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.
Pour mon coeur et ses millions ( The False Millionaire )(Berthomieu)
Vi som går scenvägen ( We from the Theatre ) (Wahlberg); Juninatten ( Night in June ) (Lindberg)
Panik ( Panic ) (Willoughby); Vi två ( We Two ) (Bauman); Mot nya tider ( Towards New Times ) (Wallén)
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 ( Everybody at His Station ) (Henrikson)
Snapphanar ( Scanian Guerilla ) (Ohberg); En äventyrare ( Adventurer ) (Olsson); General von Döbeln (Molander)
Natt ihamn ( Night in the Harbour ) (Faustman); Jag dräpte ( I Killed ) (Olof Molander)
Appassionata (Olof Molander); Lev farlight ( Live Dangerously ) (Falk); Mitt folk är icke ditt ( My People Are Not Yours ) (Hildebrand); Nyordning på Sjögårda ( New Order at Sjögårda ) (Hildebrand); Hets ( Frenzy ) (Sjöberg)
Sussie (Mattsson); I som här inträden . . . ( You Who Are about to Enter . . . ) (Mattsson)
Peggy på vift ( Peggy on a Spree ) (Mattsson); Kristin Kommenderar ( Kristin Commands ) (Edgren); Rötägg ( Bad Eggs ) (Mattsson); Det regnar på vår kärlek ( It Rains on Our Love ; The Man with an Umbrella ) (Bergman); Medan porten var stängd ( While the Door Was Locked ) (Ekman); Midvinterblot ( Midwinter Blood ) (Werner)
Bruden kom genom taket ( Bride Came through the Ceiling )(Palm); Pappa sökes ( Daddy Wanted ) (Mattsson); Krigsmans erinran ( 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)
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 Märta kommer tilbaka ( Little Märta Returns ) (Ekman); Soldat Bom ( Private Bom ) (Kjellgren)
Skola skolen ( Playing Truant ) (Bauman); Flickan från tredje raden ( Girl from the Third Row ) (Ekman); Pappa Bom ( Father Bom ) (Kjellgren)
Min syster och jag ( My Sister and I ) (Bauman); Fästmö uthyres ( Fiancée for Hire ) (Gustaf Molander); Kyssen på kryssen ( Kiss on the Cruise ) (Mattsson); Den vita katten ( The White Cat ) (Ekman); Kvartetten som sprängdes ( The Quartet That Was Split Up ) (Gustaf Molander)
Tull-Bom ( Customs Officer Bom ) (Kjellgren)
Säg det med blommer ( Say It with Flowers ) (Kjellgren); En fästman i taget ( One Fiancé at a Time ) (Bauman); Kvinnors väntan ( Secrets of Women ; Waiting Women ) (Bergman); Flyg-Bom ( Bom the Flyer ) (Kjellgren); Oppåt med gröna hissen ( Up with the Green Lift ) (Larsson)
Dansa min docka ( Dance with My Doll ) (Söderhjelm); Vi tre debutera ( We Three Debutantes ) (Ekman); Gycklarnas afton ( The Naked Night ; Sawdust and Tinsel ) (Bergman); Glasberget ( Unmarried ) (Gustaf Molander)
Flottans glada gossar ( Happy Lads of the Fleet ) (Husberg); Seger i mörker ( Victory in the Dark ) (Folke); En lektion i kärlek ( A lesson in Love ) (Bergman); Gabrielle (Ekman)
Stampen ( Pawn Shop ) (Lagerkvist); Kvinnodröm ( Dreams ; Journey into Autumn ) (Bergman); Sommarnattens leende ( Smiles of a Summer Night ) (Bergman)
Det är aldrig för sent ( It's Never Too Late ) (Boman); Sjunde himlen ( Seventh Heaven ) (Ekman)
Skorpan ( The Rusk ) (Lagerkvist); Det sjunde inseglet ( The Seventh Seal ) (Bergman); Natten ljus ( Night Light )(Kjellgren); Sommarnöje sökes ( Summer Place Wanted )(Ekman); Smultronstället ( Wild Strawberries ) (Bergman)
Du är mitt äventyr ( You Are My Adventure ) (Olin); Fröken April ( Miss April ) (Gentele); Ansiktet ( The Magician ; The Face ) (Bergman)
Det svänger på slottet ( Swinging at the Castle ) (Kjellin); Brott i paradiset ( Crime in Paradise ) (Kjellgren); Himmel och pannkaka ( Heaven and Pancakes ) (Ekman); Mälarpirater ( Pirates on the Malaren ) (Holmgren)
Djävulens öga ( The Devil's Eye ) (Bergman)
Såsom i en spegel ( Through a Glass Darkly ) (Bergman); Lustgården ( The Pleasure Garden ) (Kjellin)
Nattvardsgästerna ( Winter Light ) (Bergman); Lyckodrömmen ( Dream of Happiness ) (Abramson); Min kära är en ros ( My Love Is Like a Rose ) (Ekman)
Klänningen ( The Dress ) (Sjöman); Aktenskapabrottaren ( Marriage Wrestler ) (Ekman); Allskande par ( Loving Couples )(Zetterling)
Syskonbädd 1782 ( My Sister, My Love ) (Sjöman)
Träfracken ( The Sadist ) (Lindgren); Persona (Bergman); Här har du ditt liv ( Here Is Your Life ) (Troell)
Den rode kappe ( The Red Mantle ) (Axel); Stimulantia ("Smycket" or "The Necklace" ep.) (Gustaf Molander); Tofflan-en lycklig komedi ( Slipper ) (Anderberg)
Flickorna ( The Girls ) (Zetterling); Skammen ( Shame )(Bergman)
Pappa, varför är du arg? Du gjorde likadant själv när du var ung ( Daddy, Why Are You Angry? You Did the Same When You Were Young ) (Stivell); Riten ( The Rite ) (Bergman—for TV); Una estate in quattro ( L'isola ) (Vancini)
Lockfågeln ( The Birdcall ) (Wickman)
Pistolen ( The Pistol ) (Tirl)
Ansikte mot ansikte ( Face to face ) (Bergman—for TV)
Tabu ( Taboo ) (Sjöman)
Herbstsonate ( Autumn Sonata ; Höstsonaten ) (Bergman)
Fanny och Alexander ( Fanny and Alexander ) (Bergman)
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
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