Aase Clausen

Biography

Aase Othlo Barfod Clausen was the daughter of music director Henrik Clausen (1888-1956) and Valborg A. Jørgensen. She took singing and ballet lessons before becoming Miss Denmark in a beauty contest in 1932. That same year she was chosen as Miss Europe at a contest held at the Hotel Negresco in Nice. A You Tube video shows her accepting the title in both English and Danish. A large parade was held in Copenhagen in celebration of her title. This opened the door to a career in the movies, with roles in Københavnere (1933), Med fuld musik (1933) and Ud i den kolde sne (1934) and in a Swedish comedy "Ungkarlspappan "in 1935 where she worked with actress Birgit Tengroth. She later appeared in live theater productions. In 1934, Aase Clausen married Hans Carl Preben Holten (1911-1967) who was, at the time, junior manager of Copenhagen's famous family-operated clothing store, English House. He was known more as a playboy than as a businessman. They had three children together. In 1944, during the Second World War, she and her husband fled to Sweden. Though approached by film producers in 1942, Aase Clausen never again appeared before a camera.