Gunnar Tolnæs commenting on his fan mail

»Gunnar Tolnæs er træt af hyldest« (Nordlandsposten, 3th of February, 1921, p. 4)

»Man har sagt mig at en foretrukken form for forgudelse er at be om haandskrifter. En filmstjerne faar sine breve bragt i vaskekurver, og da er det at arbeide, skrive, skrive tusen gange, ti tusen gange sit navn. – Naar jeg som liten gut ikke hadde opført mig ordentligt paa skolen lot min lærer mig til straf – hører De til straf! – skrive mit navn femti gange. Mine beundrere lar mig lide denne straf mangedobbelt. Har jeg fortjent det? – – –

[…] Saa kom der et brev, det kom fra Oppeln og var tykt og tungt og det saa ut som om alt hvad der kunde opdrives av brevpapir i Oppeln var gaat med til det. I dette brev lovet en dame at indsætte den indiske fyrste, Tolnæs, til universalarving, hvis han bare først engang personlig vilde komme til Oppeln.

– Naar gaar næste tog til Oppeln? spurte jeg, for denslags ting bør man ikke opsætte for længe.

Aa jeg har endda en stund tiden for mig lo hr. Tolnæs – for den unge dame er bare sytten aar!«

»I have been told that a favorite form of worship is to ask for handwriting. A film star has his letters brought in laundry baskets, and then it is to work, write, write, write a thousand times, ten thousand times his name. – When, as a little boy, I had not behaved properly at school, my teacher made me write my name fifty times as a punishment – do you hear: as a punishment! My admirers let me suffer this punishment many times over. Have I deserved it? – – –.

[...] Then came a letter, it came from Oppeln, and was thick and heavy, and it looked as if everything that could be found of stationery in Oppeln had been included in it. In this letter a lady promised to install the Indian prince, Tolnæs, as universal heir, if only he would first come to Oppeln in person.

– When is the next train to Oppeln? I asked, for such things should not be put off too long.

Oh, I even have a little time to spare, laughed Mr. Tolnæs – for the young lady is only seventeen years old!«