Nils Olaf Chrisander (born Waldemar Olaf Chrisander, 14 February 1884 – 5 June 1947) was a Swedish actor and film director in the early part of the twentieth century.

Biography

Chrisander's first screen appearances as an actor were in German and Swedish silent films in the mid-1910s. His first motion picture role was in the 1915 Carl Schönfeld-directed German

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 ...

drama ''Um ein Weib''. As an actor, Chrisander is possibly best recalled for starring as "Erik the Phantom" in the now lost 1916 Ernst Matray-directed German adaptation '' Das Phantom der Oper'', based on Gaston Leroux's novel '' The Phantom of the Opera'' opposite Norwegian actress Aud Egede-Nissen. Matray's version is the first film adaptation of Leroux's 1909–1910 serialized novel. In 1917, he appeared opposite the popular Polish film actress Pola Negri in her first role in a German production, ''Nicht lange täuschte mich das Glück''. In 1919, he co-directed the German silent film ''Alraune und der Golem'' with actor and director Paul Wegener. After performing in a film serial for director Karl Gerhardt opposite actress

Lil Dagover Lil Dagover (; born Marie Antonia Siegelinde Martha Seubert; 30 September 1887 – 23 January 1980) was a German actress whose film career spanned between 1913 and 1979. She was one of the most popular and recognized film actresses in the Weimar ...

from 1920 to 1921, Chrisander began his career in Germany as a director. In total, he directed three films in Germany, before relocating to the United States where he directed two dramatic films: 1927's '' Fighting Love'', starring Jetta Goudal,

Victor Varconi Victor Varconi (born Mihály Várkonyi; March 31, 1891 – June 6, 1976) was a Hungarian actor who initially found success in his native country, as well as in Germany and Austria, in silent films, before relocating to the United States, where ...

and Henry B. Walthall for Cecil B. DeMille Pictures, and that same year, '' The Heart Thief'', starring Joseph Schildkraut and Lya De Putti. By 1930, he was living at S. Gramercy Place in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

.Movieland Directory - United States Census, 1930
/ref> He died in 1947 in Skurup, Sweden.

Selected filmography

Actor

* '' Das Phantom der Oper'' (1916) * '' The White Roses of Ravensberg'' (1919) * '' The Hunt for Death'' (1920)

Director

* '' Alraune und der Golem'' (1919, co-director) * '' The White Roses of Ravensberg'' (1919) * '' Death the Victor'' (1920) * '' Fighting Love'' (1927) * '' The Heart Thief'' (1927)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chrisander, Nils Olaf 1884 births 1947 deaths Swedish male film actors Swedish male silent film actors Swedish film directors Male actors from Stockholm 20th-century Swedish male actors