Ene Järvis
Ene Järvis (October 26, 1947 – June 24, 2025) was an Estonian stage, film, radio, and television actress.
Ene Järvis was born in Kiidjärve, Põlva County to parents Paul and Amanda Elfriede Järvis. She was the second to youngest of five siblings; two older sisters and an older brother named Eimar almost fourteen years her senior, and a younger sister. She attended schools in Põlva, graduating from Põlva Secondary School in 1966 (now, Põlva Gymnasium). Following graduation, she enrolled at the Tallinn State Conservatory in Tallinn (now, the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre), graduating from the institution's performing arts department in 1970. During her studies at the Tallinn State Conservatory, she met and befriended classmate Helene Vannari. The two would become lifelong friends.
In 1970, Järvis began an engagement at the National Youth Theatre in Tallinn (now, the Tallinn City Theatre). She would remain an actress at the theatre for nearly forty years, leaving in 2009. Beginning in 2009, she was a freelance actress.
Järvis' first substantial feature-length film role was in the 1987 Soviet-Estonian Helle Karis-directed Metsluiged, adapted from the 1838 Hans Christian Andersen literary fairy tale The Wild Swans, for Tallinnfilm. This was followed in 1990 by a small role in the Kaljo Kiisk directed drama Regina; and an uncredited role as Agnes in the 1992 Mati Põldre directed Need vanad armastuskirjad, a biopic of 1930s and 1940s Estonian songwriter Raimond Valgre. In 1999, she appeared as a director in the Valentin Kuik directed drama Lurjus, which was adapted from the short story Poldlets (also known as An Affair of Honor) penned by Vladimir Nabokov.
One of Järvis's most well-known television roles was the character Karu-Kati in the children's show Mõmmi ja aabits which was broadcast on Eesti Televisioon (ETV) from 1976 until 1977.
In 1989, Ene Järvis was cast in the role of Astrid Olsen for the Mikk Mikiver directed television film Doktor Stockmann, based on the 1886 play An Enemy of the People by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Between 1995 and 1996, she played the role of Lilian Põder on the popular, long-running Eesti Televisioon (ETV) drama serial Õnne 13.
Järvis also made appearances in 2007 on the Kanal 2 television crime series Kelgukoerad, and as Helga in the Kanal 2 mystery-horror television series Süvahavva. Between 2011 and 2015, she also made several appearances on episodes of the TV3 comedy-crime series Kättemaksukontor.
During her career Järvis also performed in a number of radio theatre plays. Some of her more memorable roles in radio theatre were in productions of works by Vladimir Mayakovsky, August Gailit, and Oscar Wilde.
Ene Järvis was married to actor Vello Janson from 1976 until their divorce in 1984. The couple had no children. Järvis lived in Tallinn and was in a relationship with long-term partner Gunnar.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 0.1975 |
| Birthday | 1947-10-26 |
| Place of Birth | Kiidjärve, Põlva County, Estonian SRR, USSR [now Estonia] |
| Also Known As | Ene Janson, |
1992
Those Old Love-letters
7/6
A film about the life of Raimond Valgre, an Estonian songwriter and singer of the 1930s and 40s, the political changes of his country and his life aft...
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Those Old Love-letters
2016
Class Reunion
6/9
Three middle aged men are going to their high school reunion after 25 years and the troubles that come with it.
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Class Reunion
1990
Awakening
5.6/5
It is the night of March 25, 1949. A full moon hangs over Estonia. Endless rows of cattle cars are waiting to transport thousands of Estonian families...
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Awakening
2018
The Little Comrade
6.9/14
In the midst of Stalinist tyranny, six-year-old Leelo's mother is sent to a prison camp. Haunted by her mother's last words telling her to be a good k...
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The Little Comrade
2013
Love Is Blind
5.6/11
30-year old Kertu has lived under her father's power her whole life. Because of her gentle nature, she is thought by locals to be a little simple-mind...
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Love Is Blind
1987
The Wild Swans
6/9
Once upon a time, a King had eleven sons and one daughter. When his wife, the Queen, died, the King remarried. The new wife and the children's stepmot...
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The Wild Swans
2011
Farts of Fury
5/3
Keiser, the lead singer of a former rock group won't put up with approaching old age and decides to call his old band members together. Keiser's ambit...
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Farts of Fury
1987
The Joys of Midlife
5.6/5
Five people who have recently reached middle-age are driving through Estonia to visit a famous witch-therapist to get rid of their problems. The sombe...
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The Joys of Midlife
1989
Giordano
7/1
The protagonist of this satirical short is a photographer whose camera captures photos of people's true nature. We often have to ask ourselves whether...
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Giordano
2012
Demons
8/1
When Joko, Ants and Reeda, all in their own good reasons, first enter a casino, they can't possibly be aware of the very existence of the demons insid...
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Demons
2016
The Polar Boy
6.5/4
Mattias has a dream to become a photography student of the Berlin Arts Academy. On the journey of following his calling, his dream is constantly put t...
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The Polar Boy
1990
Regina
4.75/2
Regina is a beautiful, educated and independent woman whose boyfriend tells her that he is going to marry a young girl expecting a baby. As Regina inh...
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Regina
1989
Doctor Stockmann
4/3
Toomas Stockmann, the head doctor of a water clinic built in a small town by the sea, discovers that the facility is threatened by an infection caused...
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Doctor Stockmann
1989
Family Photos
7/1
The graduates of a small town are on tenterhooks - the finals will be soon over and the young people will start lives of their own. They don't know wh...
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Family Photos
1999
An Affair of Honor
8/1
Hendrik is a responsible public servant who is deeply in love with his beautiful wife Evelin. Evelin, however, finds their protected life boring; she...
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An Affair of Honor
1971
Outlaws
0/0
Based on Jaan Anvelt's novel "Outlaws" which deals with the struggle of the Estonian Communist Workers' Movement and the life of revolutionaries in th...
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