Wenche Foss

Eva Wenche Steenfeldt Stang (5 December 1917 – 28 March 2011), better known as Wenche Foss, was a leading Norwegian actress of stage, screen and television.

Biography

Wenche Foss was born to engineer Christian August Steenfeldt-Foss and Alfhild Røren. She made her stage debut in 1935 as Ingrid in Vilhelm Dybwad's operetta Taterblod. She was subsequently part of the ensemble at the Carl Johan Teater from 1936 to 1939, and then became a central figure in Centralteatret. She received acclaim in a number of leading roles. Her breakthrough role was in Carl Erik Soya's To tråder. Later she played numerous leading roles in the ensembles of Nationaltheatret and Oslo Nye Teater, being a regular at Nationaltheatret since 1952.

Foss was also an accomplished vocalist (mezzo-soprano) who received classical training with M. Hviid and K. B. Børresen. Her performances in Emmerich Kálmán's operetta Die Bajadere, Eduard Künneke's Der Vetter aus Dingsda, Franz Lehár's operettas Der Graf von Luxemburg and The Merry Widow, in which she played the title role. She pioneered musical parts in such musicals as Kiss Me Kate, Cabaret and Hello, Dolly.

Foss also took the occasional role as a voice actress. She provided the voice of Enkefru Stengelføhn-Glad in the 1975 animated feature film Flåklypa Grand Prix, known in English as Pinchcliffe Grand Prix. She voiced...
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