Great Danes
by yrnej | created - 09 Apr 2017 | updated - 11 Apr 2017 | PublicYes, it's bad pun but it had to be done!
Who is your favorite Danish actor?
Discuss the list here
1. Asta Nielsen
Actress | Hamlet
Danish leading woman of German films who became one of the greatest stars of the silent era. A native of the Copenhagen suburb of Vesterbro, Nielsen was the daughter of a coppersmith and a washerwoman, both of whom died before Nielsen was fifteen. Her stage debut came as a child in the chorus of ...
2. Jean Hersholt
Actor | Greed
If ever there was a Great Dane in Hollywood it was Jean Hersholt - and one of its great hearts as well. He was from a well-known Danish stage and entertainment family that had toured throughout Europe performing with young Jean as an essential cast member. He graduated from the Copenhagen Art ...
3. Poul Reichhardt
Actor | Soldaten og Jenny
Poul Reichhardt was born on February 2, 1913 in Ganløse, Denmark. He was an actor and director, known for Jenny and the Soldier (1947), Flagermusen (1966) and My Name Is Petersen (1947). He was married to Charlotte Ernst, Margareta Fahlén and Lili Lani. He died on October 31, 1985 in Denmark.
4. Dirch Passer
Actor | Piger i trøjen
Dirch Hartvig Passer was born on May 18, 1926, on Østerbro, Copenhagen, to Ragnhild Fich and Capt. Vilhelm Passer (seaman). He never did well in school, being the class clown, which had a negative effect on his grades. He did especially badly in mathematics, which came to follow him the rest of his...
5. Preben Kaas
Actor | Olsen-banden på spanden
Preben Kaas was born on March 30, 1930 in Aalborg, Denmark. He was an actor and writer, known for Olsen-banden på spanden (1969), Alt på et bræt (1977) and Operation Camel (1960). He was married to Lisbet Dahl, Anne Mari Lie, Ulla Larsen and Bodil Nymark Nielsen. He died on March ...
6. Ghita Nørby
Actress | Hamsun
Ghita Nørby was born on January 11, 1935 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is an actress and director, known for Hamsun (1996), Freud Leaving Home (1991) and Nøgle hus spejl (2015). She was previously married to Svend Skipper, Jørgen Reenberg, Dario Campeotto, Henrik Rosing Wiehe and Mogens ...
7. Jens Okking
Actor | Strømer
Jens Okking was born on December 18, 1939 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was an actor and writer, known for Strømer (1976), At klappe med een hånd (2001) and Nitten røde roser (1974). He was married to Anette Walther. He died on January 21, 2018 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
8. Anna Karina
Actress | Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux
Born in Denmark, she came to Paris at 18. She met Coco Chanel and Pierre Cardin and started as a top model. She met Jean-Luc Godard about a cameo in Breathless (1960), but she had to be naked and she refused to play in the movie. One year later, they wed and she became famous with the "Nouvelle ...
9. Sven-Ole Thorsen
Actor | Gladiator
Born in Denmark, Sven-Ole Thorsen has a remarkable sporting background as a champion bodybuilder, champion power-lifter, and karate black belt that made him an obvious choice for movies roles as "muscle for hire." The hulking almost 6' 4" actor first came to attention as one of Thulsa Doom's ...
10. Lisbet Dahl
Actress | Cirkusrevyen 2007
Lisbet Dahl was born on April 9, 1946 in Denmark. She is an actress and director, known for Cirkusrevyen 2007 (2007), Cirkusrevyen 2010 (2010) and Cirkusrevyen 2011 (2011). She was previously married to Claus Wolter, Preben Kaas and Lars Høy.
11. Jesper Christensen
Actor | Spectre
Born 1948 in central Copenhagen. Lived there ever since. Did 25 years of theatre, - like Alceste in the Misanthropist, Richard in Richard lll (solo), Faust in Faust, Astrov in Vanja, a lot of worried men,- stopped doing it in 1998. Since then only worried men on film. Worked on more than 100 films ...
12. Kirsten Olesen
Actress | Honning måne
Kirsten Olesen was born on May 10, 1949 in Horsens, Denmark. She is an actress, known for In My Life (1978), Elise (1985) and Springflod (1990). She was previously married to Ole Ousen.
13. Preben Kristensen
Actor | Forbrydelsen
Preben Kristensen was educated at The Drama School of The Theatre in Aarhus 1975/78. He has played on most major stages in Denmark in roles including everything from Shakespeare to musicals to light comedy. Was knighted by The Danish Queen Margrethe 2. in 2003, and has received several major awards.
...
14. Viggo Mortensen
Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Since his screen debut as a young Amish farmer in Peter Weir's Witness (1985), Viggo Mortensen's career has been marked by a steady string of well-rounded performances.
Mortensen was born in New York City, to Grace Gamble (Atkinson) and Viggo Peter Mortensen, Sr. His father was Danish, his mother ...
15. Jesper Asholt
Actor | Kunsten at græde i kor
Jesper Asholt was born on May 11, 1960 in Silkeborg, Denmark. He is an actor, known for The Art of Crying (2006), Mifune (1999) and Flickering Lights (2000). He was previously married to Nanna Katrine Lund.
16. Brigitte Nielsen
Actress | Red Sonja
Actress, model, presenter and singer Brigitte Nielsen was born July 15, 1963 in Rødovre, a little place near Copenhagen in Denmark. At the end of high school when she was sixteen, Gitte (her given name) left her family to begin her modeling career. She worked for top fashion designers like Giorgio ...
17. Ulrich Thomsen
Actor | Festen
Ulrich Thomsen graduated from The Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance in 1993, after which playing on several theaters in Copenhagen, i.e. Dr. Dantes Aveny, Mungo Park and Østre Gasværks Teater. His debut on film was in Ole Bornedal's Nightwatch (1994). Since then a number of ...
18. Peter Frödin
Actor | Bullerfnis
Peter Frödin was born on January 7, 1964 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is an actor and writer, known for Bullerfnis (1990), En kort en lang (2001) and Julefeber (2020).
19. Lars Mikkelsen
Actor | Headhunter
Lars was born in Gladsaxe near Copenhagen, Denmark as the first child of Bente Christiansen, an occupational health nurse, and Henning Mikkelsen, a bank clerk. Lars grew up in Copenhagen, where about one and a half years after him brother Mads was born, who's also an actor now. At first the family ...
20. Paprika Steen
Actress | Applaus
In Okay (2002), director and actress Paprika Steen shows off her multi- faceted acting talent as the loud-mouthed control freak Nete. This is her first major part for which she has already been nominated for the Best Actress Award from the European Film Academy. She has won the Danish Academy Award...
21. Kim Bodnia
Actor | Pusher
Kim Bodnia is a Danish actor, who was born in Copenhagen in 1965.
Kim Bodnia is educated as an actor at the Copenhagen Theatre school (1988-1991). After an amazing theatre career as an actor and creator of new Danish theatre in Copenhagen, he had his breakthrough in Nightwatch (1994) for which he ...
22. Connie Nielsen
Actress | Gladiator
Connie Nielsen is set to begin production on Ridley Scott's "Gladiator 2," where she will star alongside Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington, reprising her iconic role of 'Lucilla' from the Academy Award-winning film "Gladiator." She appears in Ava Duvernay's feature, "Origin," based on the book by ...
23. Mads Mikkelsen
Actor | Hannibal
Mads Mikkelsen's great successes parallel those achieved by the Danish film industry since the mid-1990s. He was born in Østerbro, Copenhagen, to Bente Christiansen, a nurse, and Henning Mikkelsen, a banker.
Starting out as a low-life pusher/junkie in the 1996 success Pusher (1996), he slowly grew ...
24. Troels Lyby
Actor | Klassefesten
Troels Lyby was born on October 15, 1966 in Århus, Denmark. He is an actor, known for The Reunion (2011), Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes (2013) and Accused (2005).
25. Sofie Gråbøl
Actress | Forbrydelsen
Sofie Gråbøl was born on July 30, 1968 in Denmark. She is an actress, known for Forbrydelsen (2007), Flickering Lights (2000) and Nikolaj og Julie (2002). She was previously married to Jacob Thuesen.
26. Sidse Babett Knudsen
Actress | Borgen
Sidse Babett Knudsen is a Danish actress who works in theatre, television, and film. Knudsen made her screen debut in the 1997 improvisational comedy Let's Get Lost, for which she received both the Robert and Bodil awards for Best Actress.
Following the critical success of her debut, Knudsen has ...
27. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Actor | Game of Thrones
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (born 27 July 1970) is a Danish actor, producer and screenwriter. He graduated from the Danish National School of Theatre in Copenhagen in 1993. Coster-Waldau's breakthrough performance in Denmark was his role in the film Nightwatch (1994). Since then he has appeared in ...
28. Iben Hjejle
Actress | High Fidelity
Iben Hjejle (22 March 1971) is a Danish actress, notable for starring in the Stephen Frears film High Fidelity (2000). In Denmark, she is perhaps best known for appearing in the Danish television sitcom Langt fra Las Vegas (Far from Las Vegas) and playing the girlfriend of Danish comedian Casper ...
29. Trine Dyrholm
Actress | Dronningen
Trine Dyrholm was born on April 15, 1972 in Odense, Denmark. She is an actress and director, known for Queen of Hearts (2019), Love Is All You Need (2012) and In a Better World (2010).
30. Nikolaj Lie Kaas
Actor | Kvinden i buret
"There are those who miss being in-depth with the world," explains Nikolaj Lie Kaas in an interview with Politiken on April 29th, 2001, "but for me superficiality means a lot - that's where I get my drive." This is an interesting comment from an actor, whose acting always strikes a deeply personal ...
31. Thure Lindhardt
Actor | Flammen & Citronen
Thure Frank Lindhardt was born 24 December 1974 in Copenhagen, Denmark. At 12, he was cast as the role of the mailman in Negerkys og labre larver (1987), and later that year, he acted as a classmate in Bille August's film Pelle the Conqueror (1987), which, in 1988, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes ...
32. Pilou Asbæk
Actor | Ghost in the Shell
Pilou Asbæk graduated from The Danish National School of Performing Arts in 2008. In the same year, he played the leading role in Niels Arden Oplev's drama Worlds Apart. In 2010 he had his breakthrough as the inmate Rune in Lindholm & Noer's prison drama R for which he won the prize for Best actor ...
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