Jens Gunderssen was a Norwegian singer, songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

, stage producer and theatre director.

Early and personal life

Gunderssen was born in Drammen

Drammen

Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...

, as son of Karl Gunderssen and Ågot Uhl. His father was a prominent local politician, and mayor in Drammen from 1937 to 1950.

Career

Gunderssen studied law, and finished his cand.jur. degree in 1937 at the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

. While being a student he played amateur theatre. The leader of Det Nye Teater

Det Nye Teater

Det Nye Teater was a theatre that opened in Oslo in 1929, and ended as an independent theatre in 1959, when it merged with Folketeatret to form Oslo Nye Teater. The theatre's original purpose was to support contemporary Norwegian drama.-History:...

 saw him playing, and offered him a role. Gunderssen made his professional stage debut in April 1939 at Det Nye Teater, where he worked until 1950. After the Second World War, he took part in organizational work. He was chairman of the Norwegian Actors' Equity Association

Norwegian Actors' Equity Association

The Norwegian Actors' Equity Association is an association of Norwegian actors. Its main purpose is to improve actors' working conditions, and important issues during the early years were contractual conditions, pensions, and regulation of foreign ensembles...

 from 1946 to 1950. He was chairman for Norsk Skuespillerråd from 1947 to 1949, and board member of Nordisk Teaterutvalg from 1947 to 1950. He was a member of Statens Filmråd from 1951. He was employed by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation as leader for Radioteatret

Radioteatret

Radioteatret is a department of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation which produces audio plays for radio broadcasting. It was established in 1927.-Directors:...

 from 1950 to 1952. He worked at actor at Folketeatret from 1952, and as leader from 1955 to 1959. Here he got acclaim for his production of Dylan Thomas' play Under Milk Wood

Under Milk Wood

Under Milk Wood is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, adapted later as a stage play. A movie version, Under Milk Wood directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released during 1972....

. He worked for Oslo Nye Teater

Oslo Nye Teater

Oslo Nye Teater in Oslo is one of Norway's most visited theatres.The theatre opened in 1959 as a merge between Det Nye Teater and Folketeatret, and consists of four stages; Oslo Nye Hovedscenen, Oslo Nye Centralteatret, Oslo Nye Trikkestallen and Oslo Nye Caféscenen.-External links:*...

from 1959 to 1969.

He also played minor roles in the films Gullfjellet (1941), Den forsvundne pølsemaker (1941), Jeg drepte --! (1944) and Hans Nielsen Hauge (1961).

Gunderssen was co-founder of Visens Venner in 1944. He wrote several songs, and issued the song books Små viser om små ting (1943), Hu Maja (1945), Ballade! Jens Gunderssens visebok (1949) and På trammen (1962).