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Sven-Ole Thorsen (born September 24, 1944 in Copenhagen) is a Danish actor, stuntman, and athlete.

He is known for his frequent appearances in Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, like Conan the Barbarian, as the hammer-wielding Thorgrim, The Running Man, as the sympathetic bodyguard Sven, and in Predator, where he played the Russian General ('Knock Knock'). Some of his other most memorable characters have varied widely, from the gritty security guard La Fours in Mallrats, to the unbeaten fighting legend Tigris of Gaul in Gladiator, and the witty Lt. Michael 'Tank' Ellis, Ground Assault Unit in Captain Power, to the menacing alien villain Secundus in Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe, who is always hunting for the Anti-Life Equation without any success.

Most of his characters are either strong silent types or foreigners, because of Thorsen's thick Danish accent, which has in some cases (like Hard Target) led to his voice being dubbed.

Trivia

Thorsen has appeared in fifteen Arnold Schwarzenegger movies (as of 2006) (twelve as actor, three as stuntman or trainer), making him Arnie's most frequent collaborator. It began with Conan the Barbarian, when Schwarzenegger brought Thorsen and other of his bodybuilder-friends (like Franco Columbu) with him to shoot the movie. Later, when Thorsen moved to the United States, he met Schwarzenegger again while he was acting in the movie Commando. Thorsen helped with some of the stuntwork in that movie, and quickly found work in many of the subsequent Schwarzenegger films.

Thorsen pursued his award-winning role as Tigris in Gladiator for over a year, beating Lou Ferrigno for the part. The part won him two TAURUS World Stunt Awards[1] in the ceremony's inaugural year.

Thorsen has founded various federations, including The Danish Bodybuilding Federation in 1979 and Cigar Night at Shatzi in Santa Monica, California. He has a black belt in Shotokan Karate, holding championship titles. Thorsen once won the Danish "Verdens Stærkeste Mand" ("Strongest man in the world") competition by powerlifting 247 kilos.

Thorsen met Anniqua Fors at a bodybuilding competition in 1980, and they were married in 1982. Fors is famous as a snake-charmer and folk-singer. Fors persuaded Sven to move to the USA in April, 1985. The couple have since divorced. They have no children together, but Sven-Ole has two sons, Michael and Martin, from a previous relationship. Thorsen dated Grace Jones in the early 1990s, and recently attended her Concert in Copenhagen to catch up on old times[2]. He is currently dating Erica Huff, daughter of the legendary soul-singer Leon Huff.

Thorsen is 196 centimetres (6 ft 5 in) tall and weighs approximately 120 kilos (265 lb), according to the Danish M! Magazine issued in May 2006.

Lives in Santa Monica, CA.

Thorsen has two dogs, a German Shepherd named Farrel and an American Bull Terrier named Cleo, and won the Danish "Show of Winners" Award of the Year 2006, honoring people who has a special affiliation with dogs. [3]

Films

Television

External links

• Sven-Ole Thorsen Official site (in Danish).
• Sven-Ole Thorsen Tribute The Largest Fanpage Available.

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