[1][2] Synnøve Gleditsch was the daughter of the arsenal manager Nils Tanvik (1872–1969) and Kristine Eian (1875–1925).

[1] During the Second World War, Synnøve Gleditsch had been scheduled to perform the song "Det skal lyse igjen over byen" (The Light Will Shine Again over the city) as the closing number in the Chat Noir revue Fra tid til annen in 1941.

The state censorship body (Teaterdirektoratet), established by the occupying forces, intervened after the rehearsal and stopped further performance of the number.

The song later became known under the new title "Norge i rødt, hvitt og blått" (Norway in Red, White, and Blue).

She made a name for herself in roles such as Lady Teazle in Henki Kolstad's Baktalelsens skole, Svanhild in Henrik Ibsen's Love's Comedy, Eliza in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, Lavinia in Nils Kjær's Det lykkelige valg, and Adele in Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus.