Knut Wigert

Knut Kirsebom Wigert (3 October 1916 – 14 June 2006) was a Norwegian actor, known for his many Ibsen roles and the establishment of an Ibsen museum in Oslo.

Personal life Knut Hansen was born in Skien as a son of Major Sigvald Hansen (1881–1954) and his wife Carmen Franciska Christina Kirsebom (1887–1951), and a younger brother of Sonja Wigert. He changed his last name to Wigert in 1935.

Wigert was married to Eva Nordlie from 1942 to 1946. In January 1950 he married ship-owner Sofie Helene Huitfeldt, née Olsen. The marriage lasted until her death in September 1989. He was a son-in-law of ship-owner Rudolf Olsen, and the family inherited large properties including the manor Dirhue at Tjøme. Wigert lost this to his step-children in an out-of-court settlement in 1993.

In 1991 he married for the third time, to journalist Vera Dietrichson Burkoff (1929–2007). He died in June 2006 in Oslo. He played "the pilot" in an adaptation of Karel Čapek's anti-Nazi play Matka (The Mother), which had dress rehearsal on 8 April 1940 and never premièred due to the German invasion of Norway the following day. He played a long series of Ibsen characters, such as "Hertug Skule" (from The Pretenders), "Peer" (from Peer Gynt), "Rosmer" (from Rosmersholm), "Brack" (from Hedda Gabler), "Helmer" (from A Doll's House), "Rubek" (from When We Dead Awaken), "Solness" (from The Master Builder), "Borkman" (from John Gabriel Borkman) and "Julian" (from Emperor and Galilean).

He made his film début in 1940, in the film Tante Pose, acted in the 1946 film Englandsfarere, and played the role "Fridtjof Nansen" in Bare et liv from 1968.

He was decorated with the Defence Medal 1940–1945, the Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal and the 1939–45 Star as well as the King's Medal of Merit in gold. He was also a supervisory council member of the National Theatre and board member of the companies Tinfos Papirfabrik and Olsen Daughter.

He was decorated as a Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1988 for his contributions to Norwegian theatre. He received the city of Oslo's cultural prize in 1992 for his initiative and efforts which resulted in the establishment of a Henrik Ibsen museum in Oslo. He received the Fritt Ord Honorary Award in 1996.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1940 Tante Pose Paul Waage, stud. med. 1940 Tørres Snørtevold Løytnanten 1946 Englandsfarere Harald Silju 1948 Trollfossen Borg, ingeniør 1955 The Summer Wind Blows 'Romeo' i radio extract Voice1968 Just a life – the story of Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Nansen 1974 Ransom Polson 1978 Autumn Sonata Professor Uncredited