THOUSAND OAKS, CA - Hollywood’s original illumination engineer will be inducted into the Scandinavian American Hall of Fame in California on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Nordic Spirit Symposium.

Otto K. Olesen, who died in 1964, will be honored at an 11:30 a.m. ceremony in Preus-Brandt Forum at California Lutheran University as part of the two-day symposium. The Hall of Fame is a project of the Scandinavian American Cultural and Historical Foundation, which is associated with the Scandinavian Center at the Thousand Oaks university. Past honorees include baseball coach Sparky Anderson, pianist and humorist Victor Borge, and explorer Leif Erikson.

Olesen emigrated from Denmark to California in 1911 as a 20-year-old college graduate. Starting with two abandoned military searchlights, he developed his lighting technique and within a few years launched the use of lighting for premieres. He was the first to provide lights for shooting motion pictures inside a studio.

He went on to become the first lighting engineer for the Hollywood Bowl and Los Angeles Coliseum. He provided the lighting for the 1927 grand opening of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood and the 1937 opening ceremony of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, which utilized 500 searchlights fed by 30 miles of cable. He also lit expositions, parades, sporting events and parades.

It wasn’t all premieres and festivities. His mobile equipment was the first on the scene in the disastrous 1933 Long Beach earthquake. He earned several medals of honor for supplying power for hospitals and lights in the stricken city.

Olesen was an important part of the growth of Hollywood, where he created the annual Santa Claus Lane spectacle, and was active in several community organizations.

After selling his company in the 1950s, Olesen became the postmaster of Los Angeles. Olesen Lighting is now part of Hollywood Rentals, a leading feature film equipment supplier based in Sylmar.

For information on symposium tickets, schedules and registration, call 805-778-0162.