Famous Norwegians
Famous Norwegians and American Norwegians
1. Earl Warren, 1891 - 1974
Chief Justice of the United States and the only person elected Governor of California 3 times. Before holding those positions he served as Attorney General of California. His father was a Norwegian immigrant (Methias Warren) and his mother a Swedish immigrant.
2. Conrad Nicholson Hilton, 1887 – 1979
The founder of the international hotel chain Hilton. His father, Augustus Halvorsen, was
born on the farm Hilton in Kløfta, Norway (north east of Oslo) and emigrated 1870. He
was married 3 times, his second wife was actress Zsa Zsa Gabor. He is the great grand
father of celebrity Paris Hilton.
3. Edvard Grieg, 1843 – 1907
The greatest Norwegian composer and also an excellent pianist. One of the few Nordic
composers that reached international fame. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A
minor, his music to Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt (which includes Morning Mood and in
the Hall of the Mountain King) and for his Lyric Pieces.
4. Marilyn Monroe, 1926 – 1962
Born Norma Jean Mortenson, christened Norma Jean Baker, born in L.A. Her father was
Norwegian, but she never knew him or even met him. She became the movie star and sex
symbol of the 60’s. Most famous movies: Gentlemen prefer blondes, Some like it hot and
the Misfits.
5. Thor Heyerdahl, 1914 – 2002
Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer with a scientific background in zoology and
geography. He became noteable for his Kon Tiki expedition, in which he sailed 4.300
miles by raft (from South America to the Tuamoto islands and for his expeditions by
reed boat, Ra I and Ra II across the Atlantic from Morocco to Barbados.
6. Charles M Schulz 1922 – 2000
Cartoonist and the father of Peanuts and Snoopy. His father was a German immigrant,
Carl Schulz, but his mother Dena Halvorson was the daughter of a Norwegian
immigrant, Torjus Halvorson from Valle (Setesdal) – in the mountain plateau between
Oslo and Norway’s western coast – but born in Wisconsin. Charles Schulz received
countless awards, among others the Congressional Gold Medal, and was also awarded a
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
7. Knute Rockne, 1888 – 1931
Born in Voss, east of Bergen, emigrated with his parents to Chicago at the age of 5.
He was the head football coach at University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana
and helped popularize the forward pass nationally. He was one of the most successful
coaches in American football history.
8. Roald Amundsen, 1872 – 1928
Norwegian explorer of Polar regions. He led the first expedition to reach the South Pole
and he was the first person to reach both the North and the South Poles. He was also the
first to traverse the Northwest Passage. Amundsen (with Shackleton and Scott) was a key
expedition leader during the age of Antarctic exploration.
9. Henrik Ibsen, 1828 – 1906
A major 19th century Norwegian playwright, theatre director and poet. He is often referred
to as “the father” of modern drama and is one of the founders of Modernism in the
theatre. Ibsen is often ranked as one of the truly great playwrights in the European tradition,
alongside Shakespeare. His plays “The wild duck”, “A doll’s house”, “Hedda Gabler”, “Peer
Gynt” (to which Edvard Grieg composed the music) are still being played worldwide.
10. Edvard Munch, 1863 – 1944
Norwegian symbolist painter, printmaker and important forerunner of expressionistic art.
His best known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The frieze of Life, in which
Munch explored the themes of life, love, fear, death, melancholia and anxiety.
11. Liv Ullman, 1938 -
Norwegian actress and film director, as well as one of the muses of the Swedish director
Ingmar Bergman. Her work with Bergman turned her into a 1970s feminist and cultural
icon, as well as one of the most respected actresses. She was nominated for the Palme
d’Or, twice for an Academy Award and has won the Golden Globe.
12. Sigrid Undset, 1882 – 1949
Norwegian novelist, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1928. Her best
known work is Kristin Lavransdatter, a modernist triology about life in Norway in the
Middle Ages. It portrays the life of a woman from birth until death. Undset fled Norway
for the US in 1940 because of her opposition to Nazi Germany and the German
occupation, but returned after the war ended in 1945.
13. Fridtjof Nansen, 1861 – 1930
Norwegian explorer, scientist and diplomat. As a young man he was an expert skater,
swimmer and skier. He soon became interested in Arctic exploration and led the first
crossing of Greenland by ski and achieved great success with his Arctic expedition on
Fram. He later became noted as zoologist and oceanographer and he was also a
distinguished diplomat becoming Commissioner of refugees for the League of Nations.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922.
14. Sonja Henie, 1912 – 1969
Norwegian figure skater and American actress. She was a three-time Olympic champion,
a ten-time world champion and a six-time European champion. She won more Olympic
and World titles than any other ladies figure skater. In 1936 she launched her film career
and a contract with 20th Century Fox made her one of the highest-paid actresses at the
time. She became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1941.
15. Walter Mondale, 1928 –
42nd vice president of the United States, serving with President Jimmy Carter. His
father’s family came from Mundal in Norway (by the Sognefjord, north of Bergen).
Working as a lawyer in Minneapolis, he was elected attorney general in 1960 and
4 years later he became US Senator as a member of the Democratic Party. In 1984
he ran for presidency against Ronald Reagan.
16. Vidkun Quisling, 1887 -1945
Norwegian army officer and politician, who assisted Nazi Germany after Hitler had
conquered Norway, so that he could rule the collaborationist Norwegian government
himself. He was tried for high treason after the war and executed in October 1945.
“Quisling” is a term to describe traitors and collaborators.
