Dirch Passer

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Dirch Passer

Dirch Passer (right) with composer Aage StentoftThis image is a candidate for speedy deletion. It will be deleted after 2007-05-17.
Born May 18, 1926
Flag of Denmark Denmark
Died September 3, 1980
Years active 1947-1978


Dirch Hartvig Passer (May 18, 1926 - September 3, 1980) was a Danish actor. He was greatly renowned for his improvisational skills and, with a filmography comprising 110 movies, one of the most prolific Danish actors ever.

When he was young, Passer was very shy, and had a dream of becoming an actor, but consented to his father's wishes by attending J. Lauritzen's sea training school near Svendborg in 1944. But since he had ongoing problems with seasickness, he later started at De frederiksbergske teatres Elevskole.

During the 1950s he formed a duo with his colleague and friend Kjeld Petersen. Their revue sketches, based upon the contrast between Petersen’s mixture of joviality and desperate anger and Passer’s deadpan responses, are still classics. The sudden death of Kjeld Petersen in 1962 led Passer to avoid revues for some years, but he built up an individual reputation and in 1967 he returned to the revue gaining new victories. Many thin jokes in the scripts were greatly improved by his performance. In particular, his many amiable eccentrics and “nature experts” together with his sketch roles as a baby and as a nonsense "Russian"-speaking clown made him famous. From his later years must be mentioned an almost silent sketch in which he portrays a man’s vain attempt to stop smoking (also shown in West German TV). It was told that he could speak any language, however he wouldn't understand any of it, which was one of his good qualities.

He was often referred to as a loud actor in spite of the fact that under-acting was responsible for much of his force. A Danish critic, Jens Kistrup, once said that one of the secrets behind the comedy of Passer was its combination of elements that are normally regarded as incompatible. He possessed noisiness and discretion, loudness and quietness, boundlessness and complete control, craziness and softness — all this combined with a special intimacy with the audience. Among his inspirations he mentioned Joe E. Brown but he was also known for his admiration of the British comedian Tommy Cooper. In his films, which were of very mixed quality, he often played kind and somewhat crazy "Everymen" or antiheroes. Among his best movie roles were stage roles transferred to film; here must be mentioned the hero in Charley’s Aunt (1959), Celestin-Floridor in Frøken Nitouche (1963) and Leopold in Summer in Tyrol (i.e. The White Horse Inn, 1964).

Numerous Danish actors see him as a role model. In day-to-day life he was quite shy in behaviour, somewhat the opposite of his theatrical appearances. He died during a sketch in which he was portraying the Danish rock singer Kim Larsen.

[edit] Filmography

  • Stjerneskud - 1947
  • Dorte - 1951
  • Rekrut 67 Petersen - 1952
  • Vejrhanen - 1952
  • Vi arme syndere - 1952
  • Ved Kongelunden - 1953
  • I kongens klær - 1954
  • Det var på Rundetårn - 1955
  • Færgekroen - 1956
  • Hvad vil De ha'? - 1956
  • Den store gavtyv - 1956
  • Tag til marked i Fjordby - 1957
  • Krudt og klunker - 1958
  • Pigen og vandpytten - 1958
  • Styrmand Karlsen - 1958
  • Charles' tante - 1959
  • Poeten og Lillemor (film) - 1959
  • Soldaterkammerater rykker ud - 1959
  • Vi er allesammen tossede - 1959
  • Onkel Bill fra New York - 1959
  • Baronessen fra benzintanken - 1960
  • Elefanter på loftet - 1960
  • Forelsket i København - 1960
  • Panik i paradis - 1960
  • Poeten og Lillemor og Lotte - 1960
  • Skibet er ladet med... - 1960
  • Sømand i knibe - 1960
  • Gøngehøvdingen - 1961
  • Peters baby - 1961
  • Poeten og Lillemor i forårshumør - 1961
  • Reptilicus - 1961
  • Støv på hjernen - 1961
  • Det støver stadig - 1962
  • Han, hun, Dirch og Dario - 1962
  • Lykkens musikanter - 1962
  • Oskar (1962 film) - 1962
  • Sømænd og svigermødre - 1962
  • Venus fra Vestø - 1962
  • Det tossede paradis - 1962
  • Bussen (film) - 1963
  • Frk. Nitouche - 1963
  • Hvis lille pige er du? - 1963
  • Pigen og pressefotografen - 1963
  • Støv for alle pengene - 1963
  • Tre piger i Paris - 1963
  • Vi har det jo dejligt - 1963
  • Don Olsen kommer til byen - 1964
  • Majorens oppasser - 1964
  • Sommer i Tyrol - 1964
  • Flådens friske fyre - 1965
  • Passer passer piger - 1965
  • Pigen og millionæren - 1965
  • Der var engang - 1966
  • Jeg - en elsker - 1966
  • Pigen og greven - 1966
  • Slap af, Frede - 1966
  • Cirkusrevyen - 1967
  • Nyhavns glade gutter - 1967
  • Mig og min lillebror - 1967
  • Dyrlægens plejebørn - 1968
  • Mig og min lillebror og storsmuglerne - 1968
  • Soldaterkammerater på bjørnetjeneste - 1968
  • Min søsters børn vælter byen - 1968
  • Mig og min lillebror og Bølle - 1969
  • Pigen fra Egborg - 1969
  • Sjov i gaden - 1969
  • Nøglen til Paradis - 1970
  • Præriens skrappe drenge - 1970
  • Hurra for de blå husarer - 1970
  • Amour (film) - 1970
  • Guld til præriens skrappe drenge - 1971
  • Min søsters børn når de er værst - 1971
  • Hvor er liget Møller? - 1971
  • Takt og tone i himmelsengen - 1972
  • Lenin, din gavtyv - 1972
  • Solstik på badehotellet - 1973
  • Mig og Mafiaen - 1973
  • Mafiaen, det er osse mig - 1974
  • Piger i trøjen - 1975
  • Piger i trøjen 2 - 1976
  • Spøgelsestoget - 1976
  • Piger til søs - 1977
  • Alt på et bræt - 1977
  • Fængslende feriedage - 1978

[edit] External links