Joen Bille has been a theatre actor in Denmark since the early 1970s, and has had roles in a number of TV series.[1]
Villa Ibsen
In 2014, he published the book Villa Ibsen,[2] which deals with his famous family. The book received mixed reviews, particularly highlighting portraits of the author's grandparents Sigurd and Bergliot Ibsen as interesting. In the depiction of the great-grandparents, Bille adds little new and largely builds on older portrayals and popular perceptions of Ibsen,[3] which have been criticized in recent historical Ibsen scholarship. Thus, the biography conveys myths about Henrik Ibsen's difficult childhood, conflict-ridden relationship with his father or Knud Ibsen as a tyrannical alcoholic, myths that were refuted in Jørgen Haave's book Familien Ibsen [The Ibsen Family] (2017). Contrary to Bille's claims, Haave notes that Ibsen had a comfortable childhood, was pampered by his father and was an arrogant child with a strong patrician identity.[4]
