- Gunn Wållgren
Gunn Wållgren, born "Gunnel" (IPA2|'gɵnəlFact|date=September 2007) "Margaret Haraldsdotter Wållgren" (IPA2|'vɔlgreːnFact|date=September 2007), (
November 16 ,1913 –June 4 ,1983 ) was a Swedish actress.Considered one of Sweden's finest and also to date most appreciated actresses, Wållgren was famous for her fragile and sensual way of acting, her inner soulfulness and her never failing ability of presenting absolute presence and naturalness on stage. Her
Chekhov andIbsen character interpretations, in particular, are considered to be unbeaten.Biography
Born and raised in
Gothenburg , Sweden's second capital, Gunn Wållgren played a lot of amateur theatre in local groups in her teenage years. She knew very early that she wanted to become an actress although her father; the stern company manager Harald Wållgren, strongly disapproved: To get the theatre ideas out of her head, he even sent her overseas on a trip toSwitzerland . However, the acting dreams only increased as she strolled by the coast ofLake Constance and had only gotten worse by the time she returned. Carrying a tremendous personal shyness and insecurity (which came to define and restrict her private persona all life) she secretly applied for theRoyal Dramatic Theatre 's acting school inStockholm (in 1934) – and was admitted on first try, at age 21.Gunn Wållgren's first major role at the
Royal Dramatic Theatre as "premiere actress" became the playful daughter Mildred inEugene O'Neill 's beautiful play "Ah, Wilderness!" (a very successful and long-running production) in 1936. Winning the critics' and the audience's heart in her part she received an immediate contract with the Royal Dramatic Theatre after her graduation from drama school in 1937. Even though she came to work at different theatres all her life, she always returned to the national stage. Master performances by Wållgren on stage include her Sorel Bliss inNoel Coward 's "Hay Fever " in 1937, the strong portrayal of Curley's wife in the original Swedish staging ofJohn Steinbeck 's "Of Mice and Men" in 1940, Iphigenia in Goethe's "Iphigenia in Tauris " 1941, herOphelia in the classic 1942 staging of "Hamlet " (oppositeLars Hanson in the titel role), Mary Grey/Joan of Arc in "Joan of Lorraine" byMaxwell Anderson in 1948, Catherine Sloper in "The Heiress" by Ruth andAugustus Goetz in the 1950/51 season, Indra's daughter in theOlof Molander -staging ofStrindberg 's "A Dream Play " 1955, Masha inChekhov 's "Three Sisters" 1958, Nora inIbsen 's "A Doll's House " 1962, Gerda in Strindberg's "Storm" 1964, the grand portrayal of Madame Liubov Andreievna Ranevskaya in "The Cherry Orchard " by Chekhov in 1967, Martha Brewster in "Arsenic and Old Lace" in 1970, the title role of "Agnes" in Kent Andersson's 1972 play, Lena in Fugard's "Boesman and Lena" 1977; and the role of Ethel Thayer in "Sista sommaren" (play based on the Oscar winning film "On Golden Pond", starring Katharine Hepburn in the same part) in 1981.[
Joan of Arc . The Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1948] Her filmdebut came with "Sonja" in 1943, but her break-through came with "Kvinnor i fångenskap" the same year, where Wållgren portrayed a young prisoner on the run. Being "of the theatre" Gunn Wållgren filmed sporadically during her life. But whenever she turned to the big screen she was "The Actress". Ranked absolutely equivalent toIngrid Bergman back in Sweden at the time, both in beauty and in talent (in Sweden even considered some notches higher than Bergman as an actress) she delivered electrifying master performances in films such as "Flickan och djävulen" (1944), "Var sin väg" (1946), "Medan porten var stängd" (1946), "Kvinna utan ansikte" (1947) (script byIngmar Bergman ), "Glasberget" (1953) and "Klänningen" (1964), among others.Her supporting part in
Gunnel Lindblom 's "Sally och friheten" (1981) (Sally and Freedom) later in life rendered her Sweden's most prestigious film award, theGuldbagge Award (the Golden Beetle), for Best Supporting Actress.She was highly praised everywhere for her warm and sober portrayal of the grandmother – the immediate centre of the Ekdahl family - in
Ingmar Bergman 's colourful film "Fanny och Alexander " (1982). The role sadly became her very last as she shortly after the shooting finished was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her condition deteriorated quickly and she passed away on4 June 1983 : ten months later Bergman's film was awarded with 4 Oscars, one for "Best Foreign Language Film", at the Academy Awards.Gunn Wållgren was married to 1) Erik "Hampe" Faustman (actor and film director) 1941-49; 2) Per-Axel Branner (stage director) 1954-75. She had two daughters; Susanne and Elaine.
elected filmography
*1982 -
Fanny and Alexander
*1981 - Sally och friheten
*1978 - Strandvaskeren
*1977 - Bröderna Lejonhjärta (akaAstrid Lindgren 's "The Brothers Lionheart")
*1976 - Förvandlingen (akaKafka 's "The Metamorphosis ") (TV-theatre)
*1974 - Rulle på Rulseröd (mini series)
*1972 - Mannen som slutade röka (aka "The Man Who Gave Up Smoking")
*1970 - Söderkåkar (mini series)
*1970 - Frida och hennes vän (mini series)
*1969 - Miss and Mrs Sweden
*1967 - Gengångare (akaIbsen 's "Ghosts") (TV-theatre)
*1967 - Fadren (akaStrindberg 's "The Father") (TV-theatre)
*1966 - Tartuffe (TV-theatre)
*1966 - Kvinnas man (TV-theatre)
*1966 - Asmodeus (TV-theatre)
*1964 - Klänningen (aka "The Dress")
*1953 - Glasberget
*1948 - Var sin väg
*1947 - Kvinna utan ansikte (aka "Woman Without A Face ")
*1946 - Medan porten var stängd
*1946 - Begär
*1945 - Resan bort
*1945 - Brott och straff (Fyodor Dostoevsky 's "Crime and Punishment "
*1944 - Kejsarn av Portugallien" (Selma Lagerlöf 's "The Emperor of Portugallia"
*1944 - Flickan och djävulen
*1943 - Ordet
*1943 - Sjätte skottet
*1943 - Kvinnor i fångenskap)
*1943 - SonjaAwards
*The
Eugene O'Neill Award (1959)
*TheSwedish Theatre Critics ' Award (1962)
*TheGuldbagge Award for "Best Supporting Actress" (1981)ee also
*The
Gunn Wållgren Award External links
*imdb name|id=0944206|name=Gunn Wållgren SWE
* [http://193.10.144.135/(asy0h33wojbjih45xfubtuqi)/Person.aspx?Id=61441 Gunn Wållgren at Svenskfilmdatabas.se - Swedish Film Database] swe icon
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12236670 Gunn Wållgren] at [http://www.findagrave.com Find-A-Grave.com]
* [http://www.dramaten.se/Dramaten/Upplev-Dramaten/Rollboken/?qType=person&value=5502 Complete list of Gunn Wållgren's stage work at the Royal Dramatic Theatre] swe icon
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