Esper Hagen

Aarhus, Danmark

Biography

Esper Hagen Andersen, der er søn af skuespillerinden Asta Esper Andersen og skuespilleren Paul Hagen, var elev af Gerda Gilboe og blev uddannet på Odense Teaters elevskole i årene 1968-1971. Han debuterede 14/9 1967 som Tommy i "Pippi Langstrømpe" på Det ny Teater i København. Han har siden haft engagementer på en række teatre og revyer bl.a. på Værkstedsteatret i Odense, Odense Teater 1970, ABC-Teatret 1972-73 og Det Danske Teater. I Rottefælden på Svendborg Sommerteater fik han i 1972 for første gang lejlighed til at prøve sit komiske talent. Det blev et gennembrud og i 1974 vendte han tilbage og gav dobbelrollen som kirke- og trafikminister Kresten Damsgaard. Særlig huskes Esper Hagen for sin rolle i "Matador" som den ambitiøse førstemand hos Mads Skjern. Siden har Esper Hagen lagt stemme til flere figurer i tegnefilm.

Movies

Matador is a Danish TV series produced and shown between 1978 and 1982. It is set in the fictional Danish town of Korsbæk between 1929 and 1947. It follows the lives of a range of characters from across the social spectrum, focusing specifically on the rivalry between the families of two businessmen: The banker Hans Christian Varnæs, an established local worthy, and social climber Mads Skjern, who arrives in town as the series opens. The name Matador was taken from the localised edition of the boardgame Monopoly, also the series' tentative English title. In addition, in contemporary Danish a "matador" is often used to describe a business tycoon, in the series referring to the character of Mads Skjern and his craftiness as a self-made entrepreneur. Directed by famed Danish film maker Erik Balling, Matador was the idea of author Lise Nørgaard who wrote the bulk of the episodes alongside Karen Smith, Jens Louis Petersen and Paul Hammerich. The series is one of the most well-known and popular examples of Danish television and represents the peak of longtime development of Danish TV drama by the public service channel Danmarks Radio. The series has become part of the modern self-understanding of Danes, partly because of its successful mix of melodrama and a distinct warm Danish humour in the depiction of characters, which were portrayed by a wide range of the most popular Danish actors at the time; but also not least because of its accurate portrayal of a turbulent Denmark from around the start of the Great Depression and through Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark in World War II.

More info
Matador
1978