Career
Born Adele Eleonore Freed in Reykjavík, Iceland, under the stage name Valda Valkyrien she was prima ballerina of the Royal Danish Ballet. Foreign them, she performed in at least six silent films including one feature-length production. Of these, the film Den Stærkeste (Vanquished) was an American/Danish production released in the United States by the Great Northern Film Company, the Nordisk Film subsidiary in New York City.
This led to Valkyrien going to the United States. where she was signed by the Bayonne, New Jersey, studio owner David Horsley.
In 1914, she made her American film debut in the "Baroness Film Series" for Horsley"s Centaur Film Company. With World War I raging in Europe, in 1915 a New York City publisher released her husband"s book titled War"s New Weapons which received considerable publicity.
The resulting success brought Valda Valkyrien an offer from the Fox Film Corporation and in 1916 she signed on to make feature-length productions. However, the contractual relationship soured after one film and she left Fox to work in feature-length films back at Thanhouser as well as for Lewis J. Selznick"s studio.
Valkyrien"s last film is probably her most remembered, although she had only a secondary role.
Valda Valkyrien moved to the West Coast where she lived until her death in Los Angeles in 1956 after a lengthy illness. She was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.