''. She was honorary member of The Association of Artists (''Kunstnerforeningen'') from 1975, and of the

Norwegian Actors' Equity Association The Norwegian Actors' Equity Association () is an association of Norwegian actors. Its main purpose is to improve actors' working conditions and to protect the artistic, judicial and financial interests of actors in Norway. The association was est ...

from 1999. She was a 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 ...

Honours

She received several prizes, including Oslo City's Artist's award in 1985, the

Herman Wildenvey Poetry Award The Herman Wildenvey Poetry Award () is a Norwegian award. It is conferred every year on July 20, the birthday of the poet Herman Wildenvey, in an event held at Hergisheim. The award consists of NOK 15,000 and a bronze relief plaque designed by th ...

in 1999, and the honorary prize of the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

in 2001. In 2000 she was decorated as a 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, she was also awarded the Anders Jahres Cultural Prize (''Anders Jahres kulturpris'').

Death

She died on 6 April 2014, aged 91.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dommersnes, Liv 1922 births 2014 deaths Actresses from Oslo Norwegian stage actresses Members of the Norwegian Academy Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Norwegian women memoirists