He came home and started high school, but soon left again, this time on a long trip to South America.

He started performing at the National Theater in Bergen, where he made his debut in Hamlet in 1932, playing opposite the famous Magda Blanc.

[6] Egede-Nissen was also imprisoned in the Cameroonian city of Douala for several summer months in 1955 as the result of a fight ending in a death on the Oslo-registered boat Slemdal on May 3, 1955.

[7] Three years later, he appeared in Arne Skouen's film Pastor Jarman kommer hjem in the role of a stoker, which he had personal experience with.

Before the Second World War, Egede-Nissen appeared in Tancred Ibsen's film Valfångare (1939) as the helmsman Olav Lykke.