Valdemar Einar Psilander (9 May 1884 â€" 6 March 1917) was a Danish
silent film actor, who was the highest-paid performer of his period
and received critical acclaim as the greatest male lead during the
golden era of Danish cinema.Valdemar Psilander was born in Copenhagen,
Denmark on 9 May 1884. At the age of 15, he was employed as an
apprentice actor at the Casino theater in Copenhagen and performed at
both the Frederiksberg and Dagmar Theaters through 1909. His stage
performances were not particularly notable.Psilander debuted on screen
in the fall of 1910 in The Portrait of Dorian Gray for a small film
company, Regia Kunst Film. He was immediately hired away by Nordisk
Film to perform in August Blom's Ved Fængslets Port (At the Prison
Gates). Psilander's charismatic performance earned him great praise
and he quickly became Nordisk's highest-paid actor. Within two years,
he was named the most popular male actor in film magazine readership
polls around the world. During the course of the next 6 years,
Psilander made 83 films.In 1911, Nordisk Film had a fine international
reputation and a wide distribution network, but it was Psilander's
films which spearheaded the company's sales. He was especially popular
among German, Russian and Hungarian audiences. He appeared in such
films as Evangeliemandens Liv (The Candle and the Moth) directed by
Holger-Madsen, and Klovnen directed by A.W. Sandberg, which was
released after his death. Psilander's fees peaked in 1915, when he
earned an annual salary of 100,000 DKK. (By comparison, the next
highest paid star of the era, Olaf Fønss, received 14,000 DKK).
silent film actor, who was the highest-paid performer of his period
and received critical acclaim as the greatest male lead during the
golden era of Danish cinema.Valdemar Psilander was born in Copenhagen,
Denmark on 9 May 1884. At the age of 15, he was employed as an
apprentice actor at the Casino theater in Copenhagen and performed at
both the Frederiksberg and Dagmar Theaters through 1909. His stage
performances were not particularly notable.Psilander debuted on screen
in the fall of 1910 in The Portrait of Dorian Gray for a small film
company, Regia Kunst Film. He was immediately hired away by Nordisk
Film to perform in August Blom's Ved Fængslets Port (At the Prison
Gates). Psilander's charismatic performance earned him great praise
and he quickly became Nordisk's highest-paid actor. Within two years,
he was named the most popular male actor in film magazine readership
polls around the world. During the course of the next 6 years,
Psilander made 83 films.In 1911, Nordisk Film had a fine international
reputation and a wide distribution network, but it was Psilander's
films which spearheaded the company's sales. He was especially popular
among German, Russian and Hungarian audiences. He appeared in such
films as Evangeliemandens Liv (The Candle and the Moth) directed by
Holger-Madsen, and Klovnen directed by A.W. Sandberg, which was
released after his death. Psilander's fees peaked in 1915, when he
earned an annual salary of 100,000 DKK. (By comparison, the next
highest paid star of the era, Olaf Fønss, received 14,000 DKK).
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