Introduction
Kaj (Kay) Gynt (pseudonym of Karin Sophia Matthiessen; née Karin Sophia Cederstrand; 24 October 1885 – 1956) was a Swedish-turned-American actress and, for one albeit notable 1927 Broadway musical, a book writer.
Career
Actress
Before immigrating to New York, Gynt performed three years with the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. In America, she played Kate in the 1917 film The Eternal Mother and was a skating party guest in the 1917 film, The Last Sentence, directed by Ben Turbett. In 1921, Gynt played Clorinda in Henry Bataille's 3-act romantic comedy, Don Juan, at the Garrick Theatre, New York.
Author
She authored the book for the 1927 Broadway musical revue, Rang Tang. She also co-authored, in 1936 with Langston Hughes, a proposed production, Cock o' the World, music by Duke Ellington, Wilbur Hughes Strickland, MD (1903–1987), and Billy Strayhorn. The work was never performed.
Growing up, immigration, marriage, and family
Gynt grew-up in Stockholm and was friends with Greta Garbo.At age 22, she and Harold Gustav Frederic Matthiessen (1883–1940) arrived at Ellis Island, New York, December 21, 1907, aboard the SS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria from Cuxhaven. That same day, they married each other at the Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church, 155 East 22nd Street (between Lexington and Third Avenues). Their marriage was officiated by Rev. Dr. Johan Gustaf Mauritz Stolpe (1858–1938), son of composer Gustav Stolpe (1833–1901). In 1917, Harold and Karin both became United States naturalized citizens.
Family
Gynt's husband, Harold Mattiessen, was a graduate of Swedish Royal University. He was a mechanical engineer, who, in 1918, was Chief Engineer for the Typhoon Fan Company, Inc., in Manhattan at 281 Lexington Avenue. Typhoon Fan, among other things, designed cooling systems for theaters.The president of Typhoon Fan, Ernst Samuel Glantzberg (1871–1936), also a graduate of the Swedish Royal University, was a brother of Swedish fashion designer, textile artist, and school founder Elisabeth Glantzberg (sv) (1873–1951).
Gynt's brother, Sölve Cederstrand (sv) (1900–1954), was a Swedish journalist, screenwriter, and film director. Another brother, Ragnar Cederstrand (1891–1935), was a Swedish film critic.