Emilie Sannom

Emilie Kirstine Valborg Sannom (29 September 1886 – 30 August 1931) was a Danish silent film actress and aerial acrobat. Throwing herself into the castle moat in Nordisk Film's Hamlet, she became the first stunt woman in Danish cinema. She went on to play dangerous roles in numerous films, sometimes as the leading actress. Sannon retired from the cinema in 1923 but continued to perform on the stage, in circuses or making risky parachute jumps. In 1931, at an air show in Grenaa, some 8,000 spectators saw her fall to her death when her parachute failed to open.

Biography Born on 29 September 1886 in Nørrebro, near Copenhagen, Emilie Kirstine Valborg Sannom was the daughter of the seaman Fritz Emil Sophus Sannom (1854–1935) and Johanne Kamilla Hansen (1861–1936). When she was 11 months old, the family moved to Florida.

Sannom was passionately fond of flying. She started taking lessons in 1918 but never qualified as a pilot. She appeared in shows around Denmark, performing aerial acrobatics. One of her stunts was to throw herself from a plane opening her parachute at the last minute. In one such show in Grenaa on 30 August 1931, the parachute failed to open and she fell to her death.

Personal life Sannom's aunt, Charlotte Sannom, was a painter, writer, and missionary.