grethe made her stage debut at age 4 at a local revue, and cut her first record at age 8 in 1955, after winning a radio-transmitted amateur competition; the song, "teddyen min"/"cowboyhelten" became a big radio hit in and sold over 100,000 copies. she made her first film, "smugler i smoking" in 1957; by age 12 she had cut 10 records and acted in five films. described "crazy about jazz" as a child, she visited jazz clubs while still underage, "swinging" like an adult jazz vocalist despite her youthful voice.