Toralv Maurstad is particularly remembered for his interpretations of Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt”. He has played the title role a number of times. First time at the National Theater in 1955 and in 1985. In 2018, the then 92-year-old Maurstad played the role of the old Peer in Det Norske Teatret’s production. Maurstad tried his hand at a wide range of roles, everything from classics to contemporary drama and roles in plays and musicals. Toralv Maurstad as Peer Gynt in the National Theatre’s production from 1955. Photo: Jan Stage / NTB scanpix Toralv Maurstad also distinguished himself as a director. Among other things, he has staged the farces “Panikk i kulissane” at Oslo Nye in 1986 and “Arsenikk og olde kniplingar” at Det Norske Teatret in 1987. He has also been on tour with the Riksteatret both as an actor and director. Son of soccer players He started early. As a child, he acted both in films and in the theater together with his parents Alfred and Tordis Maurstad, who were also among Norway’s foremost shoe actors. The first time Toralv Maurstad appeared in a film was in Tancred Ibsen’s “Fant” from 1937, where his father played the lead role. When he later got roles at the National Theatre, it was often under his father’s direction, and with Wenche Foss as a co-star. Toralv, mother Tordis and father Alfred Maurstad. A central three-leaf clover in Norwegian cultural life. Photo: NTB Scanpix He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and made his debut in 1949 at Trøndelag Theater in the role of Holt in “Det lykkelege valet”. He was employed at Det Nye Teater in Oslo between 1951 and 1954. He was then employed at the National Theater in the period 1954–67. Turbulent times From 1967, a period as theater director followed. First at Oslo Nye Teater between 1967–1978. Under his management, the theater was converted into a comedy theater, and fixed contracts were cancelled. Maurstad engaged, among others, Wenche Foss, Aud Schønemann, Elsa Lystad and Arve Opsahl for various productions. The time at the theater was both an artistic and commercial success. Toralv Maurstad played against Wenche Foss in several performances. Here are the two of them during the gala performance at the Nationaltheatret which marked Foss’ 60 years as a stage artist in 1995. Photo: Aleksander Nordahl / NTB In 1978 he became theater manager at the Nationaltheatret. It was a far more turbulent time for Maurstad. When eight shoe players had to leave in 1979, it led to a shoe player strike and negative press reports about Maurstad. The following year, the main stage had to close due to a fire. It took five years of repair work before the theater could be played again. In the meantime, the theater had to use other stages and makeshift stages to play. But even if his tenure at the National Theater was controversial, Maurstad also had several artistic victories as manager, including several large and well-known performances of Shakespeare and Dario Fo at Torshovteatret. He quit in 1986, and after that worked as a freelance coder. Youth idol and Flåklypa Although the theater was Maurstad’s most important stage, he also played in several films and TV series. His breakthrough in film came in the role of the son in “Kranes konditori” from 1951. He had several roles in Norwegian films throughout the 1950s, and gained status as a youth idol. Later he also had roles in, among other things, the film adaptation of Axel Jensen’s novel “Line” from 1961 and as Edvard Grieg in the film “Song of Norway” from 1970. Toralv Maurstad played in two seasons of TV 2’s “Hotel Cæsar”. Photo: Marit Hommedal / Scanpix Maurstad will also be remembered as the voice of Ludvig in Ivo Caprino’s “Flåklypa Grand Prix” from 1975, and the sequel “Solan. Ludvig and Gurin med reverumpa” in 1998. In 1998, Toralv Maurstad surprised many by playing the role of hotel director Georg Anker-Hansen in the TV series “Hotel Cæsar” on TV 2. Maurstad was written out of the series in 1999. But then it was which was to become Scandinavia’s longest-running soap series with over 3,000 episodes, well established and a success. Honorary award and St. Olav’s Order Toralv Maurstad received a number of awards for his efforts, both on stage and in film and TV. He has, among other things, received the Aamot statuette, which the organization Film og Kino awards to individuals for outstanding efforts in or for Norwegian film production. He received the Critics’ Award in 1963 for his role as Richard in “Beautiful Youth” by Eugene O’Neill. And in 2017, Toralv Maurstad received the Hedda prize in the category for best male co-star in the show “Transferøring” by Tyra Tønnessen. In 2017, a clearly moved Toralv Maurstad received the Hedda prize for best male co-star. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB Maurstad has also received several awards. In 1999 he received the honorary Amanda, while he and Espen Skjønberg received the Hedda Prize’s honorary prize in 2005 for their work in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. In 2014 he received the Oslo blir boden cultural award. In 2007, Toralv Maurstad was appointed commander of the Order of St. Olav. He was also an honorary member of the Norwegian Actors’ Association. In 2007, Toralv Maurstad received the Order of St. Olav for his contribution to Norwegian performing arts. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB
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Toralv Maurstad is dead – news Culture and entertainment
