Ada Kramm was a Norwegian

Norwegians

Norwegians constitute both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegian people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in United States, Canada and Brazil.-History:Towards the end of the 3rd...

 stage and film actress whose career spanned more than six decades.

Early life and career

Born in Vardø

Vardø

is a town and a municipality in Finnmark county in the extreme northeast part of Norway.Vardø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . The law required that all cities should be separated from their rural districts, but because of a low population and very few voters, this was...

, Finnmark

Finnmark

or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, her parents were the Norwegian politician Adam Egede-Nissen

Adam Egede-Nissen

Adam Egede-Nissen , Norwegian Communist politician. Born in Levanger and he started his political involvement in the Liberal Party of Norway and was elected to the Storting in 1900. In 1905 he broke with the Liberal Party and joined the Norwegian Labour Party and became one of its leaders...

 (1868–1952) and Georga ("Goggi") Wilhelma Ellertsen (1871–1959). She had ten siblings; six of her siblings, Aud Egede-Nissen

Aud Egede-Nissen

Aud Richter was a Norwegian actress, appearing in many early 20th century German films.- Biography :...

 (1893–1974), Gerd Grieg

Gerd Grieg

Gerd Grieg, née Egede-Nissen was a Norwegian actress.She was born in Bergen. Her parents were Georga Wilhelma Ellertsen and politician Adam Egede-Nissen . Her siblings Aud Egede-Nissen, Ada Kramm, Stig Egede-Nissen, Lill Egede-Nissen and Gøril Havrevold became an actors as well...

 (1895–1988), Oscar Egede-Nissen (1903–1976), Stig Egede-Nissen (1907–1988), Lill Egede-Nissen (1909–1962) and Gøril Havrevold (1914–1992) would all become stage and film actors. When she was eleven years old, the family moved to Stavanger

Stavanger

Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...

, where she began studying at the Stavanger Faste Scene (Stavanger Fixed Scene) theatre. She made her stage début in 1916 in Selma Lagerlöf

Selma Lagerlöf

Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf was a Swedish author. She was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and most widely known for her children's book Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige ....

's Dunungen.

In 1917, Kramm accompanied her two older sisters Aud and Gerd to Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 where the three young women opened a small film production and distribution company called the Egede Nissen Film Company mbH The trio used the studio to promote themselves in film roles directed by George Alexander from 1917 until 1920. Kramm appeared in a number of crime serials as the character Ada van Ehler beginning in 1917. In 1920 she married German violinist Hugo Kramm and began using her married name as a professional moniker and the young newly-weds returned to Norway.

From 1921 until 1924 Kramm appeared at the Bergen

Bergen

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....

 and Den Nationale Scene. After her husband joined the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra

Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra

The Oslo-Filharmonien is a symphony orchestra based in Oslo, Norway. The orchestra was founded in 1919, and has since 1977 had its home in the Oslo Concert Hall. The orchestra consists of 69 musicians in the string section, 16 in the woodwinds, 15 in brass, 5 in percussionists, 1 harpist, and 1...

 in 1924 they moved to Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

 and she worked at Det Nye Teater (The New Theatre) from 1925 until 1928, the Centralteatret (Central Theatre) from 1928 to 1934 and later at the Nationaltheatret

Nationaltheatret

The National Theatre in Oslo is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts.The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiania Theatre, which was founded in 1829...

 (National Theatre). She also returned to film, and appeared in roles in the 1928 Norwegian-German coproduction of Schneeschuhbanditen opposite her sister Aud Egede-Nissen and Austrian actor Paul Richter

Paul Richter

Paul Richter was an Austrian film actor. He married the actress Aud Egede-Nissen and was stepfather to Georg Richter.-Selected filmography:* The Indian Tomb * Die Nibelungen * The Sorceror...

 and 1930's Eskimo opposite Mona Mårtenson

Mona Mårtenson

Monica Ingeborg Elisabeth "Mona" Mårtenson was a Swedish film actress. She appeared in 28 films between 1923 and 1949.She was born and died in Stockholm, Sweden.-Selected filmography:* I kantonnement...

 and again with Paul Richter.

Later career and death

Kramm spent the next several decades on Norwegian stages in productions by Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...

, August Strindberg

August Strindberg

Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...

, Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams

Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...

 and Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller

Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...

. At age 72 she appeared in the role of Aunt Julie in Hedda Gabler

Hedda Gabler

Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...

on a tour of Japan. After over six decades on stage, she went into semi-retirement and occasionally made appearances on Norwegian television. Her last role before her death was in the 1979 Anja Breien

Anja Breien

Anja Breien is a Norwegian film director and screenwriter. She directed 14 films between 1969 and 2005. Her film Arven was entered into the 1979 Cannes Film Festival.-Filmography:* Uten tittel...

-directed, Palme d'Or

Palme d'Or

The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...

 nominated dramatic film Arven

Arven (1979 film)

Arven is a 1979 Norwegian drama film directed by Anja Breien. It was entered into the 1979 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Espen Skjønberg - Jon Skaug* Anita Björk - Märta Skaug* Häge Juve - Hanna Skaug* Jan Hårstad - Jonas Skaug...

(Heritage) with Espen Skjønberg

Espen Skjønberg

Espen Skjønberg is an actor of stage, screen and television.He made his first movie appearance as a child in the 1937 Norwegian classic Fant. His stage debut came reciting poetry at the Norwegian theatre Chat Noir in 1945...

, Anita Björk

Anita Björk

Anita Björk is a Swedish actress.Born in Tällberg, Dalarna, Anita Björk attended Dramatens elevskola in 1942-45....

 and Jan Hårstad

Jan Hårstad

Jan Edgar Hårstad is a Norwegian actor and political writer.Hårstad played Johannes Rosmer in NRK Fjernsynsteatret's production of Rosmersholm in 1978...

.

Ada Kramm died in 1981 in Oslo, Norway and was buried in the city's Vestre gravlund

Vestre gravlund

Vestre gravlund is a cemetery in the Frogner borough of Oslo, Norway, located next to the Borgen metro station. At , it is the largest cemetery in Norway...

 cemetery.

Awards

• Teaterkritikerprisen (Theatre Critics' Award), 1947–1948 for her role as Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie
  The Glass Menagerie
  The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
  
  by Tennessee Williams
• King's Medal of Merit in Gold
• Order of St. Olav, Knight, First Class, 1977