Great swedish actors in Hollywood
by Marre-4 | created - 18 Jul 2011 | updated - 18 Jul 2011 | PublicHere's my top 10-list of swedish actors who've made it in tinsel town.
1. Ingrid Bergman
Actress | Casablanca
Ingrid Bergman was one of the greatest actresses from Hollywood's lamented Golden Era. Her natural and unpretentious beauty and her immense acting talent made her one of the most celebrated figures in the history of American cinema. Bergman is also one of the most Oscar-awarded actresses, tied with ...
Three Oscars and another four nominées. Add a couple of BAFTA:s and Emmys to that and you have the greatest swedish thespian ever.
2. Max von Sydow
Actor | Flash Gordon
Max von Sydow was born Carl Adolf von Sydow on April 10, 1929 in Lund, Skåne, Sweden, to a middle-class family. He was the son of Baroness Maria Margareta (Rappe), a teacher, and Carl Wilhelm von Sydow, an ethnologist and folklore professor. His surname traces back to his partial German ancestry.
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If Ingrid is the swedish queen, then Max is the king. There's nothing he can't do - Jesus, Bond villain or catholic priest exorcising daemons. For some reason his award shelf isn't as packed as Mrs Bergman's. Like a mormon thinking of magnets, I cannot explain that.
3. Stellan Skarsgård
Actor | Good Will Hunting
Stellan Skarsgård was born in Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden, to Gudrun (Larsson) and Jan Skarsgård. He became a star in his teens through the title role in the TV-series Bombi Bitt och jag (1968). Between the years 1972-88 he was employed at The Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, where...
All producers, directors and fellow actors praise Stellan. Paul Bettany even named his son after him! Then why doesn't he get more and bigger roles? The truth is that he turn them down. The only reason he occationally do a Hollywood production is the pay, so he can keep doing the less mainstream films that he likes.
4. Greta Garbo
Actress | Ninotchka
Greta Garbo was born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson on September 18, 1905, in Stockholm, Sweden, to Anna Lovisa (Johansdotter), who worked at a jam factory, and Karl Alfred Gustafsson, a laborer. She was fourteen when her father died, which left the family destitute. Greta was forced to leave school and ...
One of few stars who survived the silence to sound transition - and for a reason. Her movie presence is magnificent. For some reason she left the silver screen in the early 40's because she "want to be alone". To bad, because she had a lot more to give.
5. Peter Stormare
Actor | Fargo
Peter Stormare was born in Arbrå, Gävleborgs län, Sweden, to Gunhild (Holm) and Karl Ingvar Storm. He began his acting career at the Royal National Theatre of Sweden, performing for eleven years. In 1990 he became the Associate Artistic Director at the Tokyo Globe Theatre and directed productions ...
Peter was one of Ingmar Bergman's favorites on the theatre stage and, just as Skarsgård, enjoy doing Hollywood movies merly for the great paycheck. His great passion, besides theatre, is music. Movies are just an easy way to pay the rent.
6. Lena Olin
Actress | The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Swedish-born Lena Olin already had a successful career as an actress before she came to Hollywood. She acted at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm and was directed by Ingmar Bergman. She was born in Stockholm, to actors Britta Holmberg and Stig Olin, who appeared in six of Bergman's films. Lena also ...
A very talented actress who could have worked more. Instead she took on the responsibility of housewife so that her husband, Lasse Hallström, could pursue his own caréer as a director.
7. Alexander Skarsgård
Actor | The Legend of Tarzan
Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård was born in Stockholm, Sweden and is the eldest son of famed actor Stellan Skarsgård. Among his siblings are actors Gustaf Skarsgård, Bill Skarsgård, and Valter Skarsgård. For most of his formative years, his father was an acclaimed actor in Europe but had not yet ...
The son of Stellan Skarsgård (No 3 on this list) Alexander has already proved the thesis that the apple does not fall far from the tree.
8. Noomi Rapace
Actress | Män som hatar kvinnor
Swedish actress Noomi Rapace was born in Hudiksvall, Gävleborgs län, Sweden to Swedish actress Nina Norén and Spanish Flamenco singer Rogelio de Badajoz (Rogelio Durán). Her parents did not stay together, and when she was five she moved to Iceland with her mother and stepfather, where she lived for...
This woman will go far, and she will probably climb on this list if given the chance.
9. Signe Hasso
Actress | Heaven Can Wait
Young Signe Larsson was only 12 when she started to work as a child extra at The Royal Dramatic Theater and was the youngest ever enrolled for acting studies there at 16. She quickly got leading roles in movies and always received very good reviews. In 1940 she went to Hollywood and signed a ...
She came to Hollywood around the time that Mrs Garbo retired. Many also talked of her as "the next Garbo". She made movies with most of the big ones, like Spencer Tracy, Bob Hope and Gary Cooper.
10. Dolph Lundgren
Actor | Rocky IV
Dolph Lundgren was born as Hans Lundgren in Stockholm, Sweden, to Sigrid Birgitta (Tjerneld), a language teacher, and Karl Johan Hugo Lundgren, an engineer and economist for the Swedish government. He lived in Stockholm until the age of 13, when he moved in with his grandparents in Nyland, ...
Dolph is something of a megastar of the B-movies, but he's got talent. To bad he'll never get the chance to show it in a proper Hollywood production.
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