Ella Hval

Ella Hval (born Ella Signe Quist Kristoffersen) (7 January 1904 – 17 December 1994) was a Norwegian actress. She was principally a stage actress and was also an instructor and teacher at the Nationaltheatret student school.

Personal life Ella was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. She was a daughter of Kristoffer Kristoffersen and Anne Marie Quist. In her younger days she was active within the labour movement, where she took part in the entertainment by playing amateur theatre. Here she met the poet Rudolf William Nilsen (1901–29), and they got married in 1924. In 1929, Nilsen died of tuberculosis after only five years of marriage. In 1932 she remarried to physician Einar Hval (1901–1958).

Career She started acting professionally in 1932, when she appeared at the Oslo revue theater Chat Noir. At Søilen Teater in Oslo in 1932 she played the character "Anna" in the play Flammen by Hans Müller-Einigen (1882-1950). Her breakthrough was with the character "Vibeke" in Oppbrudd by Helge Krog (1898-1962) at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen in 1936–1937. Among her roles in Bergen were the characters "Gina" in Ibsen's play The Wild Duck, and "Rebekka" in Rosmersholm. She worked for this theatre until 1940.

From 1945 she worked for Nationaltheatret in Oslo, and played leading roles in plays such as Sartre's No Exit and Wiers-Jenssen's Anne Pedersdotter. She appeared as guest star in various theatres, including Radioteatret, where she played more than one hundred roles. For her radio appearances she was awarded the prize Blå Fugl in 1986.