Who Is Evan Ross’s Father, Arne Naess Jr.? His Age, Net Worth
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Who was Arne Naess Jr?
The late Norwegian businessman Arne Næss Jr. was born Arne Rudolf Ludvig Raab under the zodiac sign Sagittarius on 8 December 1937, in Germany. He’s perhaps remembered best for having been the second husband of famous American singer and actress Diana Ross, and the father of famous American actor and musician Evan Olav Ross- Næss.
Arne was passionate about mountain climbing, and in 1985 climbed Mount Everest with a Norwegian expedition which he led; he died in a climbing accident on 13 January 2004, aged 66, when his equipment loosened while he was descending from a peak outside Cape Town, South Africa and he fell over 100m. He was posthumously awarded a Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award in May 2004.
Early life and education
Arne was raised in Germany during World War II by his Norwegian mother Kirsten ‘Kiki’ Dekke Næss who died in 2001 aged 94, and German physician father August Oskar German Raab, who was 92 when he passed away in 1993; his uncle Arne Deke Eide Næss was a Norwegian philosopher and mountaineer.
After the war ended, Kirsten and August divorced and Arne moved to Norway with his mother, while he also took his mother’s maiden name. He studied at a local high school there, and was into numerous activities during his teenage years, including mountaineering; by the time he turned 17, Arne had already made 20 first ascents on Norwegian mountains.
He matriculated in 1955, and then enrolled at college, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in 1959.
Arne’s career
Arne moved to New York State, USA in 1964 and began working for his Norwegian shipping magnate uncle Erling Dekke Næss; this led to Arne founding his own oil and shipping business four years later, after which he also ventured into real estate.
The ‘90s saw him make a couple of bad investments, while his best was perhaps in Tandberg Data, an IT company headquartered in Dortmund, Germany.
He continued working until his death, and mostly lived in Switzerland.
Love life and wife
Arne was married twice. His first wife was Swedish non-celebrity Filippa Kumplin d’Orey, and they had three children together, daughters Leona and Katinka, and son Christoffer. Leona’s today a popular British singer-songwriter who released her debut album “Comatised” in March 2000, while she’s since released four more albums.
Arne and Filippa eventually divorced, and he was then in a relationship with Mari Maurstad, a famous Norwegian actress.
Arne was on a trip to the Bahamas when he met Diana Ross in 1985; they exchanged vows in 1986, and she gave birth to their sons Evan Olav Næss and Ross Arne Næss. This was also Diana’s second marriage, as she had been married to American music executive and businessman Robert Ellis Silberstein from 1971 through 1977.
Arne and Diana divorced in 2000 and he spent the final years of his life with non-celebrity American Camilla Strup, who was born in Norway; they have two sons together, Louis and Nicklas.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Arne had various other interests besides mountaineering, as he loved to travel around the world and learn about other cultures; he had friends in various countries, most of whom were middle-class people whom he had met on his travels.
He was a philanthropist, and donated millions of dollars to charity; Arne was mostly into donating to underprivileged children and animal shelters.
He was passionate about running and completed several half-marathons.
Arne enjoyed watching movies in his spare time and his favorite actor was Anthony Hopkins, while some of his favorite films were “The Remains of the Day”, “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” and “The Elephant Man”.
Height, age and net worth
Arne would’ve been 85 today. He had brown hair and eyes, was 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall and weighed around 130lbs (60kgs).
Arne’s net worth was estimated at over $600 million at the time of his death, his second wife Diana’s at over $250 million as of November 2023, and his son Evan’s at more than $30 million.
Who is his son Evan?
American actor and musician Evan Olav Ross-Næss was born under the zodiac sign Virgo on 26 August 1988, in Greenwich, Connecticut USA. He has 44 acting credits and is perhaps known best for playing Messalla in the 2014 action adventure science fiction movie “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1”, which starred Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence, and was directed by Francis Lawrence. It follows Katniss Everdeen as she’s fighting to save Peeta and her nation, and the movie won 21 of its 53 award nominations. Evan reprised his role in the 2015 sequel “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2”.
Evan was thrown into the entertainment industry at a quite an early age, as he was only three when his mother cast him to appear in her 1991 music video “Diana Ross: When You Tell Me That You Love Me”.
He studied at Greenwich High School, and his first notable performance was portraying Ant in the 2006 crime comedy movie “ATL”, starring alongside Lauren London and Tip ‘T. I.’ Harris, while the film was directed by Chris Robinson. It follows four friends who’ve just matriculated from a local high school and the movie was nominated for seven awards. The remainder of the 2000s saw Evan appear in the drama movie “Life Support”, the comedy series “All of Us” and the drama film “Gardens of the Night”, amongst other projects.
In 2014, he played Romeo in the popular comedy “Just Before I Go”, which starred Garret Dillahunt, Olivia Thirlby and Seann William Scott, and was directed by Courteney Cox; it follows a man who wants to commit suicide, and has now travelled to his hometown to make amends.
Some of Evan’s most recent roles have been in the 2022 horror comedy movie “The Loneliest Boy in the World”, the 2022 episode “Blacklisted” of the action thriller series “Zaya”, and the 2023 comedy film “A Snowy Day in Oakland”.
Evan’s won one of his five award nominations: a 2011 SXSW Film Festival Award for Breakthrough Performance, for the 2011 thriller movie “96 Minutes”.
He’s been married to American singer-songwriter and actress Ashlee Ross-Næss since 30 August 2014; Ashlee gave birth to their daughter Jagger Snow Ross on 30 July 2015, and their son Ziggy Blu Ross followed on 29 October 2020. This is Ashlee’s second marriage, as she had previously been married to American musician Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III.
