Aase Bye

Beautiful leading lady of Norwegian theater, known for her many great performances at The National Theater in Oslo for almost fifty years. She was born at Vika, in central Kristiania, (now Oslo) and among her neighbours were famous playwright Henrik Ibsen. She and her older brother lost their parents early, Aase Bye was only 16 years old. From her stage debut at The National Theater in 1923 as Solveig in "Peer Gynt" (Ibsen) she played Eliza in "Pygmalion" (Shaw) Hanna Glawari in "The Merry Widow" (Lehar) and Blanche in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (Williams) among many others until retirement in 1974. In Films and TV she was rarely seen, but in some early screenings we can all see her gracious way of acting. In 1972 a great role at the stage, as Kathleen in "Home" (Storey) was adapted for Television. She had a wonderful diction, and was a much used reader, in Radio, TV, and in Concert halls.