Balling started working for the largest and oldest Danish film production company,
Nordisk Films Kompagni, in 1946. He later became the boss of the company. His made his directing debut with
Adam & Eva (1953), which was nominated for a
Bodil-award as Best Film. In 1956 he directed
Kispus, which was the first Danish movie filmed in color. The most popular films directed by Balling were the feature film comedies about a trio of small-time crooks, the
Olsen Gang. There were 13 episodes of this movie series between 1968 and 1981, starting with
Olsen-banden. They were remade in several languages. In 1998, Erik Balling received an
Honorary Robert Award. == Filmography ==