Rolf Kirkvaag

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Rolf Kirkvaag

| image = RolfKirkvaag.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Rolf Kirkvaag, on the left

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|10|20|df=y}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2003|01|24|1920|10|20|df=y}}

| death_place =

| nationality = Norwegian

| other_names =

| occupation = journalist, radio- and TV-personality

| years_active =

| known_for =

| notable_works =

| children = Trond Kirkvaag (son)

}}

Rolf Kirkvaag (20 September 1920 – 24 January 2003) was a Norwegian journalist, and a radio- and TV personality. He worked for NRK, the Norwegian state broadcasting network, between 1947 and 1959, and 1969 and 1990. From 1972 to 1985 he was entertainment director.{{cite web | url = http://www.nrk.no/programmer/radio/norgesglasset/1.895785 | title = Rolf Kirkvaag – Norges første kjendis | publisher = Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation | author = Per Kristian Johansen | date = 2004-11-02 | language=Norwegian | accessdate = 2007-11-18}}

Already a popular public persona, his fame grew enormously after an incident in 1956. Kirkvaag was among the passengers on a Braathens SAFE plane that crashed by Hommelfjell, the Hummelfjell Accident. Two people were dead and ten still alive. Kirkvaag – with a broken bone in his foot – and another passenger had to walk {{convert|18|km|mi|abbr=on}} for help. The incident made Kirkvaag a national hero, and he has since been referred to as Norway's first celebrity.

Among the shows he hosted were the children's show Titten Tei and the radio quiz show 20 spørsmål (20 Questions). He was also a commentator for numerous sporting events, like the 1952 Winter Olympics.{{cite web | url = http://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/2003/01/25/359752.html | title = Sjonkel Rolf er død | publisher = Dagbladet | author = Siw Grindaker | date = 2003-01-25 | language=Norwegian | accessdate = 2007-11-18}} Rolf Kirkvaag's son, Trond Kirkvaag, was a well-known television comedian. Trond, who died in 2007, wrote a controversial biography of his father shortly before his own death. Here he described Rolf's darker side, and alleged that he had been an emotionally distant and occasionally violent father.{{cite news|url=http://www.kjendis.no/2007/07/18/506526.html|title=Sjonkel Rolf var voldelig|last=Nordseth|first=Pål|date=18 July 2007|work=Dagbladet|accessdate=28 January 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629091948/http://www.kjendis.no/2007/07/18/506526.html|archivedate=29 June 2008}}