Wikipedia

Olof Winnerstrand

Carl Olof Magnus Winnerstrand(26 August 1875 – 16 July 1956) was aSwedishactor.

Olof Winnerstrand
Winnerstrand, ca 1940.
Born
Carl Olof Magnus Winnerstrand

(1875-08-26)26 August 1875
Stockholm,Sweden-Norway
Died16 July 1956(1956-07-16)(aged 80)
Stockholm, Sweden
NationalitySwedish
OccupationActor
Years active1901–1955
SpouseFrida Winnerstrand
​
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(m.1906⁠–⁠1943)​

Biography

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Born in a bourgeois home inStockholm,Winnerstrand was a son of the well-known Stockholm goldsmith and jeweller C.A. Winnerstrand, and started out in his father's footsteps, learning the trade. His parents opposed his acting dreams and, being loyal to a promise to his father, he took over the family business when his father died in 1899, and worked a couple of years as goldsmith. However, his longing for the stage increased and he was encouraged by great Swedish actorEmil Hillbergin pursuing in acting, after he had witnessed Winnerstrand's striking talent and by offering a place in his theatre company. Now, this time with the blessing of his mother, he sold the family company and joined Hillberg's theatre troupe.

Olof Winnerstrand made his professional debut in 1901 atHelsingborg City Theatreand then toured with the Hillberg Company in 1901-02 and then with the famousSelander Company1902–04, where he met his future wife and the love of his life, MissFrida Kumlin(the couple married in 1906 and for decades was one of Swedish theatre's most popular and beloved theatre couple, often performing opposite each other on stage as well). In 1906 he was contracted by the notorious theatre managerAlbert Ranftto play atVasateatern(Vasa Theatre), the theatre stage above all in Sweden with a tradition of playing farces and comedies. Here Winnerstrand rose to star fame in the late 1900s as a top comedy actor, for years performing leading parts in numerous farces and comedies popular of those days byOscar Wilde,George Bernard Shaw,Georges FeydeauandGeorges Berr(in many of the original Swedish stagings of the plays); such as his Mr Ernest in Oscar Wilde'sThe Importance of Being Earnest,Mr Valentine in Shaw'sYou Never Can Tell,inFranz Arnold's&Ernst Bach'sThe Spanish Fly (Die Spanische Fliege; Spanska flugan)and as Vicomte Goring in Wilde'sAn Ideal Husband.

By 1919 Winnerstrand had made a name for himself as a comedy actor and was asked by the then manager of the national stage,Tor Hedberg,to come and perform at theRoyal Dramatic Theatre(Dramaten). Just seeking a change at the time, Winnerstrand came to remain at the national stage until his retirement in 1949; he performed in altogether 119 parts between 1919 and 1949, here also showing himself as a strong and versatile actor in drama plays and in character parts. He is considered as one of Sweden's very finest stage and film actors of the early 20th century.

Successful and critically acclaimed parts at Dramaten include his Bo Swedenhielm inHjalmar Bergman'sSwedenhielms(1925), Argan inMolière'sThe Imaginary Invalid(1927), Pisthetairos inThe BirdsbyAristophanes(1928), Sir Basil Winterton inEdward Childs Carpenter'sThe Bachelor Father(1930), Alfred Jingle inDickens'The Pickwick Club(1931), Chlestakov inNikolai Gogol'sThe Inspector General(1932), the King of Babylon inMarc Connelly'sThe Green Pastures(1932), Måns Sommar inStrindberg'sMäster Olof(1933), Fabrikör Åvik inBirger SjöbergsKvartetten som sprängdes (The Quartet That Broke Up)(1935), Nat Miller inEugene O'Neill'sAh, Wilderness!(1935–36), Richard Greatham inNoël Coward'sHay Fever(1937), Frank Haines inDodie Smith'sCall It A Day(1937), Titus Jaywood inMark Reed'sYes, My Darling Daughter(1938), Charles Randolph in Dodie Smith'sDear Octopus(1939), Don Pedro inShakespeare'sMuch Ado About Nothing(1940), Fritz Kelemen inRose Franken'sClaudia(1942), Lindgren in Karl Ragnar Gierow'sAv hjärtans lust(1945), Hartman inJean Anouilh'sThe Wild Bird(1948) and Charley inArthur Miller'sDeath of a Salesman(1949).

On film he later in life presented several strong supporting parts, for example in earlyIngmar BergmanfilmsTorment1944 (script by Bergman),Woman Without a Face1947 (script by Bergman),Music in Darkness1948 andA Lesson in Love1955. He also appeared in strong parts in film directorHasse Ekman'sKungliga patrasket1945 andMedan porten var stängd1946, and in several film comedies oppositeSickan Carlsson(between 1945 and 1955), directed bySchamyl Bauman.

He was married to actressFrida Winnerstrand,née Kumlin, 1906–43 (her death).

Selected filmography

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Stage work

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