Lillebil Ibsen

Lillebil Ibsen (born Sofie Parelius Monrad Krohn, 6 August 1899 – 22 August 1989) was a Norwegian dancer and actress.

Personal life Lillebil was born in Kristiania, as the daughter of engineer Georg Monrad Krohn and actress Gyda Martha Kristine Andersen (later Gyda Christensen). She married pilot and film director Tancred Ibsen on 25 August 1919. Their son Tancred Ibsen Jr., born in 1921, was a Norwegian diplomat.

Career Lillebil Ibsen took ballet lessons at an early age with her mother, who was a professional choreographer and ballet instructor. She made her début as a dancer at Nationaltheatret in 1911, in the ballet pantomime Prinsessen på erten, an adaptation of the story The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen. She then studied ballet with Hans Beck in Copenhagen, and later with Russian choreographer Mikhail Fokine. She started performing in Berlin under supervision of Max Reinhardt when she was sixteen years old, and played leading roles in Reinhardt's pantomimes Die Schäferin, Lillebils Hochzeitsreise, Prima Ballerina, Sumurun and Die grüne Flöte.

Ibsen's first film role was in Sången om den eldröda blomman, in 1919. She made her début as a revue artist at Chat Noir in 1924. She also played for the television theatre Fjernsynsteatret.

Ibsen authored a autobiography titled Det begynte med dansen. She was decorated Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1969. She died in Oslo in 1989.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes1918 Europe, General Delivery 1919 Sången om den eldröda blomman Eli 1920 Christian Wahnschaffe Eva Sorel 1921 Die Flucht aus dem goldenen Kerker Eva Sorel 1922 Pan Eva 1931 Lika inför lagen Sonja 1934 Op med hodet! Lill, Ballettpike 1955 Arthurs forbrytelse Diana 1958 Mannekäng i rött (Mannequin in Red) Thyra Lennberg 1968 Prinsessa på villovägar Aunt Augusta 1979 Somewhere, Sometime (final film role)