Biography

Brother of actor Aage Fønss.

When the silent movie began to take the world in storm in the 10's, Denmark was a world power in the international film business. Many great stars like Asta Nielsen or Pat & Patachon influenced the film scene. In this time came many Danish actors to Germany and gave a fresh impetus. One of them was Olaf Fönss who shot movies since 1912 and already belonged to the famous actors before he took part in German productions.

With his appearance in "Atlantis" (1913) for the Danish Nordisk company he could achieve his biggest triumph till then which made him famous in whole Europe.

He was president of the Danish Actor's Union from 1933-1947 and was a censor for the National Film Censor of Denmark for 14 years.

In the 1930s, Fønss became politically active by directing two films for Denmark's Socialdemokratiske Parti (Social Democracy Party), Den Store Dag (1930) and Under Den Gamle Fane (1932).