Osa Massen
{{Short description|Danish actress (1914–2006)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Osa Massen - 1944.jpg
| caption = in The Master Race (1944)
| imagesize =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1914|1|13|df=yes}}
| birthname = Aase Madsen Iversen
| birth_place = Copenhagen, Denmark
| death_date = {{death date and age|2006|1|2|1914|1|13|df=yes}}
| death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S.
| occupation = Actress
| yearsactive = 1935–1981
| spouse = Allan Hersholt (1938–1945)
Harvey R. Cummins (1947–1951)
Dr. Stanley Vogel (1953–1962?)
}}
Osa Massen (born Aase Madsen Iversen, 13 January 1914{{cite book|author=Hans J. Wollstein|title=Strangers in Hollywood: the history of Scandinavian actors in American films from 1910 to World War II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EPkqAQAAIAAJ|access-date=30 July 2010|year=1994|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-2938-1|page=227}} – 2 January 2006) was a Danish actress who became a successful movie actress in Hollywood. She became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1941.[http://interactive.ancestrylibrary.com/3998/40735_1220706418_0030-00456/1706636?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestrylibrary.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgss%3dangs-c%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26gsfn%3dOsa%26gsln%3dMassen%26MSAV%3d0%26uidh%3d57k%26pcat%3dIMG_CITIZENSHIP%26h%3d1706636%26recoff%3d20%2b21%26db%3dLosAngelsCANaturalization%26indiv%3d1%26ml_rpos%3d1&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord#?imageId=40735_1220706418_0030-00456 Copy of Petition for Naturalization #90276, filed in Los Angeles, California under the name 'Aase Madsen Iversen Hersholt], Ancestry.com; accessed 30 September 2015.
Background and early career
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7-DgDAAAQBAJ&dq=osa+massen+burial+site&pg=PA486|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.|first=Scott|last=Wilson|date=17 August 2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786479924|access-date=8 June 2019}} she began her career as a newspaper photographer, then became an actress. She first came to the United States in 1937. She was recorded as Aase Madsen-Iversen, Danish actress, aged 23, on the manifest of the S/S Normandie, which sailed from Southampton, England, on 18 December 1937, and arrived at the Port of New York on 23 December 1937.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
Massen's first film was Kidnapped (1935).{{cite web|title=Osa Massen, 91; 1940s Danish-Born Actress Famous as Femme Fatale|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-feb-14-me-passings14-story.html|website=Los Angeles Times|date=14 February 2006 |access-date=13 September 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913003950/http://articles.latimes.com/2006/feb/14/local/me-passings14|archive-date=13 September 2017}} She notably appeared as Melvyn Douglas' unfaithful wife dealing with blackmailer Joan Crawford in A Woman's Face (1941). She also appeared as a mysterious woman with something to hide in Deadline at Dawn (1946). She also starred with Lloyd Bridges in the movie Rocketship X-M (1950), the first space adventure of the post-World War II era.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
Later in her career, Massen appeared in guest roles on many television programs. She made three guest appearances on Perry Mason. In 1958, she played Lisa Bannister in "The Case of the Desperate Daughter", where she was reunited with her "Master Race" daughter Gigi Perreau, and in 1959, she played Sarah Werner in "The Case of the Shattered Dream". Her last television role was in 1962 when she played Lisa Pedersen in "The Case of the Tarnished Trademark".{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
Personal life
She was married three times, each with a relatively short duration, including once to Allan Hersholt, the son of Jean Hersholt, on 15 December 1938.{{r|sh|page1=229}}
Death
Massen died on 2 January 2006, 11 days before her 92nd birthday, following unspecified surgery in Hollywood, California.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uxunSeshPngC&dq=osa+massen+died+from+surgery&pg=PA415|title=Screen World 2007|first1=John|last1=Willis|first2=Barry|last2=Monush|date=1 May 2010|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=9781557837295|access-date=8 June 2019}}The book Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2006: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture says Massen "... died of complications from surgery in a Santa Monica, California, convalescent home ...".{{cite book|last1=Lentz|first1=Harris M. III|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2006: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture|date=2007|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786452118|pages=230–231|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXzGCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Osa+Massen%22&pg=PA230|access-date=13 September 2017|language=en}} Her remains are buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California with a plaque that lists her name as Osa Massen Vogel.
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan=2 | 1935 | Kidnapped | Grethe | |
| Bag Københavns kulisser | Eva Lindemann | ||
| 1939 | Honeymoon in Bali | Noel Van Ness | |
| rowspan=5 | 1941 | Honeymoon for Three | Julie Wilson | |
| A Woman's Face | Vera Segert | ||
| Accent on Love | Osa | ||
| You'll Never Get Rich | Sonya | ||
| The Devil Pays Off | Valeria DeBrock | ||
| 1942 | Iceland | Helga Jonsdottir | |
| rowspan=3 | 1943 | Background to Danger | Ana Remzi | |
| Jack London | Freda Maloof | ||
| Undercover | Sailor's Girlfriend | uncredited | |
| rowspan=3 | 1944 | The Black Parachute | Marya Orloff | |
| Cry of the Werewolf | Elsa Chauvet | ||
| The Master Race | Helena | ||
| rowspan=4 | 1946 | Tokyo Rose | Greta Norburg | |
| Deadline at Dawn | Helen Robinson | ||
| The Gentleman Misbehaves | Chincilla | ||
| Strange Journey | Christine Jenner | ||
| 1948 | Million Dollar Weekend | Cynthia Strong | |
| 1949 | Night Unto Night | Lisa | |
| 1950 | Rocketship X-M | Dr. Lisa Van Horn | |
| 1955 | Wiegenlied | Ernestine Schumann-Heink | |
| 1958 | Outcasts of the City | Leda Mueller |
Notes
{{reflist|group=note}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Biography}}
- {{IMDb name|0535169}}
- {{Find a Grave|13942630}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massen, Osa}}
Category:20th-century Danish actresses
Category:American film actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:Danish emigrants to the United States
Category:Danish film actresses
Category:Actresses from Copenhagen
Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States