On the 16th of August the Icelandic acting legend Róbert Arnfinnsson would have been 100 years old. To mark the occasion two items from this personal archive (LBS 2019/27 and LBS 476 NF) have been selected as this month’s highlight, they are preserved at the Theatre Museum. Firstly, a photo album containing photographs from Róbert’s first professional performances. Secondly, the first scrapbook that he assembled, but the parts and the scrapbooks would eventually be numerous.
Róbert Arnfinnsson was born in Leipzig, Germany, on the 16th of August 1923. His parents were Arnfinnur Jónasson, schoolmaster, and Charlotte Jónsson, nee Korber. When Róbert was four years old the family moved from Germany to Eskifjörður, a small village on the east coast of Iceland. A little over a decade later the family moved again, settling permanently in Reykjavík when Róbert was sixteen.
After graduation from high school Róbert started studying acting at Lárus Pálsson’s Acting School and participated in his first professional performances while there. From the beginning this twenty-year-old actor started recording every performance he participated in, the first professional role being in Vopn guðanna (Weapons of the Gods) by Davíð Stefánsson, directed by Lárus Pálsson and staged at the Reykjavík City Theatre in Iðnó. This habit would be a constant in his life, until his final days. On the box there is a note from the great actor himself:
“This is box nr. 1. He contains an album with photographs from the first plays I participated in while I was in acting school and after graduation from Lárus Pálsson’s Acting School and the First scrapbook of my life’s work, called: Reviews! Róbert.”
Róbert’s personal archive is one of the largest in the Theatre Museum, counting almost 100 boxes. The items are diverse; playscripts, lists, posters, photographs, diaries, and recordings (both audio and visual). During his long working life Róbert played almost 200 parts on stage. However, that number does not contain his roles in radio, television, and films but they were almost 600 which is a considerable achievement. It’s no wonder that his collection contains almost 80 scrapbooks.
Róbert died on July 1st 2013 after dedicating his life to the theatre.
