Signe Heide Steen (May 17, 1881 – October 18, 1959) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

actress.

Family

Signe Heide Steen was born in

Holmestrand is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Holmestrand. The town was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). T ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, one of twelve children of the violin maker Johan Albert Heide (1848–1925) and Julie Hovelsen (1855–1906). Her older brother

Harald Heide Harald Heide (March 8, 1876 – January 27, 1956) was a Norwegian violinist, conductor, and composer. Heide was born in Fredrikstad, the son of the violin-maker Johan Albert Heide (1847–1925). He studied music theory and violin at the Oslo Cons ...

was a violinist and composer, and at the age of twelve Signe played the violin at local events. After growing up in Holmestrand and Fredrikstad, she appeared as an extra a production of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

's ''

The Power of Darkness ''The Power of Darkness'' (russian: Власть тьмы, Vlast′ t′my) is a five- act drama by Leo Tolstoy. Written in 1886, the play's production was forbidden in Russia until 1902, mainly through the influence of Konstantin Pobedonostsev. I ...

'' at the Akersgaden Theater, and for a while she studied under

Thora Hansson Thora Hansson (December 2, 1848 – September 11, 1917) was a Norwegian actress and theatre director. She made her stage début at Christiania Theater in 1871, and worked at this theatre until 1899. Thora Hanssom was the first actress to por ...

. On August 2, 1903, she made her debut at the Central Theater in the play ''Thummelumsen'' by the Danish writer

Gustav Wied Gustav Johannes Wied (6 March 1858 – 24 October 1914) was a Danish writer. He was generally known as a satirical critic of society in his time and he deliberately used his writing talents to expose the establishment, bourgeoisie and ruling ...

. After two years, she was engaged for one year at the National Theater in Bergen before she started at the National Theater in Oslo, where, while playing Valencienne, she met her husband Harald Steen (1886–1941), who was playing Count Camille de Rosillon in the first performance of ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to ...

''. Apart from 1908 to 1911, when they were again at the Central Theater, they were engaged with the National Theater in Oslo, from which Heide Steen terminated her engagement in 1918. Afterward, she performed on the capital's revue stages at venues such as

Chat Noir Chat Noir ( French for 'black cat') is a cabaret and revue theatre in Oslo, Norway. It was established in 1912 by Bokken Lasson. The current director is Tom Sterri. Establishment Chat Noir was established as a cabaret in 1912 by singer Bokken La ...

, where she celebrated her 40th birthday as an artist, and she also appeared in revues by Ernst Rolf at the Casino theater. Heide Steen also recorded gramophone records. Signe Heide Steen and Harald Steen were the parents of

Randi Heide Steen Randi Heide Steen (15 December 1909 – 12 November 1990) was a Norwegian soprano singer. Biography Steen was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. Her parents, Harald Steen (1886–1941) and Signe Heide Steen (1881–1959), were both act ...

Harald Heide Steen Harald Heide Steen (11 January 1911 – 3 January 1980) was a Norwegian film actor. He appeared in more than 30 films between 1933 and 1977. He was the father of actor Harald Heide-Steen Jr. Partial filmography * ''Vi som går kjøkkenveie ...

, and

Kari Diesen Kari Diesen (née Heide-Steen; 24 June 1914 – 18 March 1987) was a Norwegian singer and revue actress. She worked for the revue theatre Chat Noir from 1937 to 1953, and for the Edderkoppen Theatre from 1954 to 1959. She participated in 24 fi ...

Filmography

* 1920: '' Kaksen på Øverland'' as Ingerid, Aasmund's wife * 1924: ''

Til sæters ''Til sæters'' (To the Mountain Pastures) is a Norwegian silent comedy film from 1924 directed by Harry Ivarson (his first Norwegian film). He also wrote the screenplay based on Claus Pavels Riis's 1850 musical ''Til Sæters: dramatisk Idyl me ...

'' as Gunhild * 1928: ''

Cafe X ''Cafe X'' is a 1928 Norwegian crime film. The film was directed by Walter Fyrst, who also wrote the screenplay and headed the production through his company Fürst-film. It stars Bengt Djurberg and Tove Tellback. Plot The film tells the story ...

'' as Mrs. Hansen * 1936: ''

Norge for folket Norge is Norwegian (bokmål), Danish and Swedish for Norway. It may also refer to: People * Kaare Norge (born 1963), Danish guitarist * Norge Luis Vera (born 1971), Cuban baseball player Places * 11871 Norge, asteroid Toponyms: *Norge, Oklah ...

'' * 1949: ''

Death Is a Caress ''Death is a Caress'' ( no, Døden er et kjærtegn) is a 1949 Norwegian film noir starring Claus Wiese, Bjørg Riiser-Larsen and Ingolf Rogde. Based on a 1948 novel by Arve Moen The Arve (french: L'Arve, ) is a river in France (''départemen ...

'' as Martha, Sonja's maid

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heide Steen, Signe People from Holmestrand 20th-century Norwegian actresses 1881 births 1959 deaths