BJÖRNSTRAND, Gunnar

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Nationality: Swedish. Born: Stockholm, 13 November 1909. Education: Royal Dramatic Theatre School, Stockholm. Family: Married Lillie Lundahl, 1935, three daughters. Career: 1931—film debut in Pour mon coeur et ses millions; 1936–38—acted at the Swedish Theater in Helsinki; after stint at Swedish Theater, continued stage acting mainly in Stockholm; 1946—first film with Ingmar Bergman, Det regnar på vår kärlek, which began long professional association; 1948—guest artist at Royal Dramatic Theater, Stockholm; 1966—in film Pälsen (The Overcoat) for Swedish television. Awards: Swedish Film Society's Gösta Ekman Prize, 1953. Died: 24 May 1986.

Films as Actor:

1931

Pour mon coeur et ses millions (The False Millionaire)(Berthomieu)

1938

Vi som går scenvägen (We from the Theatre) (Wahlberg);Juninatten (Night in June) (Lindberg)

1939

Panik (Panic) (Willoughby); Vi två (We Two) (Bauman); Motnya tider (Towards New Times) (Wallén)

1940

Hjältar i gult och blått (Heroes in Yellow and Blue) (Bauman);Karl för sin hatt (An Able Man) (Bauman); Hennes melodi(Her Melody) (Thor Brooks); Alle man på post (Everybodyat His Station) (Henrikson)

1942

Snapphanar (Scanian Guerilla) (Ohberg); En äventyrare(Adventurer) (Olsson); General von Döbeln (Molander)

1943

Natt ihamn (Night in the Harbour) (Faustman); Jag dräpte (IKilled) (Olof Molander)

1944

Appassionata (Olof Molander); Lev farlight (Live Dangerously) (Falk); Mitt folk är icke ditt (My People Are NotYours) (Hildebrand); Nyordning på Sjögårda (New Orderat Sjögårda) (Hildebrand); Hets (Frenzy) (Sjöberg)

1945

Sussie (Mattsson); I som här inträden . . . (You Who Are aboutto Enter . . .) (Mattsson)

1946

Peggy på vift (Peggy on a Spree) (Mattsson); KristinKommenderar (Kristin Commands) (Edgren); Rötägg (BadEggs) (Mattsson); Det regnar på vår kärlek (It Rains onOur Love; The Man with an Umbrella) (Bergman); Medanporten var stängd (While the Door Was Locked) (Ekman);Midvinterblot (Midwinter Blood) (Werner)

1947

Bruden kom genom taket (Bride Came through the Ceiling)(Palm); Pappa sökes (Daddy Wanted) (Mattsson); Krigsmanserinran (Soldier's Duties) (Faustman); En fluga gör ingen sommar (One Swallow Doesn't Make a Summer) (Ekman);Här kommer vi (Here We Come) (Lagerwall and Zacharias);Två kvinnor (Two Women) (Sjöstrand)

1948

Musik i mörker (Music in Darkness; Night Is My Future)(Bergman); Var sin väg (Each to His Own Way) (Ekman);En svensk tiger (A Swedish Tiger) (Edgren); Lilla Märtakommer tilbaka (Little Märta Returns) (Ekman); SoldatBom (Private Bom) (Kjellgren)

1949

Skola skolen (Playing Truant) (Bauman); Flickan från tredjeraden (Girl from the Third Row) (Ekman); Pappa Bom(Father Bom) (Kjellgren)

1950

Min syster och jag (My Sister and I) (Bauman); Fästmöuthyres (Fiancée for Hire) (Gustaf Molander); Kyssen påkryssen (Kiss on the Cruise) (Mattsson); Den vita katten(The White Cat) (Ekman); Kvartetten som sprängdes (TheQuartet That Was Split Up) (Gustaf Molander)

1951

Tull-Bom (Customs Officer Bom) (Kjellgren)

1952

Säg det med blommer (Say It with Flowers) (Kjellgren); Enfästman i taget (One Fiancé at a Time) (Bauman); Kvinnorsväntan (Secrets of Women; Waiting Women) (Bergman);Flyg-Bom (Bom the Flyer) (Kjellgren); Oppåt med grönahissen (Up with the Green Lift) (Larsson)

1953

Dansa min docka (Dance with My Doll) (Söderhjelm); Vi tredebutera (We Three Debutantes) (Ekman); Gycklarnas afton (The Naked Night; Sawdust and Tinsel) (Bergman);Glasberget (Unmarried) (Gustaf Molander)

1954

Flottans glada gossar (Happy Lads of the Fleet) (Husberg);Seger i mörker (Victory in the Dark) (Folke); En lektioni kärlek (A lesson in Love) (Bergman); Gabrielle (Ekman)

1955

Stampen (Pawn Shop) (Lagerkvist); Kvinnodröm (Dreams;Journey into Autumn) (Bergman); Sommarnattens leende (Smiles of a Summer Night) (Bergman)

1956

Det är aldrig för sent (It's Never Too Late) (Boman); Sjundehimlen (Seventh Heaven) (Ekman)

1957

Skorpan (The Rusk) (Lagerkvist); Det sjunde inseglet (TheSeventh Seal) (Bergman); Natten ljus (Night Light)(Kjellgren); Sommarnöje sökes (Summer Place Wanted)(Ekman); Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries) (Bergman)

1958

Du är mitt äventyr (You Are My Adventure) (Olin); FrökenApril (Miss April) (Gentele); Ansiktet (The Magician; TheFace) (Bergman)

1959

Det svänger på slottet (Swinging at the Castle) (Kjellin); Brotti paradiset (Crime in Paradise) (Kjellgren); Himmel ochpannkaka (Heaven and Pancakes) (Ekman); Mälarpirater(Pirates on the Malaren) (Holmgren)

1960

Djävulens öga (The Devil's Eye) (Bergman)

1961

Såsom i en spegel (Through a Glass Darkly) (Bergman);Lustgården (The Pleasure Garden) (Kjellin)

1963

Nattvardsgästerna (Winter Light) (Bergman); Lyckodrömmen(Dream of Happiness) (Abramson); Min kära är en ros (MyLove Is Like a Rose) (Ekman)

1964

Klänningen (The Dress) (Sjöman); Aktenskapabrottaren (Marriage Wrestler) (Ekman); Allskande par (Loving Couples)(Zetterling)

1965

Syskonbädd 1782 (My Sister, My Love) (Sjöman)

1966

Träfracken (The Sadist) (Lindgren); Persona (Bergman); Härhar du ditt liv (Here Is Your Life) (Troell)

1967

Den rode kappe (The Red Mantle) (Axel); Stimulantia("Smycket" or "The Necklace" ep.) (Gustaf Molander);Tofflan-en lycklig komedi (Slipper) (Anderberg)

1968

Flickorna (The Girls) (Zetterling); Skammen (Shame)(Bergman)

1969

Pappa, varför är du arg? Du gjorde likadant själv när du varung (Daddy, Why Are You Angry? You Did the Same WhenYou Were Young) (Stivell); Riten (The Rite) (Bergman—for TV); Una estate in quattro (L'isola) (Vancini)

1971

Lockfågeln (The Birdcall) (Wickman)

1973

Pistolen (The Pistol) (Tirl)

1976

Ansikte mot ansikte (Face to face) (Bergman—for TV)

1977

Tabu (Taboo) (Sjöman)

1978

Herbstsonate (Autumn Sonata; Höstsonaten) (Bergman)

1982

Fanny och Alexander (Fanny and Alexander) (Bergman)

Publications

On BJÖRNSTRAND: article—

Obituary in Variety (New York), 28 May 1986.

* * *

Gunnar Björnstrand made a career portraying morally upright figures plagued by doubt and temptation. A courtly actor who seemed equally at home in comedy and melodrama, he came to the attention of non-Swedish film audiences in the dozen or so films of Ingmar Bergman in which he appeared.

Björnstrand made his first film for Bergman in 1946, It Rains on Our Love, and rose to international prominence in a series of films beginning with Sawdust and Tinsel, and culminating with Winter Light. His role in this last film was a tour de force for Björnstrand who played a man of God who had lost his faith and, although he searched for meaning in the modern world, could provide little guidance for himself or his parishioners. The elegance of Björnstrand's bearing provided a vivid contrast to the inner torment caused by his religious uncertainty. For The Seventh Seal, on the other hand, where he played the cynical Sancho Panza-like companion to Max von Sydow's questing knight, he was cast against type and provided a shrewd foil to his Quixotic master.

Björnstrand continued to play roles in other Swedish productions including Vilgot Sjöman's The Dress and the same director's controversial My Sister, My Love, Jan Troell's first feature, Here Is Your Life, and Mai Zetterling's Loving Couples and The Girls. He also appeared in Bergman's later films such as Shame, Face to Face, and the international success, Autumn Sonata.

—Charles L. P. Silet