Swedish film actress Bibi Andersson died on Sunday 14 April 2019 at the age of 83. She is best known for her 13 films with director Ingmar Bergman.
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 53. Photo: Bibi Andersson in Smultronstället/Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman, 1957).
Berit Elisabet Andersson was born in Kungsholmen, Stockholm, in 1935. She was the daughter of Karin (née Mansion), a social worker, and Josef Andersson, a businessman. 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 studied acting at the Terserus Drama School and from 1954 till 1956 at the Royal Dramatic Theatre School in Stockholm. Then she joined the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, with which she was associated for 30 years. At first, she had to make do with bit parts and commercials. Her first collaboration with Ingmar Bergman was in 1951, when she participated in his production of an advertisement for the detergent 'Bris'.
That year, she also made her film debut in Fröken Julie/Miss Julie (Alf Sjöberg, 1951) starring Anita Björk and based on the play by August Strindberg. The film deals with class, sex and power as the title character, the daughter of a Count in 19th century Sweden, begins a relationship with one of the estate's servants. The film won the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film at the 1951 Cannes Film Festival.
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. She had a small part in Bergman's film comedy Sommarnattens leende/Smiles of a Summer Night (Ingmar Bergman, 1955), which was shown at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.
In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Andersson starred in 13 Bergman-directed pictures. These included Det sjunde inseglet/The Seventh Seal (1957) with Gunnar Björnstrand and Max von Sydow, Smultronstället/Wild Strawberries (1957) with Victor Sjöström, and Nära livet/Brink of Life (1958) with Eva Dahlbeck and Ingrid Thulin. At the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, Bergman won the Best Director Award and Andersson, Dahlbeck, Thulin and Barbro Hiort af Ornäs won the Best Actress Award together.
Andersson also appeared in Bergman's Ansiktet/The Face/The Magician (1958) with Max von Sydow, Djävulens öga/The Devil's Eye (1960) and the comedy För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor/All These Women (1964) a parody of Fellini's 8½ (Federico Fellini, 1963).
In 1963, Bibi Andersson won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award at the 13th Berlin International Film Festival for her role in Vilgot Sjöman's film Älskarinnan/The Mistress (1962). She also appeared in his drama Syskonbädd 1782/My Sister, My Love (Vilgot Sjöman, 1966). Her intense portrayal of the nurse Alma in the psychological drama Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966) with Liv Ullman, led to an increase in the number of cinematic roles offered her.
Italian postcard. Photo: Dear Film. Bibi Andersson in Duel at Diablo (Ralph Nelson, 1966).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 62/73. Photo: Bibi Andersson in Chelovek s drugoy storony/The Man from the Other Side (Yuri Yegorov, 1972).
Bibi Andersson appeared that same year opposite James Garner and Sidney Poitier in the violent Western Duel at Diablo (Ralph Nelson, 1966). She also worked with John Huston on the Spy film The Kremlin Letter (1970).
She made her debut in American theatre in 1973 with a production of Erich Maria Remarque's Full Circle. Her best known American film is possibly I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (Anthony Page, 1977), that also starred Kathleen Quinlan as a a borderline schizophrenic.
During this period she also appeared in several Bergman productions, including the drama En passion/The Passion of Anna (1969) with Liv Ullman and Max von Sydow, the romantic drama Beröringen/The Touch (1971), starring Von Sydow, Andersson and Elliott Gould, and the TV miniseries Scener ur ett äktenskap/Scenes from a Marriage (1973) starring Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson.
During the following decades, Bibi Andersson acted in several international films. Robert Altman directed her in the post-apocalyptic Science Fiction film Quintet (1979) with Paul Newman and Brigitte Fossey. With Anthony Perkins, she starred in the Dutch film Twee vrouwen/Twice a Woman (George Sluizer, 1979). She also was one of the passengers in the American air disaster film The Concorde ... Airport '79 (David Lowell Rich, 1979) with Alain Delon and Robert Wagner.
In the American drama Exposed (James Toback, 1983), she co-starred with Nastassja Kinski and Rudolf Nureyev. She also appeared in Babettes gæstebud/Babette's Feast (Gabriel Axel, 1987), featuring Stéphane Audran and based on the story by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen). It was the first Danish film to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
In 1990, she worked as a theatre director in Stockholm, directing several plays at Dramaten. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Andersson worked primarily in television and as a theatre actress, working with Ingmar Bergman among others. She was also a supervisor for the humanitarian project 'Road to Sarajevo'.
In 1996, she published her autobiography 'Ett ögonblick' (A Moment, or, literally, A Blink of the Eye). She was married first to the director Kjell Grede (1960-1973, divorced), and, secondly, to the politician and writer Per Ahlmark (1979-1981, divorced). Andersson then married Gabriel Mora Baeza in 2004. In 2009 she had a stroke. An article from 2010 says that since she had been hospitalised, she was unable to speak. Andersson had a daughter, Jenny Matilde Grede, with ex-husband Kjell Grede.
Swedish postcard. Photo: Beata Bergström. Bibi Andersson in a Dramaten production of the play 'Efter syndafallet' (After the Fall) by Arthur Miller, 1964. Direction by Frank Sundström.
Swedish postcard. Photo: Beata Bergström. Bibi Andersson and Inga Tidblad in a Dramaten production of the play 'Glasmenageriet' (The Glass Menagerie) by Tennessee Williams, 1965. Direction by Staffan Aspelin.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 53. Photo: Bibi Andersson in Smultronstället/Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman, 1957).
The film deals with class, sex and power
Berit Elisabet Andersson was born in Kungsholmen, Stockholm, in 1935. She was the daughter of Karin (née Mansion), a social worker, and Josef Andersson, a businessman. 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 studied acting at the Terserus Drama School and from 1954 till 1956 at the Royal Dramatic Theatre School in Stockholm. Then she joined the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, with which she was associated for 30 years. At first, she had to make do with bit parts and commercials. Her first collaboration with Ingmar Bergman was in 1951, when she participated in his production of an advertisement for the detergent 'Bris'.
That year, she also made her film debut in Fröken Julie/Miss Julie (Alf Sjöberg, 1951) starring Anita Björk and based on the play by August Strindberg. The film deals with class, sex and power as the title character, the daughter of a Count in 19th century Sweden, begins a relationship with one of the estate's servants. The film won the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film at the 1951 Cannes Film Festival.
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. She had a small part in Bergman's film comedy Sommarnattens leende/Smiles of a Summer Night (Ingmar Bergman, 1955), which was shown at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.
In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Andersson starred in 13 Bergman-directed pictures. These included Det sjunde inseglet/The Seventh Seal (1957) with Gunnar Björnstrand and Max von Sydow, Smultronstället/Wild Strawberries (1957) with Victor Sjöström, and Nära livet/Brink of Life (1958) with Eva Dahlbeck and Ingrid Thulin. At the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, Bergman won the Best Director Award and Andersson, Dahlbeck, Thulin and Barbro Hiort af Ornäs won the Best Actress Award together.
Andersson also appeared in Bergman's Ansiktet/The Face/The Magician (1958) with Max von Sydow, Djävulens öga/The Devil's Eye (1960) and the comedy För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor/All These Women (1964) a parody of Fellini's 8½ (Federico Fellini, 1963).
In 1963, Bibi Andersson won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award at the 13th Berlin International Film Festival for her role in Vilgot Sjöman's film Älskarinnan/The Mistress (1962). She also appeared in his drama Syskonbädd 1782/My Sister, My Love (Vilgot Sjöman, 1966). Her intense portrayal of the nurse Alma in the psychological drama Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966) with Liv Ullman, led to an increase in the number of cinematic roles offered her.
Italian postcard. Photo: Dear Film. Bibi Andersson in Duel at Diablo (Ralph Nelson, 1966).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 62/73. Photo: Bibi Andersson in Chelovek s drugoy storony/The Man from the Other Side (Yuri Yegorov, 1972).
The first Danish film to win the Oscar
Bibi Andersson appeared that same year opposite James Garner and Sidney Poitier in the violent Western Duel at Diablo (Ralph Nelson, 1966). She also worked with John Huston on the Spy film The Kremlin Letter (1970).
She made her debut in American theatre in 1973 with a production of Erich Maria Remarque's Full Circle. Her best known American film is possibly I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (Anthony Page, 1977), that also starred Kathleen Quinlan as a a borderline schizophrenic.
During this period she also appeared in several Bergman productions, including the drama En passion/The Passion of Anna (1969) with Liv Ullman and Max von Sydow, the romantic drama Beröringen/The Touch (1971), starring Von Sydow, Andersson and Elliott Gould, and the TV miniseries Scener ur ett äktenskap/Scenes from a Marriage (1973) starring Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson.
During the following decades, Bibi Andersson acted in several international films. Robert Altman directed her in the post-apocalyptic Science Fiction film Quintet (1979) with Paul Newman and Brigitte Fossey. With Anthony Perkins, she starred in the Dutch film Twee vrouwen/Twice a Woman (George Sluizer, 1979). She also was one of the passengers in the American air disaster film The Concorde ... Airport '79 (David Lowell Rich, 1979) with Alain Delon and Robert Wagner.
In the American drama Exposed (James Toback, 1983), she co-starred with Nastassja Kinski and Rudolf Nureyev. She also appeared in Babettes gæstebud/Babette's Feast (Gabriel Axel, 1987), featuring Stéphane Audran and based on the story by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen). It was the first Danish film to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
In 1990, she worked as a theatre director in Stockholm, directing several plays at Dramaten. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Andersson worked primarily in television and as a theatre actress, working with Ingmar Bergman among others. She was also a supervisor for the humanitarian project 'Road to Sarajevo'.
In 1996, she published her autobiography 'Ett ögonblick' (A Moment, or, literally, A Blink of the Eye). She was married first to the director Kjell Grede (1960-1973, divorced), and, secondly, to the politician and writer Per Ahlmark (1979-1981, divorced). Andersson then married Gabriel Mora Baeza in 2004. In 2009 she had a stroke. An article from 2010 says that since she had been hospitalised, she was unable to speak. Andersson had a daughter, Jenny Matilde Grede, with ex-husband Kjell Grede.
Swedish postcard. Photo: Beata Bergström. Bibi Andersson in a Dramaten production of the play 'Efter syndafallet' (After the Fall) by Arthur Miller, 1964. Direction by Frank Sundström.
Swedish postcard. Photo: Beata Bergström. Bibi Andersson and Inga Tidblad in a Dramaten production of the play 'Glasmenageriet' (The Glass Menagerie) by Tennessee Williams, 1965. Direction by Staffan Aspelin.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
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