- Mimi Pollak
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Mimi Pollak 
Mimi Pollak, 1920sBorn Maria Helena Pollak
April 9, 1903 -->
Hammarö, Värmland, SwedenDied 11 August 1999 (aged 96)
Stockholm, SwedenOther names Mimmi Pollak, Mimi Pollack or Mimmi Pollack Occupation Actress Years active 1922–1991 Spouse Nils Lundell (1927–1938) Maria Helena "Mimi" Pollak (9 April 1903 – 11 August 1999) was a Swedish actress and theatre director.
Contents
Mini biography
Maria Helena Pollak was born in Hammarö, Värmland to Austrian-Jewish parents and was trained in the performing arts at the prestigious Dramatens elevskola (the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school) in Stockholm 1922-24.[1]
Pollak worked in the 1920s and 1930s as a film acctress and as stage actress mainly on Helsingborg City Theatre and The Blanche Theatre, Stockholm, but she returned as an actress to Royal Dramatic Theatre (aka Dramaten) 1942.[1]
Pollak became in 1948 the first contracted female director at the Dramaten with the production of Jean Genet's Jungfruleken (Les Bonnes/The Maids), starring Anita Björk and Maj-Britt Nilsson in the leads. Pollak became a very successful director at Dramaten and staged altogether 60 plays at the national stage over the years.
She appeared since her 1922 debut in the film Amatörfilmen in about 30 film and TV productions. Notable film roles are her supporting parts in Schamyl Bauman's film comedy Skolka skolan (1949), in Vilgot Sjöman's Klänningen (aka The Dress, 1964), in Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata (starring Ingrid Bergman) as the piano teacher, in Flight of the Eagle (1982), starring Max von Sydow and directed by Jan Troell and in the very popular Swedish TV mystery Agnes Cecilia - en sällsam historia (1991), adapted from the successful books by Maria Gripe.
She retired in 1975, but made a stage comeback in 1991, age 87, in Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya.[1]
Sometimes credited as Mimmi Pollak, Mimi Pollack or Mimmi Pollack.
Personal life
Pollak attended the Royal Dramatic Theatre school in Stockholm, Sweden with fellow actress Greta Garbo from 1922 to 1924. .Garbo moved to the US in 1925 and as Pollak married in 1927 and later had children, although they did maintain contact for over 60 years. Garbo would become involved with several other Hollywood actresses, though keeping her bisexuality a secret. As recorded in the personal writings of Garbo, released in Sweden in 2005,.[2]
Their relationship and letters are portrayed (published in parts) in the Swedish book Djävla älskade unge! (Bloody Beloved Kid), written by Po Tin Andersén Axell (2005).
Pollak was married 1927-1938 to Swedish actor Nils Lundell (1889–1943).
Selected filmography
- 1991 – Agnes Cecilia - en sällsam historia
- 1986 – Amorosa
- 1985 - August Strindberg ett liv (TV)
- 1982 – The Flight of the Eagle (Ingenjör Andrées luftfärd)
- 1978 – Autumn Sonata (Höstsonaten)
- 1979 – I frid och värdighet
- 1979 - Christopher's House
- 1971 – Emil i Lönneberga
- 1965 – Nattmara
- 1955 – Mord, lilla vän
- 1951 – Sommarlek
- 1949 – Skolka skolan (aka Playing Truant)
- 1949 – Bara en mor (aka Only A Mother)
- 1949 – Gatan
- 1947 – Den långa vägen
- 1947 – Supé för två
- 1942 – Lågor i dunklet
- 1942 – Vi hemslavinnor
- 1941 – Spökreportern
- 1940 – Med dej i mina armar
- 1940 – En, men ett lejon!
- 1926 – Sven Klingas levnadsöde
- 1923 – Andersson, Pettersson och Lundström
- 1922 – Amatörfilmen
Footnotes
- ^ a b c "> Mimi Pollak - Arkivsidor FIV" (in Swedish). http://www.filmivarmland.se/index.asp?id=631&typ=%E2%20%A9=. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- ^ "Lonely Garbo's love secret is exposed". The Guardian (London). 11 September 2005. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1567211,00.html.
Further reading
- Pollak, Mimi (1977) (in Swedish). Teaterlek : memoarer. Stockholm : Askild & Kärnekull. ISBN 91-7008-632-X.
External links
Categories:- Bisexual actors
- Swedish film actors
- Swedish silent film actors
- Swedish Jews
- Swedish theatre directors
- 1903 births
- 1999 deaths
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