Jean Hersholt, a mini biography |
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| Written by: Thomas Hauerslev. Forest Lawn Memorial Park billeder: Paul Rayton, Hollywood | Date: 05.10.2025 |
 Jean
Hersholt, main speaker at the Rebild National Park Society event, July 4.
1948. Painting bestowed by Poul Reichhardt, actor at the Royal Danish
Theatre. Photo: Thomas HauerslevThe Danish actor Jean Hersholt is largely unknown in Denmark, but cinema and film enthusiasts may recognize the name in Oscar contexts when The Motion Picture Academy in Hollywood occasionally awards the "Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award". The Academy explains the award criteria:
Recipients include Michael J. Fox (2022),
Debbie Reynolds (2015) & Frank Sinatra (1970) and many more. The award is
given on an occasional basis, when a participating member of "the biz" is
deemed to be deserving of such an honor. |
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 Jean
Hersholt is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles.
The memorial by Edvard Eriksen is located just outside the large mausoleum
and depicts Clumsy Hans, based on the fairy tale by H. C. Andersen. Photo:
Paul RaytonJean Hersholt made his debut in the United States in 1915 in the film "The Disciple" with William S. Hart, and he had a small role in "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1921) with Rudolph Valentino. His breakthrough came with a leading role in Erich von Stroheim's (1885-1957) epic film "Greed" from 1924. During his career, Jean Hersholt had roles in allegedly more than 120 films (of which about 75 were silent films) together with, among others, Shirley Temple, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford and John Barrymore. Among his friends and acquaintances were Victor Borge (1909-2000), Henrik Kauffmann (1888-1963) and not least the Danish actor Poul Reichhardt (1913-1985), for whom he was a mentor. Jean Hersholt was a Knight of the Dannebrog and distinguished himself, among other things, by translating countless Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales into English. Jean Hersholt was a friendly and humble man who was on first-name terms with most everyone in Hollywood. He was also president of The Motion Picture Academy from 1945 to 1949, and was a very generous colleague in the film industry. In 1940, he received an honorary Oscar (one of three) for his philanthropic and humanitarian work, and he has also been awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, one for radio work and the other for film work. Jean Hersholt died on June 1, 1956 in Beverly Hills at the age of 69. He left behind a fine acting career that stretched from 1906 to 1955. Jean Hersholt is buried with his Via and their son Allan E. Hersholt at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles. The memorial by Edvard Eriksen ("The Little Mermaid" statue in Copenhagen) is located just outside the large mausoleum and depicts Clumsy Hans after H. C. Andersen's fairy tale. About a year before his death, Jean Hersholt sat as a model for a portrait painted by Johannes Nielsen and paid for by a grateful Poul Reichhardt. Jean Hersholt never got to see the painting, and it was instead hung in the foyer of the historic Kino-Palæet cinema in Copenhagen. |
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Kinopalæet, Jean Hersholt and Poul Reichhardt
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 Johannes
Nielsens portrait of Jean Hersholt, which hangs in Hyldgaardsminde, the
Rebild National Park Society's secretariat in Denmark. Photo: Thomas
HauerslevIn her Poul Reichhardt biography "Kun et menneske", Anne-Sofie Storm Wesche tells how Hersholt lovingly spread his wings and helped to help the young Reichhardt, who had travelled to California to pursue his acting dreams. However, Hersholt believed that Reichhardt's future lay in Denmark and not the USA. That's fine, because otherwise we probably wouldn't have had Danish movies like "De Røde Heste" or the TV Character "Flyttemand Olsen", seen in "Huset på Christianshavn" (1970 -1977). The friendship between the two endured. And Hersholt and Mrs. Via liked to visit Poul Reichhardt when they visited Denmark. It was also intended that Poul Reichhardt would host Hersholt's 70th birthday on July 12, 1956, which was to be celebrated in Denmark. It was on this occasion that Poul Reichhardt had Hersholt sit as a model for the portrait painter Johannes Nielsen (1890-1965) from Gentofte the year before. |
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 Jean
Hersholt at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles. Photo: Paul
RaytonThe large painting was finished, but Jean died in the USA on 2 June 1956. He therefore neither got to see his homeland again nor view and appreciate the painting. Jean's widow wanted the painting to be hung in one of the places in Copenhagen where the film audience met daily. The choice fell on the foyer of the Kino-Palæet [cinema], where it was unveiled at a small ceremony, where Poul Reichhardt, Lau Lauritzen and Hersholt's old friend from California, director Tom Knudsen, spoke. Also present at the memorial service was a small circle of representatives of Jean Hersholt's Danish friends and of Danish theatre and film. Today the 81 x 116 cm. large painting hangs in Hyldgaardsminde, the yellow thatched house in Rebild Bakker (Denmark), which houses the Rebild National Park Society's secretariat (the first Danish-American friendship association). The society also has a number of other Hersholt effects. |
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Jean Hersholt's star
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 Poor
Jean doesn't get a smooth finish. He's all pebbly for traction, and sloping
down toward the curb. Picture by Bill Counter |
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 The
view from the corner looking across the street toward the former Iris/Fox
Theatre, vintage 1918. Picture by Bill Counter |
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