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Born Rolf Åke Mikael Nyqvist in Stockholm, Sweden, it wasn't until he was over a year old when he was finally adopted from the orphanage he had been given to. His father was a lawyer and his mother a writer. It wasn't until he had his first child that he decided to seek out his biological parents. After a long journey, he met his biological mother who is Swedish and is now close to his biological father who is Italian and a pharmacist.

Acting wasn't always originally on the agenda for Nyqvist. A career in hockey was desired until an injury lead to an early retirement. At the age of 17, Nyqvist went to Omaha, Nebraska in America as an exchange student for a year. This is where his passion for acting first sparked. He took his first acting classes and played in addition to other roles, a part in a school version of the drama Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller.

However, upon returning to Sweden he got accepted into Ballet school but after one year gave it up insisting he was too "stiff" and twirls and twists were not for him. An ex-girlfriend suggested to try theatre instead and at 19 years old, he was accepted into the Swedish Academic School of Drama in Malmö. He then went onto work mainly in theatre but also had several parts in film productions.

He became well known for his role as police officer Banck in the first series of Beck (1997) films made in 1997. His big breakthrough in European cinema came three years later, as he starred as Rolf, an alcoholic and abusive husband, in a film by Lukas Moodysson called Together (2000). This role landed him his first Guldbagge nomination (Best Supporting Actor) and won him the Best Actor award at the Gijón International Film Festival.

The accolades, awards and nominations flowed on from there. In 2002, Nyqvist played the leading man in the Swedish romantic comedy-drama, Grabben i graven bredvid (2002) directed by Kjell Sundvall and based on the novel of the same name written by Katarina Mazetti. He won a Best Actor Guldbagge award for his performance. The following year, Nyqvist starred as the leading role in As It Is in Heaven (2004) which was Academy Award nominated for Best Foreign Film and his performance as an internationally renowned, struggling conductor earned Nyqvist his second nomination for a Best Actor Guldbagge award. In 2006, he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Guldbagge award for his role in the film Mother of Mine (2005).

Over the next few years he went on to star in several other films and plays as part of the Royal Dramatic Theatre. A notable role that Nyqvist portrayed was that of Swedish ambassador Harald Edelstam in the film The Black Pimpernel (2007). Edelstam was a hero that saved several lives from execution in Chile during and after the military coupe in September 1973.

In 2008, it was announced that Nyqvist was chosen to star as Mikael Blomkvist of the literary phenomenon, the Millennium Trilogy written by Stieg Larsson. It was long speculated by Scandinavian tabloids that fellow Swedish actor, Mikael Persbrandt could be chosen for the role of Blomkvist until Niels Arden Oplev claimed that 'he would not have been right for the role.' Oplev needed 'a humanist with his heart in the right place, a Swedish teddy bear whom women would feel safe in his arms...a man who respects women, regardless of what type they are.' Nyqvist's capabilities as an actor and his public persona scored him the role.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) and its sequels, The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009) were released in 2009 throughout Europe and in the following year, throughout the rest of the world. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has garnered international critical acclaim. Oplev, Noomi Rapace (who starred as Lisbeth Salander, female protagonist of the trilogy) and Nyqvist all gained international recognition. Nyqvist said that his role as Blomkvist 'put me on the map internationally.' As a result he starred in two major Hollywood action movies as the leading villain: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) as Hendricks, and John Wick (2014) as Tarasov. He made other movies in English, and continued to work in Swedish language projects.

He appeared in two films based on novels by well-known Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell, Kennedy's Brain (2010) and The Man from Beijing (2011). There was speculation and talk from Mankell that Nyqvist would be his first choice to play Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, who was assassinated in 1986, but that project never materialized. Instead, one of his final appearances was as a man who was politically the opposite of Palme: in Madiba (2017) he played Hendrik Verwoed, the architect of apartheid in South Africa.

Michael Nyqvist was diagnosed with lung cancer, and he passed away of the disease in Stockholm in June 2017, aged 56.

He was married to set designer, Catharina Ehrnrooth and had two children Ellen (born in 1991) and Arthur (born in 1996).

Her artistic dreams came early in life and were further supported by her older sister Gerd Andersson who became a ballet dancer at the Royal Opera and made her acting debut in 1951. Bibi, on the other side, had to make do with bit parts and commercials. She debuted in Dum-Bom (1953), playing against Nils Poppe. Eventually, she was able to start at the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school in 1954. A brief relationship with Ingmar Bergman made her quit school and follow him to the Malmö city theatre, where he was a director, performing in plays by August Strindberg and Hjalmar Bergman. Bergman also gave her a small part in his comedy Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), and larger roles in his Wild Strawberries (1957) and The Seventh Seal (1957). From the the 1960s she got offers from abroad, with best result in I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977). During the civil war in Yugoslavia she has worked with several initiatives to give the people of Sarajevo theatre and other forms of culture.

Bearing a strong resemblance to Humphrey Bogart certainly helped in typecasting the handsome, hairy-chested Gerald Mohr into "B" film noir. Born in New York City in 1914, he was the son of Sigmond Mohr and Henrietta Noustadt, a Viennese singer. In 1920 his father was killed in a tragic accident while at work when Mohr was five years old, and he was raised primarily by his mother and maternal grandfather, who was a psychologist and associate of Dr. Sigmund Freud, the famed psychoanalyst. Mohr became a fervent student of Freud as a result of this association. He was taught to ride and play piano at an early age and attended the prestigious Dwight Preparatory School in New York. Even as a teen, Mohr possessed a smooth vocal delivery and landed a job as a staff broadcaster for CBS Radio, which in turn opened the door for him to Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre. Mohr made his Broadway debut in the minor role of a gangster in "The Petrified Forest," the same play that put Bogart on the map.

His first starring role in films came with the serial Jungle Girl (1941), in which he played principal villain Slick Latimer. However, because of his pleasant, distinctive baritone voice, it was radio that became Mohr's meal ticket during the 1940s, and he signed on for a number of popular suspense thrillers such as "The Adventures of Philip Marlowe" and "The Whistler." In 1949, "Radio and Television Life" magazine named Mohr as the Best Male Actor on Radio.

After a number of bit parts, he finally won a noticeable role in Lady of Burlesque (1943) with Barbara Stanwyck, after Welles referred him to the film's director, William A. Wellman. Following WWII service with the Air Force, Mohr returned to acting and found his niche in intrigue, playing the title role in The Notorious Lone Wolf (1946) and its two sequels, along with Passkey to Danger (1946), Dangerous Business (1946) and The Truth About Murder (1946). As much as he wanted to extricate himself from this trenchcoat stereotype, he continued to chug along in the 1950s with the same type of roles represented by The Sniper (1952), Invasion, U.S.A. (1952) and Guns Girls and Gangsters (1959). His final leads were in This Rebel Breed (1960) and the low-grade sci-fi thriller The Angry Red Planet (1959). In 1954-55 he starred as Christopher Storm in 41 episodes of the Swedish-made TV series Foreign Intrigue (1951).

Finding film work scarce in the following decade, he found regular work on TV, guest starring in over 100 dramas, ranging from TV westerns like Maverick (1957), Bronco (1958), Cheyenne (1955) and Bonanza (1959) to action/courtroom series such as 77 Sunset Strip (1958), Hawaiian Eye (1959) and Perry Mason (1957), among many others.

His last movie role came in the top-notch musical Funny Girl (1968) starring Barbra Streisand and Omar Sharif, in which Mohr was featured as Tom Branca, one of Nicky Arnstein's cronies, who offers to help Fanny Brice out by giving the proud but debt-ridden gambler a prime casino job.

Mohr was overseas in Stockholm, Sweden, where he had just completed filming the pilot of a new TV series called "Private Entrance" when he suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 54.

Ingrid trained as a ballet dancer and attended Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theatre. She came to fame thanks to Bergman's "Wild Strawberries". She acted in 9 Ingmar Bergman's films. Her fame allowed her to act in Luchino Visconti's "The Damned" in 1969. Ingrid Thulin lived in Rome since the 1960's. She came back to Sweden for her health treatment recently.

Warner Oland was born Johan Verner Olund in the small village of Nyby in Bjurholm parish in the county of Vasterbotten, Sweden, on October 3, 1879. Bjurholm is situated about 60 kilometers outside the town of Umea. His family emigrated to the US on October 15, 1892. His father Jonas was a shopkeeper and his mother was Maria Johanna (nee Forsberg).

After finishing grade school and working on Broadway during his 20s, Oland settled in California in the early 1910s, where he worked odd jobs. The movie industry was in its beginning stages in Hollywood, and Johan Olund--changing his name to the more Americanized "Warner Oland"--worked as a stage actor for a while before getting small parts in films in the 1910s and 1920s. As Hollywood made the transition from silent to sound pictures in the late 1920s (Oland co-starred in Warner Brothers' groundbreaking part-talkie The Jazz Singer (1927)), he began landing more prominent roles.

His greatest success came in 1931 when he was cast in the role of Charlie Chan, a Honolulu-based Chinese-American police detective in Charlie Chan Carries On (1931), based on the popular detective mystery series by Earl Derr Biggers [1884-1933] which was produced by Fox Films. His performance as the seemingly mild-mannered but razor-sharp Asian detective won him critical acclaim, which resulted in his playing Chan again in the sequel, The Black Camel (1931).

The success of the Chan character turned into a cash cow for Fox Studios and Oland became a valuable property. It seems incredible today, but in Fox's pre-Shirley Temple period, Oland was considered the only guaranteed profit maker on the lot. He became wealthy and bred miniature schnauzers. Although seemingly happy, Oland became increasingly dependent upon alcohol and exhibited bizarre delusional behavior after periods of drinking.

Oland appeared in a total of 16 Charlie Chan feature films from 1931 to 1937. The Chan films were budgeted approaching 1930s A-picture levels (approximately $275,000) and were usually shot within tight 30-day schedules, three films per year (sadly, a number of these have apparently been lost). The series was pretty much the only guaranteed profit-maker the ailing studio could bank on during the days leading to its takeover by ex-Warner's production chief Darryl F. Zanuck in 1935, that resulted in its transformation from Fox Films into Twentieth Century-Fox.

From 1931 to 1935 Oland did other films besides the Chan series, but he was increasingly relegated to roles that didn't vary much beyond mysterious Asians, and in mid-1935 he became so identified as Charlie Chan that he was assigned to the series exclusively. His last eight films were all Chan entries, usually co-starring Keye Luke, who played Chan's Number One Son. While considered somewhat stereotypical today, these films were met with wide critical acclaim and all were hugely profitable. The best of the series is generally considered to be Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936), featuring lavish set design and a particularly effective menacing villain in Boris Karloff.

Oland's physical and mental problems slowly began to catch up to him, and in 1937 he was said to have suffered a nervous breakdown apparently due to some kind of mental dementia. The Fox executives, knowing that Oland was one of its biggest money earners, kept his alcoholism and mental problems hidden from the public. In November 1937, Edith, his wife of 30 years, filed for divorce. In January 1938 "Charlie Chan at (the) Ringside" began production at Fox's Western Avenue lot under the direction of James Tinling with an increasingly erratic Oland. After a few days shooting inside Studio 6, Oland walked out and never returned. He was heard complaining the studio was possessed by voodoo and feared contracting pneumonia. Over the next month there were numerous negotiations between Oland and SAG (Oland had been an early member) and production was briefly resumed, then suspended after Oland again failed to report to work. He was hospitalized and released, then decided to return to his mother's home in Sweden. Oland's film career, unbeknown to him, was over. In the interim, producer Sol M. Wurtzel, desperate to salvage the property, ordered the Chan picture reworked as Mr. Moto's Gamble (1938), with minor supporting cast changes. Successful negotiations were made with the Biggers' estate and the film was quickly shot with Peter Lorre and released April 7, 1938. The film itself remains an anachronism in the Moto series, as it contains much Chan-like dialog, tacked on Moto-esque action scenes and a guest-starring role by Keye Luke. Regardless, it was also a hit.

During his visit to Sweden, Oland negotiated a reconciliation with Edith but contracted bronchial pneumonia and died there on August 6, 1938, at age 57. Ironically, Fox contract (and Chan series) director John G. Blystone died the same day.

Numerous actors were tested to fill Oland's shoes as Charlie Chan, among them Cy Kendall, Walter Connolly, J. Edward Bromberg, Noah Beery Jr., Michael Visaroff and Leo Carillo (Kendall and Connelly had played Chan on radio). The series continued at Fox for another 11 entries with Sidney Toler, who was signed by Zanuck in mid-October 1938. Toler injected more humor into the character as scripts became somewhat more pedestrian. By 1942 Fox considered the series exhausted and it would ultimately be sold to low-budget studio Monogram Pictures and continue on even after Toler's death in 1947 with Roland Winters in the role through six dismal films into 1949.

In a postscript, Fox director Norman Foster paid a subtle tribute to Oland in the next Moto film, Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1938). During that movie's production in August 1938, cast and crew learned of Oland's passing in his native Sweden. Over the title Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938), on the bill of the Sultana Theatre of Variety, they placed the banner "Last Day."

Allan Edwall was born in a working class home in Jämtland, Sweden in 1924. His father was a trade-union man and a communist. 1949-52 he attended Stockholm's Royal Daramatic Theatre School. Through the years he made more than 400 parts in theater, film, television and radio. He was also a director, an author, a composer and a singer. On records he sang his own songs where he attacked the injustices in our society. From 1986 and for the remaining years he ran his own theater 'Brunnsgatan 4' in Stockholm, where he did everything by himself, from acting to selling tickets.

Being the son of an acting father, Oscar Johanson, it isn't surprising that he wanted to be an actor already as a child. However, he first worked as a baker's apprentice, in a barber shop or in the docks. After the conscription he got his first role, a bit part on the theater Lilla Teatern in Stockholm, while he took acting lessons. One of his early roles was against Gösta Ekman, one of the best Swedish actors of that day. In the autumn 1933 he became a student at the Royal Dramatic Theater's acting school, along with Ingrid Bergman, Signe Hasso and the girl who was to become his lifelong wife, Lillie Björnstrand. After graduation they found employment at the Swedish Theater in Vasa, Finland. After two years of stage acting they returned to Sweden and outmost poverty. Besides small time stage acting he was only offered bit parts in the movies. In 1943 he made his breakthrough debut with Night in the Harbor (1943). During WW2 he also made his first work with Ingmar Bergman on the theater: August Strindberg's play Spöksonaten. He mainly appeared in light comedies until the movies that made him internationally famous: Ingmar Bergman's Sawdust and Tinsel (1953), A Lesson in Love (1954) and Smiles of a Summer Night (1955). He became a close friend of Mr. Bergman. The 1960s was less successful and when his contract with Svensk Filmindustri (SF) ended, it wasn't renewed. Instead he made TV-theater, theater in Sweden and movies in Italy almost until his death. Other interesting movies with him are Kristin kommenderar (1946), Soldat Bom (1948) and Secrets of Women (1952).

Bengt Ekerot was born on 8 February 1920 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He was an actor and director, known for The Seventh Seal (1957), The Magician (1958) and Det glada kalaset (1946). He was married to Margareta Hallin and Antoinette Gram. He died on 26 November 1971 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Gudrun Brost was born on 6 April 1910 in Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden. She was an actress, known for The Virgin Spring (1960), Hour of the Wolf (1968) and Kungliga patrasket (1945). She was married to Sven Forssell. She died on 28 June 1993 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Stieg Larsson's three novels (collectively known as "The Millennium Series") were published posthumously, and each became a feature film. They were entitled (for the American market) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (originally published in 2005), The Girl Who Played with Fire (originally published in 2006), and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (originally published in 2007). The feature films retained the same titles for the American market.

Sven Nykvist was considered by many in the industry to be one of the world's greatest cinematographers. During his long career that spanned almost half a century, Nyvist perfected the art of cinematography to its most simple attributes, and he helped give the films he had worked on the simplest and most natural look imaginable. Indeed, Mr. Nykvist prided himself on the simplicity and naturalness of his lighting schemes. Nykvist used light to create mood and, more significantly, to bring out the natural flesh tones in the human face so that the emotion of the scene could be played out on the face without the light becoming intrusive.

Nykvist entered the Swedish film industry when he was 19 and worked his way up to becoming a director of photography. He first worked with the legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman on the film Sawdust and Tinsel (1953), but his collaboration with Bergman began in earnest with The Virgin Spring (1960). From that point on, Nykvist replaced the great Gunnar Fischer as Bergman's cameraman, and the two men started a collaboration that would last for a quarter of a century. The switch from Fischer to Nykvist created a marked difference in the look of Bergman's films. In many respects, it was like the difference between Caravaggio and Rembrandt. Fischer's lighting was a study in light and darkness, while Nykvist preferred a more naturalistic, more subtle approach that in many ways relied on the northern light compositions of the many great Scandinavian painters.

Nykvist's work with Bergman is one of the most glorious collaborations in movie history. Nykvist created a markedly different look for each installment of Bergman's Faith Trilogy. Through a Glass Darkly (1961) had an almost suffocating quality to it, and The Silence (1963) hearkened back to the days of German Expressionism. Winter Light (1963), the middle part of the trilogy, may very well be the most perfect work of Nykvist's repertoire. Having studied the light in a real provincial church carefully, he then recreated the subtle changes in the light as the day went on on a Stockholm sound stage. Indeed, it's hard to believe that the film was shot on a stage and not in a real church in Northern Sweden. For Persona (1966), Nykvist relied heavily on Sweden's famous Midnight Sun. In The Passion of Anna (1969), Nykvist was able to capture the chilly, soggy, and melancholy look of Faro, one of Nykvist's first color films. Both Nykvist and Bergman were both very reluctant to film in color. He created a fascinating study of white and red in Cries & Whispers (1972), for which Nykvist won an Oscar. He won an Oscar again for the last feature-length theatrical film that Bergman made, Fanny and Alexander (1982).

During the late 1970s, Nykvist began making films elsewhere in Europe and in the United States, working for directors such as Louis Malle (Pretty Baby (1978)), Philip Kaufman (The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)), Bob Fosse (Star 80 (1983)), Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle (1993)), Woody Allen (Another Woman (1988), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)), Richard Attenborough (Chaplin (1992)), and fellow Swede Lasse Hallström (What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)). The documentary Ljuset håller mig sällskap (2000) paid homage to Nykvist, although it does not grant us any real secrets about his working methods. Nykvist died in 2006.

Erland Josephson, the distinguished Swedish actor best known for his appearance in Ingmar Bergman's films, was born in Stockholm, Sweden on June 15, 1923. Josephson's relationship with Bergman, a long-time friend, began in the late 1930s when they first worked together in the theater.

Although he was in several motion pictures in the late 1940s and early '50s, including a bit part in Bergman's "The Man With an Umbrella" (1946), Josephson confined himself to the stage during the first part of his career. After appearing in Bergman's "The Magician" (1958) in support of Max von Sydow, Josephson did not make another movie until the late '60s, when he was cast in Bergman's "Hour of the Wolf" (1968). He collaborated on two screenplays with Bergman (using the joint pseudonym of Buntel Eriksson), Alf Kjellin's "The Pleasure Garden" (1961) and Bergman's own "Now About These Women" (1964).

In 1966, Josepheson succeeded Bergman as creative director of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, a post he held until 1975. He also succeeded Max Von Sydow as Bergman's favorite male lead in the 1970s, which brought him global fame. After co-starring with Von Sydow and Liv Ullmann in "The Passion of Anna" (1969), he had major roles in "The Touch" (1971), "Cries and Whispers" (1972), "Scenes From a Marriage" (a television mini-series edited into a film in 1973), and "Face to Face" (1976).

François Truffaut, in his guise as a film critic, wrote in 1958: "Bergman's preeminent strength is the direction he gives his actors. He entrusts the principal roles in his films to the five or six actors he loves best, never type-casting them. They are completely different from one film to the next, often playing diametrically opposite roles." In Bergman's films of the 1970s, Erland Josephson engendered the neurotic, post-war 20th century man: aloof, introspective, and self-centered.

Josephson also appeared in Bergman's "Autumn Sonata" (1978), "Fanny and Alexander" (1982) and "After the Rehearsal" (1984). After starring in "Trolösa" (2000), a film directed by frequent co-star Liv Ullmann and scripted by Bergman, it was time for him to be reunited with Ullmann as an actress under the hand of the maestro himself with "Saraband" (2003).

Josephson did not appear in a non-Swedish film until 1977, when he starred as Friedrich Nietzsche in Italian director Liliana Cavani's "Beyond Good and Evil." He continued to work in international cinema in the 1980s and '90s, appearing in Franco Brusati's "To Forget Venice (1980), Dusan Makavejev's "Montenegro" (1981), Philip Kaufman's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (1988), István Szabó's "Hanussen" (1988), and Peter Greenaway's "Prospero's Books" (1991). His most memorable non-Bergman roles were in the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, "Nostalghia" (1983) and "The Sacrifice" (1986).

Behind the camera, Josephson co-directed "One and One", a 1978 full-length film, with fellow Bergman collaborators Ingrid Thulin and Sven Nykvist, and directed the full-length "Marmalade Revolution" (1980). Erland Josephson also is an accomplished writer: He has written screenplays for Swedish films, as well as dramas, novels, and poetry.

Victor Sjöström was born on September 20, 1879, and is the undisputed father of Swedish film, ranking as one of the masters of world cinema. His influence lives on in the work of Ingmar Bergman and all those directors, both Swedish and international, influenced by his work and the works of directors whom he himself influenced.

As a boy Sjöström was close to his mother, who died during childbirth when he was seven years old. Biographers see this truncated relationship as being essential to the evolution of his dramatic trope of strong-willed, independent women in his films. He was masterful at eliciting sensitive performances from actresses, such as that of Lillian Gish in his American classic The Wind (1928).

The teenaged Sjöström loved the theater, but after his education he turned to business, becoming a donut salesman. Fortunately for the future of Swedish cinema, he was a flop as a salesman, and turned to the theater, becoming an actor and then director. The Swedish film company Svenska Bio hired him and fellow stage director Mauritz Stiller to helm pictures, and from 1912-15 he directed 31 films. Only three of them survive (it is estimated that approximately 150,000 films, or 80% of the total silent-era production, has been lost). He directed Ingeborg Holm (1913), considered the first classic of Swedish cinema.

Despite the exigencies of working in an industrial art form, most Svenska Bio films of this period are embarrassments in an artistic sense--turgid melodramas, absurd romances and shaggy dog-style comedies--and there is no reason to think that the director didn't helm his share of such fare. Even taking that into account, Sjöström managed to develop a personal style. The reason he became internationally famous (and wooed by Hollywood) was the richness of his films, which were full of psychological subtleties and natural symbolism that was integrated into the works as a whole. He dealt with such major themes as guilt, redemption and the rapidly evolving place of women in society.

His 1920 film The Phantom Carriage (1921) (a.k.a. "Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness") was an internationally acclaimed masterpiece, and Goldwyn Pictures hired him to direct Name the Man! (1924) (Goldwayn was folded into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1924, where he worked until shortly after the advent of sound). Sjöström's name was changed to "Victor Seastrom" (a phonetic pronunciation in a country with limited word fonts), and he became a major American director, a pro-to David Lean, who was renowned for balancing artistic expression with a concern for what would play at the box office. His first MGM film was the Lon Chaney melodrama He Who Gets Slapped (1924). It was not only a critical success but a huge hit, getting the new studio off onto a sound footing.

He was highly respected by MGM chief Louis B. Mayer and by production head Irving Thalberg, who shared Sjöström's concerns with art that did not exclude profit. Sjöström became one of the most highly paid directors in Hollywood, reaching his peak at the end of the silent era (when the silent film reached its maturation as an art form) with two collaborations with Lillian Gish: The Scarlet Letter (1926) and "The Wind" (1926), his last masterpiece.

He departed Hollywood for Sweden after A Lady to Love (1930), returning one last time to helm Under the Red Robe (1937) for 20th Century-Fox, and although he made two movies in Sweden in the intervening years, his career as a director basically ended with the sound era. He returned to his first avocation, acting in Swedish films, in the 1930s, '40s and '50s. In his later years he was a mentor to Ingmar Bergman and gave a remarkable performance in Bergman's masterpiece "Wild Strawberries" (1957), for which he won the National Board of Review's Best Actor Award. In his professional life he was a workaholic, and in his private life was reticent about his films and his fame and remained intensely devoted to his wife Edith Erastoff and his family.

Victor Sjöström died on January 3, 1960, at the age of 80.

Hadn't it been for his school teacher, who managed to get him money for a theater education, he would probably never had become an actor. After two failed attempts at becoming a student at the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school he succeeded at the age of 19. During these years in the beginning of the 1950s he played against Inga Tidblad in the world premiere of 'Eugene O'Neill's 'Long Days Journey Into Night'. 32 years later he was in the same play again, this time directed by Ingmar Bergman. His capacity for work was truly amazing, some years he made several leading roles both in plays and films. He was also successful as Professor Higgins in Alan Jay Lerner's and Frederick Loewe's play 'My Fair Lady' 1959-1961. He became well known to the public with Lars-Magnus Lindgren's Love Mates (1961). During the 1960s he was busy with making movies and he himself directed Bokhandlaren som slutade bada (1969) and Good-Bye Nana (1970). His work with Ingmar Bergman began in 1952 with Secrets of Women (1952), continuing with Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) and with a grand finale in Fanny and Alexander (1982). He returned to the Royal Dramatic Theatre in 1982 and plays like William Shakespeare's 'King Lear', Hjalmar Bergman's 'Markurells i Wadköping' and Molière's 'Tartuffe'.

Nils Asther was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1897 and raised in Malmö, Sweden, by his wealthy Swedish parents. After attending the Royal Dramatic Theater School in Stockholm, he began his stage career in Copenhagen. His film debut came in 1916 when the director Mauritz Stiller cast him in the lead role (as an aspiring actor, appropriately enough) in the Swedish film Vingarne (1916). After working with Victor Sjöström in Sweden and Michael Curtiz in Germany, Asther moved to Hollywood in 1927, where his exotic looks landed him romantic roles with co-stars such as Greta Garbo, Pola Negri, and Joan Crawford. Although his foreign accent was a hindrance in "talkies", his Hollywood career continued until 1934 when he was blacklisted for breaking a contract and went to Britain for four years. After his return to Hollywood in 1938, his career declined and by 1949 he was driving a truck. In 1958, he returned to Sweden, where he remained until his death, making occasional appearances in television and on stage.

Emil Forselius was born on 23 November 1974 in Västervik, Småland, Sweden. He was an actor, known for Tic Tac (1997), Järngänget (2000) and Belinder auktioner (2003). He died on 2 March 2010 in Södermalm, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Grew up in Småland outside Vimmerby in the south of Sweden. Her first book came out in 1944, and she made a breakthrough the following year with the stories about Pippi Longstocking. Countless stories about Pippi and other characters of Astrid's imagination and excellent story telling ability were translated to at least 55 languages and told to millions of children all over the world. Many of the stories were adapted for TV and even the big screen. She moved to Stockholm early, and she died peacefully in her home after a brief illness on January 28, 2002 at the age of 94.

Gunnar Hellström was born on 6 December 1928 in Alnö, Västernorrlands län, Sweden. He was a director and actor, known for Synnöve Solbakken (1957), Raskenstam (1983) and Zorn (1994). He died on 28 November 2001 in Södersjukhuset, Södermalm, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Barbara Scott was born on 16 November 1946 in Sveg, Jämtlands län, Sweden. She was an actress. She died on 21 December 1995 in Bagarmossen, Stockholm län, Sweden.

She grew up with four brothers. Her brother Gustav Hedberg later also became an actor. Her father had studied organ building and music in Leipzig. Through the influence of her German nanny and her German piano teacher, she was familiar with German language and culture from an early age. From 1911 she received lessons in violin and piano and in 1913, at the age of 6, she performed at a Chopin competition. She attended high school until 1922, where she perfected her German. In 1926 Leander married the actor Nils Leander, with whom she had two children and from whom she separated again in 1932. Her second marriage was from 1932 to the journalist Vidar Forsell, who separated from her in 1948. In 1929 she made her debut as a chanson singer at a Swedish traveling theater without any singing or acting training. Her career accelerated rapidly and just a few months later Leander appeared in the revue "The Cheerful Stockholm" and her first film role in "Dante's Mysteries".

She signed a contract with the Swedish record company "Odeon" and recorded 80 songs for them by 1936. She celebrated her first successes with titles like "I don't know why I do it". From 1929 to 1935, Zarah Leander took part in numerous revues with Karl Gerhard and made three feature films in Sweden. She then played in Franz Lehár's "The Merry Widow" and had a role in the film "The False Millionaire". She moved to Vienna in 1935, where she played in the operetta "Axel at Heaven's Door" and got a leading role in the Austrian crime film "Premiere". Due to the success, Leander signed a contract with "Universum Film AG". Ufa's goal was to build Zarah Leander as a global star in competition with Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo. Between 1937 and 1942 Leander made ten Ufa films, including "A lavish Ball Night" and "The Heart of a Queen".

Leander was stylized as a "femme fatale" and became one of the most popular and expensive stars in Ufa. In her films, mostly melodramas, she often embodied a beautiful, passionate and self-confident woman. The actress became the most famous melodramatist in German film under National Socialist rule. Without any political ambitions of her own, she also took part in propaganda films such as "Heimat" (1938). Zarah Leander also released the songs from her films on records. Titles such as "Can love be a sin" or "I know, a miracle will happen one day" were recorded in several languages and achieved success around the world. In 1943, Leander ended her contract with Ufa, left Germany and went back to her home country of Sweden, where she retired to her Lönö estate. After the Second World War, Zarah Leander was banned from performing in Germany and Austria until 1948 because of her career under the National Socialists.

Leander continued to sing in Sweden and then again in Germany. In the 1950s she also played film roles in Germany again, including in "Gabriela" and "The Blue Moth", with which she was unable to build on her earlier successes. Zarah Leander married the bandmaster Arne Hülphers for the third time in 1956. Two years later she made her big stage comeback with the leading role in "Madame scandaleuse" in Vienna, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg. She toured the world with her concerts in the 1960s, took on musical roles in Vienna and Berlin and published her autobiography in 1972 under the title "It was so wonderful. My life". She undertook a final tour of the USA in 1973. In 1978, the actress suffered a stroke during a performance in Stockholm, which put an end to her stage career.

Anita Björk is able to use simple means to give depth and character to a role. She has a way of expressing any emotion just by raising an eyebrow or twitching her lips. This was something she used to a large extent in her best movie, Alf Sjöberg's Miss Julie (1951) where she played the young lady at a country manor, planning to elope with Jean the butler.

She was bitten by the acting bug in her teens and went to Stockholm. She started her acting studies at the Royal Dramatic Theater in 1942 and quickly got major roles. Her breakthrough came 1948 in Jean Genet's 'The Maids', followed by such roles as Agnes in 'Henrik Ibsen's 'Brand', Julie in William Shakespeare's 'Romeo & Juliet', Eliza in George Bernard Shaw's 'Pygmalion' and Tintomara in 'Carl Jonas Love Almqvist''s 'Drottningens juvelsmycke'.

She met and fell in love with the writer Stig Dagerman and in 1951 she gave birth to a daughter. The three of them went to Hollywood for Anita to negotiate a role in Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess (1953). But when word came out that Anita wasn't married to Stig, Hollywood lost interest. His divorce from his ex-wife wasn't final until 1953 and apparently it wasn't acceptable to Hollywood for a contract player to live with someone married to somebody else.

In West Germany she played against Gregory Peck in Night People (1954) but when the movie failed at the box office, so did her career abroad. Also, her husband killed himself and Anita decided to stick to the Royal Dramatic Theater where she has appeared in more than 80 roles through the years. In movies, she has appeared mainly in supporting roles.

Of her movies, the most interesting are Miss Julie (1951), På dessa skuldror (1948) and Mannekäng i rött (1958).

Constantly considered to be one of the greatest actresses in modern Swedish theater history, Gunn Wållgren is mostly known for her many roles in plays by Ibsen, Strindberg and Chekhov, and internationally; for her wonderful part as the grandmother in director Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander (1982). In her native Sweden she is also remembered, aside from a brilliant stage career, for a number of great performances in classic 1940s and 1950s films; and, by a generation of children, for her beloved lady with the doves, Sofia, in the popular film adaption of Astrid Lindgren's tale of "The Brothers Lionheart" (1977).

The always very shy and withdrawn actress was 21 years old when she applied for the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school in Stockholm (where she trained from 1934 to 1937). One of her teachers there was the "grand old lady of theater" in Sweden, Miss Hilda Borgström. Following her graduation in 1937 Wållgren was immediately contracted at national stage where she came to become one of the theater's top actresses and where she worked, more or less permanently, until 1981.

Often described as an unbeaten character actress with absolute naturalness; full of wit, warmth and playful sensuality - as well as a "serious beauty", "poetic and fragile", with a "rare and true inner strength". Between 1942 and 1954 Wållgren came to co-operate with her husband-to-be, director Per-Axel Branner, at a number of private theaters in Stockholm (a.o. The Vasa Theater, The Blanche Theater, The New Theater) and here made some of her greatest performances of her life, in particular, her leading role of Masja in Anton Chekhov's "Three Sisters". This role established Wållgren as the highest-respected female star of Swedish theatre, by both critics and stage directors, as well as fellow actors and the audience. Her work on stage included roles in plays by not only Strindberg and Tjechov, but also Steinbeck, Moliere, Dostojevsky, O'Neill, Goethe and Shakespeare. She played classic drama as well as farce and comedy equally well.

She made her debut on film as a young teenage criminal in Kvinnor i fångenskap (1943). After that she appeared in various parts in movies throughout the years, being one of Sweden's most acclaimed and appreciated actresses in films. Memorable are her leading parts in Kejsarn av Portugallien (1944) (The Emperor of Portugal), The Girl and the Devil (1944) (The Girl And The Devil), Woman Without a Face (1947) (aka Woman Without Face) - script by Ingmar Bergman - and Glasberget (1953) (The Mountain of Glass). Fine and strong supporting performances she delivers in Miss and Mrs Sweden (1969), Mannen som slutade röka (1972) (The Man Who Gave Up Smoking), The Brothers Lionheart (1977) (The Brothers Lionheart), Sally and Freedom (1981) (Sally and The Freedom) and, her extremely celebrated performance as the grandmother, in Fanny and Alexander (1982), which sadly became her last work as an actress.

Gunn Wållgren was diagnosed with terminal cancer later in 1982, and died at her home at Öregrundsgatan in Stockholm on 4 June 1983, aged 69, surrounded by her family.

Generally spoken of as Swedish theater's most legendary stage actor, Gösta Ekman enjoyed a prolific stage career during his short life, becoming the first real star of Swedish theater. His boyish good looks attracted both sexes, helping to create a massive cult following and elevating him to the status of a living legend. Combined with a beautiful voice and a powerful stage presence, Ekman was able to captivate his audiences.

Malik Bendjelloul, born in Sweden, performed in Swedish TV-series "Ebba och Didrik" as a child in the nineties and later in life studied Journalism and media-production at the Linnaeus University of Kalmar. He has produced several musical documentaries for Swedish Television (SVT) where he also worked as a reporter on the show "Kobra" until he resigned to travel the world. During these travels Malik Bendjelloul first came in contact with the story which was to develop into "Searching for Sugarman" somewhere in South America.

One of Swedish theater's most well known actors. Järegård is appreciated for his extrovert and at the same time controlled style of acting, of which he gladly characterized comic or morbid characters. He played the title role in Moliére's "Tartuffe" as well as Orgon (The Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1971) with great success, and before that he had earned very high critical acclaim for his portrayal of Estragon in Samuel Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" (The Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1966), which was later adapted for television in 1971. Among his foremost stage roles were also Hjalmar Ekdal in Ibsen's play "The Wild Duck" (The Royal Dramatic Theater, 1972) directed by Ingmar Bergman. Järegård also appeared in several popular TV-series such as "Skånska mord" (1986), Frida och hennes vän (1970) and De tre från Haparanda (1974), and no one can forget his creepy boss in the TV theater adaption of VD (1988).

Järegård's relatively few appearances on film show a great range from his debut in Ragnar Frisk's Swedish Punks (1962) and the singing prisoner Harald Hansson in Släpp fångarne loss - det är vår! (1975) to a supporting role in Lars von Trier's Europa (1991) and the leading part in von Trier's series The Kingdom (1994), which led to international attention. Since the late '60s Järegård has been very popular in Sweden. With his role as the Swedish doctor Stig-Helmer on "The Kingdom" he also gained popularity in Denmark, despite the fact that his character hates Danes. In Cheek to Cheek (1997), as the old and discarded drag queen Ragnar Rönn who falls in love with an undertaker, Järegård made his final TV appearance and said a grand farewell to the Swedish viewers: The TV-theater adaption of Jonas Gardell's celebrated black comedy/drama play aired in Swedish Television in the autumn of 1998, just after Järegård's passing.

Tor Isedal was born on 20 July 1924 in Norrköping, Östergötlands län, Sweden. He was an actor, known for The Virgin Spring (1960), Drottningens juvelsmycke (1967) and Söderkåkar (1970). He was married to Eva Anna Katarina Skoglund, Marie Isedal and Kerstin Ann-Mari Nilsson (1928-2023). He died on 18 February 1990 in Nynäshamn, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Eva Dahlbeck was born on 8 March 1920 in Saltsjö-Duvnäs, Stockholms län, Sweden. She was an actress and writer, known for Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), Brink of Life (1958) and A Lesson in Love (1954). She was married to Sven Lampell. She died on 8 February 2008 in Hässelby, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Kim Anderzon was born on 20 March 1943 in Östersund, Jämtlands län, Sweden. She was an actress, known for Who Pulled the Plug? (1981), Second Dance (1983) and Rederiet (1992). She died on 24 October 2014 in Vallentuna, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Inga Gill was born on 2 May 1925 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. She was an actress, known for The Seventh Seal (1957), Cries & Whispers (1972) and Lille Fridolf och jag (1956). She was married to Karl-Arne Holmsten. She died on 18 October 2000 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Bengt Eklund was born on 18 January 1925 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He was an actor, known for Life on Seacrow Island (1964), Codename Coq Rouge (1989) and Tjorven och Mysak (1966). He was married to Fylgia Zadig. He died on 19 January 1998 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Agneta Marie-Anne Eckemyr (born 2 July 1950 in Karlsborg) is a Swedish actress and model turned clothing designer.

Initially a model, her looks took her into film and television roles. She was photographed by Life Magazine appearing opposite the five semi-finalist actors for the role of James Bond in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."

Shortly after appearing in the 1974 Disney family film production "The Island at the Top of the World," Eckemyr appeared on the front cover and within the October 1975 edition of Playboy magazine, as a Playboy Playmate.

After retirement from being an actress, she turned her talents to clothing design. Her most recent designs are featured at Älskling (Swedish for Darling), on Columbus Avenue, New York City; a block from where she lives in an apartment overlooking Central Park.

Göthe Grefbo was born on 30 October 1921 in Föllinge, Krokom, Jämtlands län, Sweden. He was an actor, known for Pippi Goes on Board (1969), Pippi Longstocking (1969) and Pippi Longstocking (1969). He died on 17 May 1991 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Moshe "Mauritz" Stiller, born July 17, 1883, in Helsinki, Finland, was a director, writer and actor. He began his artistic activity in the theatre, as an actor at 16. Mauritz Stiller portrayed 87 roles from 1899-1916 and directed 16 productions 1911-28. Together with Viktor Sjöström ( director, actor, writer) he was recruited in 1912 as director/actor to the Swedish film industry by Charles Magnusson at AB Svenska Biografteatern. Mauritz Stiller's films was instantly successful. During his first year he directed six feature films. "Herr Arnes pengar" (1919), "Erotikon" (1920) and "Gösta Berlings saga" (1923) are three cornerstones of Swedish film production. In "Gösta Berlings saga" Greta Garbo, 18 years old, made her first major role. Greta Garbo and Mauritz Stiller came to be best friends and allies forever. Stiller introduced Garbo to the German audience in 1925, before the two sailed of to the USA to make "The Temptress" for Paramount/Irving Thalberg in 1926. Mauritz Stiller directed 51 feature films and appeared as an actor in seven productions from 1912-1927. At 1:05 am Nov 8, 1928, Mauritz Stiller died in Stockholm, after undergoing numerous surgeries, an abscess of a lung ended a great artist's life.

Axel Düberg was born on 10 October 1927 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He was an actor, known for The Virgin Spring (1960), Fanny and Alexander (1982) and The Devil's Eye (1960). He was married to Helena Reuterblad. He died on 14 October 2001 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Jan-Olof Strandberg was born on 9 September 1926 in Stockholm, Sweden. He was an actor and director, known for The Sacrifice (1986), Marknadsafton (1989) and I väntan på Godot (1971). He was married to Rigmor Sahlberg and Anita Blom. He died on 2 May 2020 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Lars Hanson was born on 26 July 1886 in Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden. He was an actor, known for Captain Salvation (1927), The Saga of Gösta Berling (1924) and The Divine Woman (1928). He was married to Karin Molander. He died on 8 April 1965 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Anders Ek was born on 7 April 1916 in Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden. He was an actor, known for The Seventh Seal (1957), Cries & Whispers (1972) and Sawdust and Tinsel (1953). He was married to Ingrid Andreasson, Kerstin Larsson and Birgit Cullberg. He died on 17 November 1979 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Tage Danielsson was born in 1928, in a working class home in Linköping, Sweden. He went to Uppsala University, and graduated as a Master of Arts in English, French and the history of literature. In 1956 he met Hans Alfredson at the Swedish Radio company. They worked together for almost thirty years and made variety shows, films and TV-productions that were loved by the Swedish people. They were comedians, yet everything they made had a serious message. On stage Tage Danielsson was the tall, red-headed man, genuinely kind and folksy but with a sharp intellect and a malicious tongue. Uno Myggan Ericson said of him that he was "a nice viper".

John Elfström was born on 20 April 1902 in Ovansjö, Gävleborgs län, Sweden. He was an actor, known for A Lesson in Love (1954), Gengångare (1967) and The Yellow Squadron (1954). He was married to Inga-Lisa Britz and Ulla Björkman. He died on 27 March 1981 in Täby, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Margaretha Krook was born on 15 October 1925 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. She was an actress, known for Persona (1966), Släpp fångarne loss - det är vår! (1975) and The Adventures of Picasso (1978). She was married to Stig Hammar. She died on 7 May 2001 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Vilgot Sjöman was born on 2 December 1924 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He was a writer and director, known for The Garage (1975), A Handful of Love (1974) and My Sister, My Love (1966). He was married to Lotta Sjöman and Kristina Hasselgren. He died on 9 April 2006 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Monica Zetterlund was born on 20 September 1937 in Hagfors, Värmlands län, Sweden. She was an actress and writer, known for The Apple War (1971), The New Land (1972) and The Emigrants (1971). She was married to Magnus Roger, Sture Åkerberg, Göran Pettersson and Torbjörn Zetterlund. She died on 12 May 2005 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Gösta Prüzelius was born on 11 August 1922 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He was an actor, known for Fanny and Alexander (1982), The Man Who Went Up in Smoke (1980) and Rederiet (1992). He was married to Eva Prüzelius. He died on 15 May 2000 in Kungsholmen, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Magnus Härenstam was born on 19 June 1941 in Västervik, Kalmar län, Sweden. He was an actor and writer, known for Två killar och en tjej (1983), Sällskapsresan eller Finns det svenskt kaffe på grisfesten (1980) and The Adventures of Picasso (1978). He was married to Birgitta Plånborg Ryott and Anita Bendel. He died on 13 June 2015 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Göran Forsmark was born on 4 February 1955 in Malmberget, Norrbottens län, Sweden. He was an actor, known for Järngänget (2000), Anderssons älskarinna (2001) and Rebecka Martinsson (2017). He died on 9 August 2020 in Sundbyberg, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Alf Sjöberg was born on 21 June 1903 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He was a director and writer, known for Miss Julie (1951), Ön (1966) and Torment (1944). He died on 16 April 1980 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

He started to study at the Uppsala University but dropped out to pursue an economically unstable career as a journalist. In 1872 he published the first of his many masterpieces, 'Mäster Olof'. In 1874 he got a position at the Royal Library in Stockholm, which enabled him to marry 'Siri von Essen'. He published his novel 'Röda rummet' in 1879, a novel critical towards the press, the church, the publishers, the parliament and the state departments. With it he started the realism of the 1880s in Swedish literature. By the middle of the 1880s he had enemies everywhere and moved to Switzerland. With his novels 'Giftas' his hostility towards women increased, partly as a result of marital problems. His spoof of the holy communion lead to charges of blasphemy. At the end of the 1880s he wrote several novels about life in the archipelago, for example the successful novel 'Hemsöborna'. At the beginning of the 1890s he was briefly married to the Austrian 'Frida Uhl'. After the divorce he moved to Paris and studied ocultism and alchemy. He suffered from a psychological crisis. In 1901 he married actress Harriet Bosse for whom he wrote the play that he himself considered his best, 'Ett drömspel'. Today he is today considered one of Sweden's most important writers.

Keve Hjelm was born on 23 June 1922 in Gnesta, Södermanlands län, Sweden. He was an actor and director, known for Raven's End (1963), Godnatt, jord (1979) and Roseanna (1967). He was married to Ingrid Håkansson. He died on 3 February 2004 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

Raised by a single mother, she grew up in a poor home at Fleminggatan in Stockholm. She was working extra in a small shop for sewing materials and the owner encouraged her acting dreams. In 1905 she was accepted to accompany the Anna Lundberg travelling theatre company around Sweden. This led to small roles at theatres both in Helsinki and Stockholm. In 1910 she became a student for the famous song teacher Raymond von zur Mühlen in London. During the years before and under WWI her fame grew and she got major roles in operettas by Emmerich Kálmán and Franz Lehár. Until the mid 1920s she was the queen of the operettas, performing in Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo. But finally she had had enough and was vying for more dramatic parts. Finding work was not so easy though and she spent a lot of time in England, performing for smaller audiences with singing and guitar playing. Her dramatic breakthrough did not come until 1937 when she met director Per Lindberg who gives her the chance to tour around Sweden with Bertolt Brecht's The Three-penny-opera. When Bertolt Brecht escaped from The Third Reich and moved to Sweden, he wrote Mother Courage for her. In 1948 she starred in 'Me and My Gal' with Nils Poppe at Södra Teatern in Stockholm. During the 1950s she was employed by Malmö Stadsteater together with Ingmar Bergman. Bergman also gave her some minor but good roles in his movies, most notably as the old Mrs. Armfelt in Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) and as Granny Vogler in The Magician (1958).

Sif Ruud was born in an well-off family, but when her stepfather had spent all of her mother's money, conditions for the family became more modest. A friend of her mother's was told about young Sif's interest in acting and gave her acting lessons. In 1934 she began her studies at the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school in Stockholm. One of her fellow students was Gunn Wållgren and one of the teachers was Hilda Borgström. After graduation, she worked in different theatres around Sweden. Her career at the movies has mainly been in smaller parts. Best known is perhaps her performance as aunt Olga who dominates the breakfast table and rules it as her empire in Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries (1957). She was praised for her role as Madam Flod in "Hemsöborna" (1966) (mini).