Hungarian postcard by Projectograph. Caption: Henry Seemann, film actor at Nordisk Films Kompagni.
Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Copenhagen. Henry Seemann in the operetta 'Valsedrømme' (Ein Walzertraum) (1907) by Oscar Strauss.
The most elegant gentleman of Danish operetta
Henry Frederik Seemann was born in 1875 in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. He was the son of wine merchant Emil Seemann and his wife Cathinka Elisabeth Edvardine Droskau. He trained as a wholesaler, but in 1902 chose to pursue acting and joined the Frederiksberg Theatre.
In 1904, he debuted in 'Det grønne håb' (The Green Hope) and soon became a much sought-after operetta actor. From 1907 to 1913, he performed at Casino under the direction of Herman Bang, replacing Holger Reenberg as Danilo in “The Merry Widow,” among other roles.
Seemann later became a star operetta singer at Scala, playing numerous roles in all of Scala's revues. His greatest success was as Schubert in 'Das Dreimäderlhaus'. Seemann had an excellent voice and was an adored operetta actor and singing enthusiast, described as the most elegant gentleman of Danish operetta.
In 1908, Henry Seemann made his film debut with Nordisk Film, where he appeared in around 60 silent films. He had major parts in Doktor Gar el Hama (Eduard Schnedler-Sørensen, 1911) with Aage Hertel in the title role.
He often played roles in films starring the Danish superstar Valdemar Psilander, including Mormonens Offer / A Victim of the Mormons (August Blom, 1911), Det bødes der for/ Vengeance (August Blom, 1911), Livets Løgn / A Fatal Lie (August Blom, 1912), also with Gerda Krum, Scenen og livet/ Stage and Life (August Blom, 1912), also with Gerda Krum and Clara Wieth.
Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Copenhagen. Henry Seemann in the operetta 'Valsedrømme' (Ein Walzertraum) (1907) by Oscar Strauss.
Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Copenhagen, no. 687. Henry Seemann and Gerda Krum in the Franz Lehar operetta 'Der Mann mit den drei Frauen' (Manden med de tre koner) (1907).
A leading man at Nordisk
For Nordisk, Henry Seemann had male leads in Bagtalelsens gift / The Poison of Slander (dir. unknown, 1912) and Kærlighedens firkløver/ The Four-leaf Clover of Love (Alfred Cohn, 1914), and he had a major part in Doctor X (Robert Dinesen, 1915) with Gunnar Tolnaes.
He played detective Jackson opposite Aage Hertel as the title character in parts III, IV and V of Manden med de ni Fingre/ The Man With Nine Fingers (A.W. Sandberg, 1916-1917). In Hjertestorme / Storms of the heart (August Blom, 1916), he is the ophthalmologist whose patient (Clara Wieth) falls in love with him.
In Troen, der frelser / Faith That Saves (Alexander Christian, 1917), he is a Western diplomat leading a happy life with his Japanese wife (Clara Wieth), until his assistant falls in love with her. From 1913 to 1914, Seemann also appeared in a small number of films for Kinografen. After 1918, Seemann's film career dwindled. The last film he acted in was Klovnen / The Clown (A. W. Sandberg, 1926).
After leaving the stage and screen in the late 1920s, Seemann obtained a cinema license for Bagsværd Biograf and later for Kinoteatret in Lyngby, which he ran together with his wife, actress Agnes Nørlund Seemann. In his spare time, he did a lot of work with dog breeding and introduced several breeds to Denmark. In 1941, he sold the 'Haraldslund' property near Lyngby to the municipality of Gladsaxe, which needed part of the land to expand the Ring Road between Lyngby and Bagsværd.
He was married to Bertha Amalie Marie Seemann, née Jakobsen. In 1919, he married Agnes Nørlund Seemann in Gentofte Church. Henry Seemann died in 1948 and was buried at Gentofte Cemetery.
Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, no. 1681. Henry Seemann and Gerda Christophersen in the Oscar Strauss operetta 'Ein Walzertraum' (1907).
Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Stockholm, no. 927. Photo: H. Paetz. In 1910, Gerda Krum, then called Krum-Juncker, performed opposite Henry Seemann at the Casino in Copenhagen in the operetta 'Greven af Luxemburg' (Der Graf von Luxemburg) (1909) by Franz Léhar.
Source: Wikipedia (Danish), Danskefilm (Danish) and IMDb.
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