Astrid Holm


Astrid Holm was a Danish theater and film actress whose career began on the stage and in the early silent film era.

Early life and stage career

Born Astrid Vilhelmine Rasmussen in Sønder Bjerge Sogn, Sorø Municipality, Zealand, she was the daughter of hotelier Hans Peter Rasmussen and his wife Maren Sofie Rasmussen. She studied at the Royal Danish Ballet, but left in 1910 to pursue a career as a stage actress. During the World War I years, she performed at Det Ny Teater in Copenhagen. During the early 1920s, she was engaged at the Royal Danish Theatre for four seasons by request of theater director Johannes Poulsen. From 1927 to 1940 she was engaged at several theaters throughout Denmark and often left the theater to live abroad. In the early 1940s, she was engaged at the Frederiksberg Theatre under direction of Svend Melsing and then the Allé-Scenen Theatre under direction of Svend Rindom. From the mid-1940s, she rarely appeared on stage, but occasionally performed in radio theater.

Film career

Astrid Holm made her screen debut for Dansk Filmfabrik in 1917's Søstrene Morelli and the following year was under contract to Nordisk Film. Her first film for Nordisk was a role in the 1918 Holger-Madsen-directed Folkets Ven, opposite Gunnar Tolnæs and Svend Kornbeck. This movie was followed by several popular films for Emanuel Gregers. One of her more popular roles was as Sister Edith in the 1921 Victor Sjöström-directed Swedish silent Körkarlen. The film was based on the 1912 novel Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness! by Nobel Prize-winning Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf. In 1925, she starred with Johannes Meyer in the Carl Theodor Dreyer-directed drama Du skal ære din hustru.
Astrid Holm returned to film in 1942's Ta' briller på, directed by Arne Weel and starring Liva Weel and Hans Egede Budtz. She appeared in four more films throughout the 1940s then retired due to failing health. Her final film appearance was in the 1947 Holger Gabrielsen-directed Mani.

Personal life

Astrid Holm was married to ballet dancer Holger Holm, who died in 1916. During the 1950s, she became reclusive, suffering from a number of ailments. She died in 1961 at age 68.

Filmography

  • Søstrene Morelli as Elvira Morelli
  • Det store Mørke as Maria
  • Folkets ven as Jonna Kamp, Waldo's Wife
  • Mod lyset as Wenka
  • Lavinen as Hanni Kvissel
  • The Phantom Carriage as Edit
  • Häxan as Anna
  • Den sidste af slægten as Lise
  • Du skal ære din hustru as Ida
  • Ta' briller på as Fru Ester Berg
  • Hans store aften as Anna Tingby
  • Diskret Ophold as Fru Lehmann
  • Jeg elsker en anden
  • Mani as Fru Frank