Frøydis Armand died today, aged 73. In her own way, she was a withdrawn figure, who rarely gave interviews. Yet everyone knew who she was. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that whoever saw her did not forget her. The deep voice and the expressive face. Her face could look like it was carved in stone one moment, but then it could be tender and soft the next. All this made Armand a charismatic stage figure, and one of those film actors who could more than tolerate having their features blown up on a big screen. Frøydis Armand and Anne Marie Ottersen (left) in 2006. Photo: Knut Falch / NTB One of three “Wives” Among her film roles, it is particularly the “Wives” films that made Armand recognized everywhere she went. The first of Anja Breien’s three films came in 1975, and opened the door to a place that had never before been shown on film: A loose, open-hearted world of girlfriends, where Heidrun, Mie and Kaja, drank and flirted and talked loudly about all sides by women’s life. Also the secret and shamed ones. The friends were played by Armand, Anne Marie Ottersen and Katja Medbøe. The film’s epic success indicated that this was a story that many had been waiting for. “Hustruer ti år nerter” (1985) and “Hustruer III” (1996) were also big successes. Anne Marie Ottersen, Katja Medbøe and Frøydis Armand in the film “Wives” from 1975, written and directed by Anja Breien. Photo: Aage Storløkken / NTB An acting family It was the theater that was Armand’s home, then primarily the National Theatre. It was there that she was employed in 1972, the year she got the role of Regine in Ibsen’s “Gjengangere”. There were to be several prominent roles, from Ibsen and Chekov, and from other classics of drama history. She was then also born and brought up in the theater atmosphere: her father, Eilif Armand, with whom she was closely related, was also an actor. In an interview with VG, Armand talked about how she made sure to be with her father when he went out and made his way to Kunstnernes Hus. Because after he had a beer, he talked openly about everything that was on his mind, about poetry and philosophy, while his daughter sat across from him with a soft drink and listened. The sisters Gisken and Merete also became actors. Gisken and Frøydis Armand during the Ibsen Festival in 2002. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Frøydis was going to tell about how from childhood she had loved everything about the theatre, the smells and sounds there, when she was allowed to work with her father. The children also got to join the stage early on, as extras. “Like a young eagle” Nevertheless, she was a different first lady. You would use the word “diva” about Armand. She was somehow rawer, tougher. “She was like a young eagle,” says a director who knew her on the phone tonight. She was a focal point in the radical acting circle in Oslo, and heavily involved in creating the theater performance “The Black Cat” in 1971, a project created in solidarity with fired workers at the bankrupt cellulose factory in Vestfossen. Actor Frøydis Armand has died. Armand made his debut at the National Theater in 1972, and interpreted over 100 roles at the theatre. The tracks remain The intensity of her commitment mirrored her intensity in life as such. Frøydis Armand lived strongly, not risk-free. She is remembered as warm and funny and a little crazy by those who met her. In her roles there was also a touch of predictability, perhaps of danger, which helped to make it difficult to look away from her. The young eagle grew old and has now passed away, but the traces of the talons remain. Frøydis Armand was 73 years old. Photo: Berit Roald / NTB
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Those who saw her did not forget her – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
