Preben Kristensen (born 14 March 1953) is a Danish actor. He first came to attention as one of the musical comedy trio Linie 3 in 1979. He was educated from the drama school of

Aarhus Theatre The Aarhus Theatre (Danish: ''Aarhus Teater'') in Aarhus, is the largest provincial theatre in Denmark. The present theatre house was constructed in the late 19th century, as a replacement for the old theatre, nicknamed "''Svedekassen''" (The Sw ...

in 1978 and has since the played at most major theaters in Denmark. Kristensen has starred in shows and plays including roles like Tony in ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'', King Claudius in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'', McMurphy in ''

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest may refer to: * ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Ken Kesey * ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (play), a 1963 stage adaptation of the novel starring Kirk Douglas * ''One Flew Over the ...

'', George in ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of middle-aged couple Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they rece ...

'', Arnold in ''

Torch Song Trilogy ''Torch Song Trilogy'' is a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein rendered in three acts: ''International Stud'', ''Fugue in a Nursery'', and ''Widows and Children First!'' The story centers on Arnold Beckoff, a Jewish homosexual, dra ...

'', Albin in '' La Cage Aux Folles'', Phantom in Lloyd Webber's ''

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

'', and Max Bialystok in

Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...

's musical comedy '' The Producers''. In 1979 he created the musical and comedy group Linie 3 together with Thomas Eje and

Anders Bircow Anders Bircow (born 15 December 1951 in Helsinge) is a Danish actor and comedian. He is best known as a member of the comedy act Linie 3. Anders Bircow was born in the town of Helsinge, and attended schools in Nærum, Ramløse and Helsinge. He ...

. He has performed with the best symphony orchestras in Denmark. Kristensen is the localized Danish voice of Lumiere in Disney's ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'', Genie in Disney's ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

'', Berkeley Beetle in

Don Bluth Donald Virgil Bluth ( ; born September 13, 1937) is an American filmmaker, animator, video game designer and author. He came to prominence working for Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions before creating his own film studio in ...

's ''

Thumbelina Thumbelina (; ) is a literary fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published by C. A. Reitzel on 16 December 1835 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with "The Naughty Boy" and "The Travelling Companion" in the se ...

'', Woody in ''Toy Story'' 1, 2, 3 and 4, and Ramon in ''

Happy Feet ''Happy Feet'' is a 2006 animated jukebox musical comedy film directed and produced by George Miller and written by Miller, John Collee, Judy Morris and Warren Coleman. It stars the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hug ...

'' and ''

Happy Feet Two ''Happy Feet Two'' is a 2011 animated jukebox musical comedy film directed, produced and co-written by George Miller. It is the sequel to the 2006 film ''Happy Feet''. Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hugo Weaving, Magda Szubanski and Anthony LaPagli ...

''. On television, Kristensen was one of the main characters in season two of '' The Killing'' and also appeared in the final season of '' Borgen''. Kristensen has received several awards for his acting, and was in 2003 knighted by

Margrethe II of Denmark Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is a member of the Danish royal family who reigned as Queen of Denmark from 14 January 1972 until Abdication of Margrethe II, her abdication on 14 January 2024. Ha ...

References

External links

*
Preben Kristensen , Gyldendal - Den Store Danske

Ridder Preben og Alexander
* Linie 3 on the Danish Wikipedia page * * Living people 1953 births Danish male stage actors Danish male voice actors Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog People from Skive Municipality Danish male television actors Danish LGBTQ actors Danish male comedians {{Denmark-actor-stub