Turid Balke (25 July 1921 – 5 January 2000) 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. ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

Biography

Born in

Kirkenes (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town lies on a peninsu ...

, she started her professional career at Trøndelag Teater in 1949. She would spend many of her years as an actress at Folketeatret and the famous Norwegian revue-stage Chat Noir. She was also an artist and a designer, even designing "proper" toys for children, but more importantly she would become one of the pioneers in Norwegian

children's theatre Children's theatre is a theatre for younger audiences. Children's Theatre or Children's Theater may also refer to: * Theatre for Early Years, blanket term for theatrical events designed for audiences of pre-school children * Youth Theatre Individ ...

. She wrote and staged several plays for children and is also remembered for creating ''Balkeby'' (Balke-town), a miniature-town with puppets and their stories performed by Balke. Her first film appearance came as a secretary in the 1953-comedy ''Brudebuketten''. Throughout the years she would appear in classic Norwegian films such as ''Støv på hjernen'', (1959), its sequels '' Sønner av Norge'' and ''Sønner av Norge kjøper bil'', and other popular titles like '' Olsenbanden for full musikk'' (1976) and '' Kamilla og tyven'' (1988). After close to 30 movies her film-career finished off on a high-note, appearing in a small but prominent role as the oracle woman in '' The 13th Warrior'' opposite

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award ...

. Balke admitted in an interview shortly after that for her, the greatest thrill was not working with Banderas but meeting his co-star,

Omar Sharif Omar Sharif (, ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub ; 10 April 1932 – 10 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the 1950s. He is bes ...

. Balke also had numerous roles on television, even gaining new fans in the sit-com ''Karl & Co'', where she played the title-character's nosy old neighbour from 1998 to 1999. In 1974 she received the Norwegian Arts Council's award for her illustrations to the children's book ''Det begynte en fredag i Finvik''. Known for her characteristic bulging eyes, Balke lived in

Oslo 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 ...

throughout most of her life and kept active until her sudden death in 2000, at the age of 78. Her great-grandfather was famous Norwegian painter Peder Balke.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balke, Turid 1921 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights Norwegian artists Norwegian stage actresses Norwegian film actresses Norwegian television actresses 20th-century Norwegian writers 20th-century Norwegian actresses Norwegian women dramatists and playwrights People from Kirkenes