Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whānau a Kiisk, i tipu ake i te rohe o Viru. I te tau 1944, 18 ona tau, i mahi ia i roto i te waahanga rererangi o te 20th Waffen Grenadier Division o te SS (1st Estonian), a ka uru ki te
Te Pakanga o te Raina o Tannenberg. Whai muri i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, i taea e ia te huna i tana mahi hoia mai i nga kaitiaki Soviet. I te tau 1946, ka mutu ia i te Kura Tuarua o Rakvere 1 ka uru ki te Whare Wananga Hangarau o Tallinn. I huri ia i te tau i muri mai ki te ESSR State Theatre Institute, a i te 1948, ki te Russian Academy of Theatre Arts. I puta ia i te tau 1953, ka hoki ia ki Estonia ka uru atu ki te Whare Tapere Drama o Estonia.