Arne Svendsen


Arne Svendsen was a Norwegian songwriter, folk poet, actor and revue writer.
He was born in Fosnes in Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. In 1910, he left home and settled in Fredrikstad, where he first worked as a hairdresser and barber. In 1911, he wrote his first revue for the Fredrikstad Arbeiderforening, followed by five new revues annually until 1920. From 1921, Svendsen was associated with Chat Noir, a cabaret and revue theatre in Oslo. He wrote the revue, Midt i planeten together with Per Kvist in 1922. He also collaborated with song writer Finn Bo. From 1937 he worked with teams of various revue writers including Bias Bernhoft, Arild Feldborg and Erik Diesen. They wrote music for revues which appeared at Det Nye Teater, Carl Johan Teatret and Edderkoppen Theatre, and with more irregular intervals for Chat Noir. He was for many years chairman of the Norwegian Comedy Writers' Association. Svendsen wrote more than 2,500 songs during his career, in addition to more than one hundred revues. Among his notable songs were Svigermor og Evensen og kjerringa og jeg, first performed by Einar Rose, En liten gylden ring, sung by Jens Book Jensen, and E'hel ei, e'halv ei, introduced by Lalla Carlsen in the Chat Noir revue Kjør Storgata.
He was married at age 19 to Jenny Claudine Andersen. That marriage was dissolved in 1933 and he married Lilly Margrethe Andersen. He was the father of composer and organizer Allison Svendsen and singer and theatre director Herbert Herding-Herberth .

Filmography