Nils Olaf Chrisander was a Swedish actor and film director in the early part of the twentieth-century.

Born Waldemar Olaf Chrisander in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, Chrisander's first screen appearances as an actor were in German and Swedish silent films in the mid-1910s. His first motion picture role role was in the 1915 Carl Schönfeld-directed German silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 drama Um ein Weib.

As an actor, Chrisander is possibly best recalled for starring as "Erik the Phantom" in the now lost

Lost film

A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...

 1916 Ernst Matray-directed German adaptaion of Gaston Leroux

Gaston Leroux

Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction.In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera , which has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, notably the 1925 film starring Lon...

's novel The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera

Le Fantôme de l'Opéra is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialisation in "Le Gaulois" from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910...

opposite Norwegian actress Aud Egede-Nissen

Aud Egede-Nissen

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

. Matray's version is the first film adaptation of Leroux's 1909-1910 serialized novel. In 1917, he appeared opposite the popular Polish film actress Pola Negri

Pola Negri

Pola Negri was a Polish stage and film actress who achieved worldwide fame for her tragedienne and femme fatale roles from the 1910s through the 1940s during the Golden Era of Hollywood film. She was the first European film star to be invited to Hollywood, and became a great American star. She...

 in her first role in a German production, Nicht lange täuschte mich das Glück. In 1919, he co-directed the German silent film Alraune und der Golem with actor and director Paul Wegener

Paul Wegener

Paul Wegener was a German actor, writer and film director known for his pioneering role in German expressionist cinema.-Stage and early film career:...

.

After performing in a film serial for director Karl Gerhardt opposite actress Lil Dagover

Lil Dagover

Lil Dagover was a German stage, film and television actress whose career spanned nearly six decades.-Early life:...

 from 1920 to 1921, Chrisander began his career in Germany as a director. In total, he directed three films in Germany, before relocating to the United States where he directed two dramatic films: 1927's Fighting Love, starring Jetta Goudal

Jetta Goudal

Jetta Goudal was a Dutch-born American actress, successful in Hollywood films of the silent film era.-Early life:Goudal was born as Juliette Henriette Goudeket in 1891, daughter of Mozes Goudeket , a wealthy, Orthodox Jewish diamond cutter in Amsterdam, and Geertruida Warradijn...

, Victor Varconi

Victor Varconi

Victor Varconi was a highly successful silent film star in Hungary. Born Mihály Várkonyi in Kisvárda, Austria-Hungary, he was the first Hungarian actor to make a film in the United States....

 and Henry B. Walthall

Henry B. Walthall

Henry Brazeale Walthall was an American film actor.-Career:Walthall began his career as a stage actor, appearing on Broadway in a supporting role in William Vaughn Moody's The Great Divide in 1906–1908. His career in movies began in 1908, in the film Rescued from an Eagle's Nest, which also...

 for Cecil B. DeMille Pictures

Cecil B. DeMille

Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...

, and that same year, The Heart Thief, starring Joseph Schildkraut

Joseph Schildkraut

Joseph Schildkraut was an Austrian stage and film actor.-Early life:Born in Vienna, Austria, Schildkraut was the son of stage actor Rudolph Schildkraut. The younger Schildkraut moved to the United States in the early 1900s. He appeared in many Broadway productions...

 and Lya De Putti

Lya De Putti

Lya De Putti was a Hungarian film actress of the silent era, noted for her portrayal of vamp characters.-Early life and career:...

.

By 1930, he was living at S. Gramercy Place in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. He died in 1947.

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