{{short description|Danish musician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Otto Brandenburg | image = OttoBrandenburg.jpg | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1934|9|4}} | birth_place = Hejnsvig, Denmark | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2007|3|1|1934|9|4}} | death_place = Copenhagen, Denmark | years_active = 1953–2000 | other_names = Ole Brandenburg }}
'''Otto Herman Max Brandenburg''' (4 September 1934 – 1 March 2007) was a Danish musician, singer and actor.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Otto Brandenburg|url=https://www.danskefilm.dk/skuespiller.php?id=775|access-date=2020-04-27|website=Danish Film Database|language=da}}</ref> He is often credited as Denmark's first Rock and roll singer and was considered a teen idol in the 1950s and 60s.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2007-03-01|title=Otto Brandenburg er død|url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/kultur/otto-brandenburg-er-doed|access-date=2024-10-20|website=DR|language=da-DK}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=2007-03-02|title=P4 mindes Otto Brandenburg|url=https://www.dr.dk/presse/p4-mindes-otto-brandenburg|access-date=2024-10-20|website=DR|language=da-DK}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Barkman|first=Erik|date=1 March 2008|title=Otto Brandenburg er død|url=https://gaffa.dk/nyheder/2008/marts/otto-brandenburg-er-dod/|access-date=2024-10-20|website=Gaffa|language=da}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mølle Lindelof|first=Anja|date=2007|title=Look! It's Rock'n'roll!: How television participated in shaping the visual genre conventions of popular music|journal=Music, sound and the moving image|volume=1|issue=2|pages=145|doi=10.3828/msmi.1.2.3|eissn=1753-0776}}</ref>
Brandenburg released music and performed as an actor in Denmark, Sweden, and Germany. Some of his records in Germany were released under the pseudonym '''Ole Brandenburg'''.<ref name=":0" /> Over the course of his career, he performed in around 60 films and series.<ref name=":2" />
== Career ==
=== Music === Brandenburg learned to play the violin at an early age and played in the Danish Youth Symphony Orchestra. He eventually left the orchestra to focus on singing and learning the guitar.<ref name=":0" />
Brandenburg briefly performed with Ib Glindemann's swing orchestra before forming the vocal quartet Four Jacks between 1955 and 1956, alongside Poul Rudi, John Mogensen and Bent Werther.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2007-03-02|title=Otto Brandenburg er død|url=https://www.information.dk/kultur/2007/03/otto-brandenburg-doed|access-date=2024-10-20|website=Information|language=da}}</ref> In 1958, Brandenburg left the group to pursue a solo career producing Danish rock.<ref name=":0" /> Initially, his style borrowed heavily from Elvis Presley's softer material and his debut as a solo artist, "I believe", has been compared to Elvis' gospel-inspired songs. Brandenburg's style later evolved into a mixture of pop, folk, and jazz music.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nygaard|first=Bertel|date=2018|title=The High Priest of Rock and Roll: The Reception of Elvis Presley in Denmark, 1956–1960|journal=Popular Music and Society|volume=42|issue=3|doi=10.1080/03007766.2018.1447188}}</ref>
Brandenburg's popularity greatly expanded in the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly following his hit "What do you want to make those eyes at me for". At its peak, he reportedly received 500 letters from fans per week.<ref name=":0" /> In 1960, he unsuccessfully competed in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix with the song "To Lys På Et Bord" (English: ''two lights on one board''). Despite the song's lack of success at the Eurovision Song Contest, it became one of Brandenburg's biggest commercial hits, selling over 200,000 copies.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> He again competed in the 1961 Dansk Melodi Grand Prix with "Godnat lille du".<ref name=":0" /> Brandenburg also found success in Sweden, competing in the 1962 Melodifestivalen, performing with Hans Wahlgren's orchestra, and performing in Stockholm as a jazz musician.<ref name=":0" />
He sang the theme song for the 1962 film ''Journey to the Seventh Planet''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stevenson|first=Jack|title=Land of a Thousand Balconies: Discoveries and Confessions of a B-Move Archaeologist|publisher=Headpress|year=2003|isbn=1900486237|location=Manchester|pages=171}}</ref> In 1969, Brandenburg composed and sang the Christmas song "Søren Banjomus".<ref name=":1" /> The song has become a Christmas classic in Denmark; between 1995 and 2004 it was the most played Christmas song by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith-Sivertsen|first=Henrik|date=2012-12-18|title=Banjomusen og Brandenburg|url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/regionale/sjaelland/banjomusen-og-brandenburg|access-date=2024-10-20|website=DR|language=da-DK}}</ref> In the 1970s he often worked with actress Vivi Bak. In the 1980s he collaborated with songwriters Halfdan Rasmussen and Evert Taube.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}
=== Film === Brandenburg won a Bodil award in 1978 for his role in the film ''{{ill|Hør, var der ikke en som lo?|da}}''<ref name="Hammer 1991 p.102">{{cite book|last=Hammer|first=T.B.|title=International Film Prizes: An Encyclopedia|publisher=Garland|series=Garland reference library of the humanities|year=1991|isbn=978-0-8240-7099-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lVQOAQAAMAAJ|access-date=27 June 2021|page=102}}</ref><ref name="Bodilprisen 1979">{{cite web|title=1979|website=Bodilprisen|date=19 October 2015|url=https://www.bodilprisen.dk/aar-for-aar/1979-2/|language=Danish|access-date=27 June 2021}}</ref> and again in 1982 for ''{{ill|Gummi Tarzan (film)|da|lt=Gummi Tarzan}}''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hør, var der ikke en som lo?|url=https://www.dfi.dk/viden-om-film/filmdatabasen/film/hor-var-der-ikke-en-som-lo|access-date=2021-03-01|website=Det Danske Filminstitut|language=da}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Bodil Awards (1982)|url=http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000107/1982/1/|access-date=2021-03-01|website=IMDb}}</ref> Brandenburg sang "You've Got a Friend in Me" in the Danish dub of ''Toy Story''. His last job in film was voicing the character Hanbjørnen in the animated movie ''{{ill|Drengen der ville gøre det umulige|da|lt=Drengen der ville gøre det umulige}}'', which released in 2002.
== Personal life == Brandenburg was born in Hejnsvig on 4 September 1934. As an infant, his and his mother moved to Copenhagen. He grew up with his mother and stepfather in Nørrebro, where he attended Stevsgades Skole.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Toft-Nielson|first=Frank|title=Otto Brandenburg - spor af en baggårdspuma|publisher=Lindhardt og Ringhof|year=2023|isbn=9788727065021|language=da}}</ref> After leaving school, he apprenticed as a machinist at the Vølund machine factory.<ref name=":0" /> In 1953, he became the Copenhagen light welterweight boxing champion.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
On 8 June 1960, Otto Brandenburg married Birthe Kildehus Jørdgensen in Lyngby Church, with whom he had a daughter, Stine, in December of that year.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|author=W.|first=A.|date=5 August 1960|title=Otto Brandenburg: det hemmelige bryllup|url=https://runekidde.blogspot.dk/2012/04/otto-brandenburg-det-hemmelige-bryllup.html|accessdate=20 January 2017|work=Billed-Bladet|publisher=runekidde.dk|language=da}}</ref> The couple separated in 1966.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mariager|first=Leif|year=1966|title=Jeg forstår godt, min kone ville skilles|url=https://runekidde.blogspot.dk/2012/04/jeg-forstar-godt-min-kone-ville-skilles.html|accessdate=20 January 2017|work=Billed-Bladet|publisher=runekidde.dk|language=da}}</ref> In 1971 he became engaged to interior designer Susanne Tuxen, though the pair never wed. In the 1980s he had brief relationships with Italian actress Franca Maria De Monti and Bente Pryds, an employee of Nordisk Film.<ref name=":0" /> From the late 1980s he lived with Hanne Mynster, a former TV producer with whom he lived the last years of his life in relative seclusion in Buddinge.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> He died on 1 March 2007 following a long period of illness.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1" />
== Filmography == {{div col}} * ''Styrmand Karlsen'' (1958) * ''Sømand i knibe'' (1960) * ''Mine tossede drenge'' (1961) * ''{{ill|Prinsesse for en dag|da}}'' (1962) * ''Don Olsen kommer til byen'' (1964) * ''{{ill|Den gale dansker|da}}'' (1969) * ''Guld til præriens skrappe drenge'' (1971) * ''Bennys badekar'' (1971) * ''{{ill|Tandlæge på sengekanten|da}}'' (1971) * ''{{ill|Revolutionen i vandkanten|da}}'' (1971) * ''Med kærlig hilsen'' (1971) * ''{{ill|Mor, jeg har patienter|da}}'' (1972) * ''Man sku' være noget ved musikken'' (1972) * ''Lenin, din gavtyv'' (1972) * ''Mig og Mafiaen'' (1973) * ''{{ill|I tyrens tegn|da|I Tyrens tegn|fr|I Tyrens tegn|hu|A Bika jegyében|sv|I oxens tecken}}'' (1974) * ''{{ill|Prins Piwi|da}}'' (1974) * ''{{ill|Bejleren – en jysk røverhistorie|da|Bejleren - en jysk røverhistorie}}'' (1975) * ''Familien Gyldenkål'' (1975) * ''Piger i trøjen'' (1975) * ''{{ill|Blind makker|da}}'' (1976) * ''Spøgelsestoget'' (1976) * ''{{ill|Sømænd på sengekanten|da}}'' (1976) * ''{{ill|Hopla på sengekanten|da}}'' (1976) * ''Strømer'' (1976) * ''Julefrokosten'' (1976) * ''{{ill|Hærværk (film)|lt=Hærværk|da}}'' (1977) * ''{{ill|Familien Gyldenkål vinder valget|da}}'' (1977) * ''Pas på ryggen, professor'' (1977) * ''{{ill|Hør, var der ikke en som lo?|da}}'' (1978) * ''Mig og Charly'' (1978) * ''The Thralls'' (1978) * ''{{ill|Trællenes oprør|da}}'' (1979) * ''{{ill|Krigernes børn|da}}'' (1979) * ''Next Stop Paradise'' (1980) * ''{{ill|Langturschauffør|da}}'' (1981) * ''{{ill|Har du set Alice?|da}}'' (1981) * ''{{ill|Gummi-Tarzan|lt=Gummi Tarzan|da|Gummi Tarzan (film)|fr|Gummi Tarzan (film)|it|Tarzan di gomma|nl||no|Gummi-Tarzan (film)|sv|Gummi Tarzan}}'' (1981) * ''{{ill|Thorvald og Linda|da}}'' (1982) * ''{{ill|Kidnapning|da|Kidnapning (film fra 1982)}}'' (1982) * ''{{ill|Tre engle og fem løver|da|Tre engle og fem løver (film)}}'' (1982) * ''{{ill|Ballerup Boulevard|da|Ballerup Boulevard (film)}}'' (1986) * ''{{ill|Skyggen af Emma|da||de|Emmas Schatten|fr|L'Ombre d'Emma|simple|Emma's Shadow}}'' (1988) * ''{{ill|Kærlighed uden stop|da}}'' (1989) * ''Sort høst'' (1993) * ''Riget I'' (1994) * ''Riget II'' (1997) * ''{{ill|Forbudt for børn|da}}'' (1998) * ''Du Skal Bruge Dit Liv'' (1999) * ''{{ill|Dykkerne|da||fr|Beyond, le secret des abysses}}'' (2000) * ''{{ill|Prop og Berta|da}}'' (2000) * ''{{ill|Max (2000 film)|lt=Max|da|Max (film)}}'' (2000) {{div col end}}
== Discography == [[File:Otto Brandenburg-1962.jpg|thumb|Close-up of Brandenburg from the album art of his 1962 EP: ''Anne-Li / Lolo-Lolita'']] === Albums and LPs === * ''Otto'' (LP, 1960) * ''This is Otto Brandenburg'' (Album, 1960) * ''Valmuevejen'' (Album with Anders Koppel, 1975) * ''Noget om... af Halfdan Rasmussen'' (Album, 1976) * ''Børnenes Sange 1'' (LP, 1980) * ''Vores gade'' (LP with Vivi Bak, 1980) * ''Har havet nogensinde glitret sådan?'' (Album, 1982) * ''Hvordan kan du være så erotisk! – Otto Brandeburg synger Jens August Schade'' (Album, 1984) * ''Godnat til Store og Små'' (Album, 1986) * ''Det' her det sner'' (Album, 1987) * ''Otto Brandenburg'' (Album, 1989)
== Further reading == * {{Cite book|last=Toft-Nielson|first=Frank|title=Otto Brandenburg - spor af en baggårdspuma|publisher=Lindhardt og Ringhof|year=2023|isbn=9788727065021|language=da}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name|id=0104596|name=Otto Brandenburg}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandenburg, Otto}} Category:1934 births Category:2007 deaths Category:20th-century Danish male singers Category:Best Actor Bodil Award winners Category:Danish film score composers Category:Danish male film actors Category:Danish male film score composers Category:People from Billund Municipality Category:Best Supporting Actor Bodil Award winners