Bodil Rosing


Bodil Rosing was a Danish-American film actress in the silent and sound eras.

Early years

The daughter of a music dean and his wife, a well-known pianist, Bodil Hammerich studied acting at the Royal Danish Theatre in the 1890s.

Career

Rosing worked as a stage actress in Denmark, performing for three years with the Royal Danish Theatre. During the early 1920s, she made one or two stage appearances on Broadway, including Fools Errant, while raising her children alone. She was retired from acting when she came to Hollywood in 1924, where her daughter married actor Monte Blue. There, she was suddenly chosen to play a film role, in Pretty Ladies.
Rosing was under studio contract at MGM and often played matronly roles such as servants, housekeepers, cooks, or mothers. Her most notable role was perhaps Janet Gaynor's faithful maid in F.W. Murnau's silent film . With the advent of sound film, she mostly portrayed foreigners and proved herself an extremely versatile actress in a variety of ethnicities, in about 85 films until her death. She appeared as the wife of her Danish compatriot, Jean Hersholt, in The Painted Veil with Greta Garbo, replacing the originally cast Beulah Bondi to bring a warmer look to the role. She also played the German neighbor of Lionel Barrymore in You Can't Take It With You by Frank Capra.

Personal life

Rosing married a Norwegian doctor, Einer Jansen, in 1898; the couple had four children. They divorced in 1919.

Death

Rosing died of a heart attack, aged 64. Shortly before her death, Rosing stated about her acting: "My goal has always been to reach the heart of my audience."

Partial filmography