Helle Virkner

Acting

Helle Virkner

Born September 15, 1925 · Gammel Rye, Aarhus, Denmark

Died June 10, 2009 · aged 83

Helle Genie Lotinga was born in Aarhus to Jewish rentier Moritz Lotinga and Ellen Larsine (née Rasmussen). Her parents divorced when she was 5, at which point she moved with her mother from Old Rye to Copenhagen. Her paternal family escaped to Sweden doing the occupation of Denmark in 1943. Helle changed her last name from Lotinga to Virkner in 1944. Helle Virkner was married three times. First t…

Known For

Topsy TurvyTopsy Turvy · 1983
Topsy Turvy
4.11983
MovieRomanceComedy
An uptight young man and his equally uptight family moves next door to a hedonistic clan, including the beautiful, sexy Topsy, who charms the new neighbor boy Tom. But Tom discovers that the price of loving Topsy may be higher than he's willing to pay -- she insists on absolute honesty and a life and love without possession or exclusivity.
Flickering LightsFlickering Lights · 2000
Flickering Lights
7.22000
MovieActionComedy
Four small gangsters from Copenhagen trick a gangster boss: they take over 4,000,000 kroner which they were supposed to bring him. Trying to escape to Barcelona they are forced to stop in the countryside, in an old, wrecked house, hiding there for several weeks. Slowly, one after another, they realize, that they would like to stay there, start a new life.
TjærehandlerenTjærehandleren · 1971
Tjærehandleren
5.21971
MovieCrime
Audun’s son is killed in an accident while the mother is in bed with her lover. Ten years later is Audun on the road living as a salesman and on the lone women that he meet and steal money from.
3 må man være3 må man være · 1959
3 må man være
7.71959
MovieComedy
A lawyer has a wife and a mistress. He loves them both equally high and together, they're the perfect wife.
The KingdomThe Kingdom · 1994
The Kingdom
7.81994
MovieDramaFantasy
At The Kingdom, Denmark's most technologically advanced hospital, a number of strange and otherworldly events begin occurring, much to the dismay of its doctors and patients. A ghostly ambulance appears and disappears, the voice of a little girl calls to a patient in an elevator shaft, and a doctor's fetus begins growing at an alarming rate.
Den kære familieDen kære familie · 1962
Den kære familie
7.21962
MovieComedy
Copenhagen around the turn of the century - December 29th, 1899. Great merchant and shipowner Jacob Friis is one of Copenhagen's richest men. His home is the gathering place for family and friends. Since his wife's dead 10 years earlier, he shares sense of family and business acumen with his three daughters. Jacob wants to find a nobleman for his daughter Emily. Baron Claes is a very charming gentleman, but also a great womanizer...
We Meet at Tove'sWe Meet at Tove's · 1946
We Meet at Tove's
6.71946
MovieComedy
Eight old school friends meet at Tove's to discuss what has happened in the last 10 years. Some have made careers, others have become homemakers, some are married and others alone. The community is intact, but what no one knows is that Tove is hiding a big, unhappy secret.
Old MaidsOld Maids · 1966
Old Maids
9.51966
MovieMysteryComedy
Bettina Eriksen, manager of her Uncle Teodor's nursing home, is being framed for murder. With the help of 2 older ladies, Bettina sets out to find out the murderer's identity and motive.

Filmography

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The Olsen Gang in JutlandThe Olsen Gang in Jutland · 1971
The Olsen Gang in Jutland
7.01971
MovieFamilyComedy
The Olsen gang in Jutland. Ones again Egon Olsen has a plan when he gets out of Vridslose State Prison. He has found out that the Germans left a large sum of money (in American dollars and gold bars) in one of their commando bunkers, when they were defeated in 1945; the only problem it's in Jutland. Egon, Benny and Kjeld "appropriate" a car and drives to Jutland along with Kjelds wife and child Yvonne and Borge. They look forward to fooling the the people in Jutland, but of course, things don't go quite as planed. It ends with Benny, Kjeld, Borge and Yvonne sitting in the train back to Copenhagen, were they are overtaken by Egon in his car on the road next to the track. This is the last time the Olsen gang goes to Jutland.

Karen

The House at ChristianshavnThe House at Christianshavn · 1970
The House at Christianshavn
8.01970
SeriesComedyDrama
The series follows the residents of an apartment building on Copenhagen's Christianshavn, as they go about their daily lives and challenges. There is Olsen, a mover with an old fashion view of the world, Clausen who runs the local pet shop, Egon the career focused assistant, their wives who work hard to keep their spouses lives together, the young couple Tue and Rikke who recently moved in, the hard working caretaker Meyer, who never puts in to much effort, and of course Emma, the innkeeper of Rottehullet, where all the important decisions are made while running up the bar tab. The series was produced by Nordisk Film for Danmarks Radio TV station between the years 1970-77. The series' first director was Ebbe Langberg, then Erik Balling and Tom Hedegaard respectively. The series was conceived by an author team of well-known Danish authors such Leif Panduro, Benny Andersen, and Lise Nørgaard.

Fru. Olsen

MatadorMatador · 1978
Matador
9.11978
SeriesDrama
Matador is a Danish TV series produced and shown between 1978 and 1982. It is set in the fictional Danish town of Korsbæk between 1929 and 1947. It follows the lives of a range of characters from across the social spectrum, focusing specifically on the rivalry between the families of two businessmen: The banker Hans Christian Varnæs, an established local worthy, and social climber Mads Skjern, who arrives in town as the series opens. The name Matador was taken from the localised edition of the boardgame Monopoly, also the series' tentative English title. In addition, in contemporary Danish a "matador" is often used to describe a business tycoon, in the series referring to the character of Mads Skjern and his craftiness as a self-made entrepreneur. Directed by famed Danish film maker Erik Balling, Matador was the idea of author Lise Nørgaard who wrote the bulk of the episodes alongside Karen Smith, Jens Louis Petersen and Paul Hammerich. The series is one of the most well-known and popular examples of Danish television and represents the peak of longtime development of Danish TV drama by the public service channel Danmarks Radio. The series has become part of the modern self-understanding of Danes, partly because of its successful mix of melodrama and a distinct warm Danish humour in the depiction of characters, which were portrayed by a wide range of the most popular Danish actors at the time; but also not least because of its accurate portrayal of a turbulent Denmark from around the start of the Great Depression and through Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark in World War II.

Elisabeth Friis