Kornbeck was born in Copenhagen, the son of painter Johan Peter Kornbeck (1837–1894) and his wife Anna Nathalie Kornbeck (née Trolle) (1849–1930). He was employed in various Copenhagen and provincial theaters; the Dagmar Theatre, Det Ny Teater and the Odense Teater. In 1912 he debuted as a film actor and then starred in some 30 films, all but one were with the Nordisk Film company.detdanskefilm.de One of Kornbeck's more memorable film roles is that of Christian Berg in the 1924 Swedish silent film The Saga of Gosta Berling, directed by Mauritz Stiller.
