German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 134. Photo: Alex Binder, 1916.
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 135.
Internationally famous for her sensitive and dramatic dancing
Lillebil Ibsen was born Sofie Parelius Monrad Krohn in 1899 in Öre Aker (Christiania, now Oslo), Norway. She was the daughter of engineer Georg Monrad Krohn and actress Gyda Andersen (Gyda Monrad Krohn). Later on, her mother married Halfdan Christensen, the managing director of Nationaltheatret in Oslo, the national theatre stage in Norway. Lillebil received ballet training from her mother, who was a professional choreographer and ballet instructor.
At the age of ten, she made her debut as a dancer at Nationaltheatret in the ballet pantomime 'Prinsessen på erten' (1911), directed by her mother. It was an adaptation of the fairytale 'The Princess and the Pea' by Hans Christian Andersen. Over the next few years, ‘Madame Lillebil’ had an adventurous career abroad. She studied ballet with Hans Beck in Copenhagen, and later with Russian choreographer Mikhail Fokine in Paris. In 1912, she went on a music tour to Berlin with her mother and conductor Johan Halvorsen. Later, she would also dance to Halvorsen's 'Danse visionaire', in 'Krokodilletaarer' (1914) and 'Dukken' (1915), the Norwegian version of 'Coppélia' by Léo Delibes.
Her sensitive and dramatic dancing made her famous far beyond Norway. She made her debut as a stage actress in 'Den uskikkelige Lille princesses' (The Naughty Little Princess). When she was sixteen years old, German stage director Max Reinhardt engaged her as prima ballerina ‘Lillebil Christensen’ for the theatres he managed. From 1915 to 1918, Lillebil played leading roles in Reinhardt's pantomimes 'Die Schäferin', 'Lillebils Hochzeitsreise', 'Prima Ballerina', 'Sumurun' and 'Die grüne Flöte' (The Green Flute).
In Berlin, Lillebil Christensen made her film debut with a supporting role in E. A. Dupont's crime story Europa postlagernd/Europe Mail Storage (Ewald André Dupont, 1918) starring Max Landa and Lu Synd. In 1919, she married writer-director Tancred Ibsen, the grandson of Henrik Ibsen and Nobel laureate Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. The young couple travelled through Europe. Lillebil played one of the two leading female roles in the Swedish film drama Sången om den eldröda blomman/Song of the Scarlet Flower (Mauritz Stiller, 1919), with Lars Hanson. It was a huge success. A year later, the Danish director Urban Gad brought her back to Berlin to play the central role of Paris dancer Eva Sorel alongside Conrad Veidt and Fritz Kortner in the two-part film Christian Wahnschaffe (Urban Gad, 1920-1921).
She also appeared in the Norwegian film Pan (Harald Schwenzen, 1922) with Gerd Egede Nissen, based on a novel by Knut Hamsun. In 1921, her son Tancred was born and in 1923, the family settled permanently in Norway. She was engaged by the Centralteatret, first for the pantomime 'Scaramouche' (1923) with music by Jean Sibelius, then for the play 'Kameliadamen', a production of Alexandre Dumas fils' 'The Lady of the Camellias', and a year later Ibsen appeared in the revue theatre Chat Noir. Her songs, dances and parodies became very popular and she gave guest performances in London, Paris, Stockholm and Copenhagen.
German postcard by Photochemie, no.K. 2294. Max Landa as detective Joe Deebs and Lillebil Christensen in Europa postlagerend/Europe poste restante (Ewald André Dupont, 1918).
One of Norway's most distinguished stage actresses ever
From 1928 to 1956, Lillebil Ibsen was a member of the ensemble at Oslo's Det Nye Teater (The New Theatre). She played classical comedy roles as well as a series of Ibsen characters, such as Nora in 'Nora or A Doll's House' or Mrs Alving in 'Ghosts'. She became one of Norway's most distinguished stage actresses ever. In 1931, Tancred Ibsen directed Norway's first feature-length sound film, the comedy Den store barnedåpen/The Great Christening (Tancred Ibsen, 1931). Lillebil did not appear in this film but she starred in her husband's experimental comedy Op med hodet/Cheer Up! (Tancred Ibsen, 1934). The film title is a reference to the opening line of a poem in Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's novel 'En glad Gut' (A Happy Boy).
She also appeared in the Swedish melodrama Lika inför lagen (Gustaf Bergman, 1931) with Karin Swanström and Unno Henning. It was an alternative language version of the Paramount production Manslaughter (George Abbott, 1930) and was filmed at Les Studios Paramount in Joinville-le-Pont, France. Tancred Ibsen would 'dominate the Norwegian film industry in the 1930s. During the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, Tancred was arrested in 1943. He was imprisoned in Schildberg and then Luckenwalde until the camp was liberated.
Lillebil and Tancred Ibsen co-directed the film Et spøkelse forelsker seg/A ghost falls in love (1946) starring Per Aabel. She also acted in a few more films, including the Swedish mystery Mannekäng i rött/Mannequin in Red (Arne Mattsson, 1958) with Anita Björk, where she played a notable supporting role as a fashion house mogul. This popular film is part of the Hillman-thriller series, directed by Arne Mattsson and written by Folke Mellvig. The cult series contains five mysteries with the name of a colour in the title. In 1979, she reunited with director Mattson for her final film, Somewhere, Sometime (Arne Mattson, 1979).
From 1956 to 1969, Lillebil was a permanent member of Oslo's Nationaltheatret. She appeared in many classic plays by G.B. Shaw, Moliére, Henrik Ibsen and William Shakespeare. She enjoyed particular success in Friedrich Dürrenmatt's revenge drama 'Der Besuch der alten Dame' (The Visit of the Old Lady, 1957) and Edward Albee's 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' (1964). She also successfully played the part of Abby Brewster in Joseph Kesselring's comedy 'Arsenic and Old Lace' (1968). In 1961, she received a Critics' Award for her role as Mrs. Patrick Campbell in Jerome Kilty's two-person play 'Dear Liar' with Per Aabel. She played 'Mrs. Pat' more than 300 times in Norway and neighbouring countries since its premiere in 1961, both on stage and in radio and television theatre versions.
Lillebil Ibsen published her autobiography 'Det begynte med dansen' (It began with the dance) in 1961. Ibsen was decorated Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1969. When Ibsen celebrated her seventieth anniversary as a performing artist in 1981, she once again played Mrs Pat in 'Dear Liar'. In 1983, she received the Karl Gerhards Hederspris, a Scandinavian art award. Lillebil Ibsen died in Oslo in 1989 aged 90. She was married to Tancred Ibsen from 1919 till his death in 1978. Their son Tancred Ibsen Jr. (1921-2015) was a Norwegian diplomat. Tancred and Lillebil Ibsen are buried at Vår Frelsers gravlund, Oslo.
Swedish postcard by Forlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 989. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern, Stockholm. Lars Hanson and Lillebil Christensen in Sången om den eldröda blomman/Song of the Scarlet Flower (Mauritz Stiller, 1919).
Swedish postcard by Forlag Nordisk Konst, Stockholm, no. 990. Photo: Svenska Biografteatern, Stockholm. Lars Hanson and Lillebil Christensen in Sången om den eldröda blomman/Song of the Red Flower (Mauritz Stiller, 1919).
Sources: Cresta (IMDb), Store Norske Leksikon (Norwegian) Wikipedia (Dutch, German and English) and IMDb.
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