[3] Jacobsen debuted in 1932 at the National Theater in Henrik Ibsen's play An Enemy of the People, which was staged as Egil Eide's anniversary performance.
[3] After a few years in Oslo, he moved to Trondheim in 1937 and started performing at the Trøndelag Theater, where he quickly became one of the theatre's driving forces.
For fifteen years he was the costume director[3] at the Trøndelag Theater in addition to performing on stage as an actor and singer.
Among Jacobsen's roles in plays by Ibsen were Doctor Wangel in The Lady from the Sea, Kroll in Rosmersholm, Stockmann in An Enemy of the People, and Manders in Ghosts.
[1] Jacobsen appeared in supporting roles in the films To levende og en død (1937) and Trysil-Knut (1942).