Obituary: Torben Jensen

Danish actor Torben Jensen died on Friday, aged 74. His family have not disclosed any further details, except that he was ill for a short period that left him weak at the end.

As a young man, Torben Jensen seemed likely to become a painter but dropped out after a short period as an apprentice. He then enrolled at the Odense Theatre School and became a regular there following his 1968 debut in Nøddebo Præstegaard.

Through the 1970s his theatre career flourished, with regular performances at the Aveny Theatre in Frederiksberg, The New Theatre, the Bristol Theatre, the People’s Theatre, and finally the Royal Theatre from 1989 to 1995.

However, he is best known as the evil boss in the TV series Taxa and developed a career playing villains on stage and screen, but it was his role in the 1986 comedy Flamberede Hjerter that finally earned him a Robert Award.

Torben Jensen was married to actor Helle Merete Sørensen, who he divorced in the late 1980s, and leaves behind his adult daughter, Anja.