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Carl Brisson

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Danish actor (1893–1958)

Carl Brisson
Brisson in 1935
BornCarl Frederik Ejnar
(1893-12-24)24 December 1893
Copenhagen, Denmark
Died25 September 1958(1958-09-25) (aged 64)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Occupation(s)Actor, Singer
Years active1918–1935
Spouse Cleo Willard Brisson ​ ​(m. 1915)​
Children1

Carl Brisson (24 December 1893 – 25 September 1958), born Carl Frederik Ejnar Pedersen, was a Danish film actor and singer. He appeared in 13 films between 1918 and 1935, including two silent films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In the 1934 film Murder at the Vanities, he introduced the popular song "Cocktails for Two".

Early years

Born in Copehnagen, Brisson was the son of Carl Pedersen and Kirsten Madstatter Pederseen. He had a brother. Before his acting and singing career, Brisson was a prizefighter. He won Denmark's amateur lightweight boxing championship when he was 15 and went on to become welterweight champion of Central Europe and Scandanavia. He boxed as Carl Pedersen, but when he became an entertainer he changed his last name to Brisson. That name "had been in Carl's family on his mother's side for a century, but went unused until Carl resurrected it for himself".

Career

Brisson's stage debut came as a dancer when he performed with his sister in Denmark in 1916. He went on to sing in night clubs and revues while touring in South Africa and Sweden, and he performed in London and provincial music halls in England in 1921. An article in the South African Pictorial magazine in 1927 called him "the darling of the gods at the Palladium". Brisson's admirers included teenager Greta Lovisa Gustafason (later known as actress Greta Garbo). Her locker at a shop where she worked "was covered with pictures" of Brisson. After she carved "GG loves CB" on Brisson's dressing-room door, he mentioned her to Mauritz Stiller, who then sought her for his next film.

Brisson attracted attention when he appeared as Prince Danilo in the 1923 London production of The Merry Widow at Daly's. He appeared in the same role when it was revived at the Lyceum Theatre the following year, and frequently reprised.

In August 1924, Brisson toured the provinces as Karl in Katja the Dancer, eventually returning to London to appear in The Apache at the London Palladium, and later made his British screen debut in Hitchcock's The Ring.

He starred in the "mystery show with music" radio program A Voice in the Night on the Mutual Broadcasting System that debuted on May 3, 1946.

Personal life and death

Brisson was married to Cleo Willard Brisson from 1915 to his death, and was the father of producer Frederick Brisson and father-in-law of Frederick's wife, actress Rosalind Russell. He entered Municipal Hospital in Copenhagen on July 1, 1958, with jaundice. He died of jaundice there on September 26, 1958, aged 62. A requiem mass was offered in Copenhagen on September 29, 1958, with burial in West Cemetery.

Honors

in 1949 Brisson received the Order of the Dannebrog from King Frederick IX of Denmark and the Swedish Order of Vasa.

Filmography

References

  1. Hans J. Wollstein (1994). Strangers in Hollywood: the history of Scandinavian actors in American films from 1910 to World War II. Scarecrow Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-8108-2938-1.
  2. "Presenting... Carl Brisson". International Favorites (78rpm album set). Carl Brisson. New York City: Apollo Records. 1947. Album A-11.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ^ "Carl Brisson, 62, Stage Star, Dead: Romantic Lead in Musicals Was Noted as Prince in 'The Merry Widow'". The New York Times. Associated Press. 26 September 1958. p. 27. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  4. Marsh, Molly (30 September 1934). "A Son of the Vikings". Detroit Free Press. Screen & Radio Weekly. p. 119. Retrieved 28 January 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Dick, Bernard F. (18 September 2009). Forever Mame: The Life of Rosalind Russell. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-1-60473-139-2. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  6. "At the Palladium". South African Pictorial. 23 March 1927. p. 20. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  7. ^ Bainbridge, John (17 January 1955). "Greta's Haunted Path to Stardom". Life. pp. 76–78. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  8. e.g. August 1932, Diary of an English Debutante in Nazi Germany, https://debsdiaries.wordpress.com/
  9. "One Singer to Kill Two Birds on Mutual". Variety. 24 April 1946. p. 40. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  10. "Carl Brisson Critically Ill". The New York Times. Associated Press. 23 September 1958. p. 36. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  11. "Carl Brisson Buried: Requiem Mass Offered in Copenhagen for Singer". The New York Times. Reuters. 30 September 1958. p. 31. Retrieved 27 January 2025.

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