Gunn Wållgren

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Gunn Wållgren
As Joan of Arc, Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1948.
Born
Gunnel Margaret Haraldsdotter Wållgren

(1913-11-16)16 November 1913
Gothenburg, Sweden
Died4 June 1983(1983-06-04) (aged 69)
Stockholm, Sweden
OccupationActress
Years active1934–1982
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1941; div. 1949)​
​
​
(m. 1954; died 1975)​
Children2

Gunn Wållgren (born Gunnel Margaret Haraldsdotter Wållgren; [vɔlɡreːn];[stress/tone?] (November 16, 1913 – June 4, 1983) was a Swedish stage and film actress.[1] She is best remembered for her role in Ingmar Bergman's film Fanny and Alexander.[2]

Personal Life

Gunn Wållgren was born in Gothenburg on 16th November, 1913. In her teenage years, she began performing with a local children's theater group. Her father did not support her aspirations, and in an attempt to distract her, he sent her overseas on a trip to Switzerland. Gunn persisted in her ambition to pursue a career in acting. She secretly applied for the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school in Stockholm in 1934 and was admitted. One of her teachers was Hilda Borgström, the famous Swedish film and stage actor.[3]

In 1941, Wållgren married Hampe Faustman (born Erik Stellan Chatham), an actor and film director and they had two daughters, Susanne and Elaine. They divorced in 1948.[2] She later married Per-Axel Branner, a stage director, in 1954 and they were together until his death in 1975.[3]

Career

Gunn Wållgren, 1940s

Theater

Wållgren was awarded her first major role in 1936, at the

Ibsen's Ghosts, 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 Ethel Thayer in Sista Sommaren (play based on the film On Golden Pond, starring Katharine Hepburn
in the same role) in 1981.

Film

Wållgren's film debut was in Sonja in 1943, but her breakthrough came with Kvinnor i fångenskap the same year, where Wållgren portrayed a young prisoner on the run. She had roles in films such as Flickan och djävulen (opposite Stig Järrel) 1944, Var sin väg 1946, Medan porten var stängd 1946 (written & directed by Hasse Ekman), Kvinna utan ansikte 1947 (with an early script by Ingmar Bergman), Glasberget 1953 (directed by Hasse Ekman) and Klänningen1964 (directed by Olof Molander with a script by Vilgot Sjöman), among others.

Her supporting role in

Guldbagge Award (the Golden Beetle) for Best Actress.[2]

Wållgren received critical acclaim for her portrayal of the grandmother in

Fanny och Alexander
(1982), which was the last role of her life.

Death

Shortly after filming Fanny and Alexander, Wållgren was diagnosed with terminal cancer.[2] Her condition deteriorated quickly and she died on 4th June, 1983.

Filmography

On the cover of Filmjournalen, 1947
On stage: as Indra's daughter in A Dream Play by August Strindberg, The Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1955

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ "Gunn Wållgren". Swedish Film Database. 16 November 1913. Retrieved 2011-05-15.
  2. ^ a b c d Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon (Biographical Dictionary of Swedish Women) website Gunnel (Gunn) Margaret Haraldsdotter Wållgren
  3. ^ a b Internet Movie DataBase website, profile page
  4. ^ "Sally och friheten (1981)". The Swedish Film Database. Retrieved 9 March 2014.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gunn Wållgren.
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