Hedvig Charlotta Konstantina Willman née ''Harling'' (18 July 1841 – 15 August 1887) was a Swedish

stage actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

opera singer Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

and

drama teacher An acting coach or drama coach is a teacher who trains performers – typically film, television, theatre, and musical theatre actors – and gives them advice and mentoring to enable them to improve their acting and dramatic performances, prepar ...

. She was co-principal of ''

Dramatens elevskola The Royal Dramatic Training Academy ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teaterns Elevskola, also known as ''Dramatens elevskola''), was the acting school of Sweden's national stage, the Royal Dramatic Theatre, and for many years (1787–1964) seen as the f ...

'' in 1877-86.

Life

Hedwig Willman was born in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. She was the daughter of the clothe's seller P. A. C. Harling and Emelie Charlotta Wàhlsten. She married the actor Anders Willman (1834-1898) in 1871.

Career

Hedvig Willman made her debut in '' Ladugårdslandsteatern'' in Stockholm in 1857, and was engaged at the theater company of Johan Anders Oskar Andersson (1813-1866) and then by

Edvard Stjernström Carl Edvard Stjernström (11 October 1816 – 10 February 1877) was a Swedish stage actor and theater director. In 1833, he was accepted as a student at the Royal Dramatic Theatre. From 1842 to 1850, he was employed at Nya Teatern. He was th ...

at the

Mindre teatern Mindre teatern (''The Smaller Theatre''), Nya teatern (''The New Theatre''), Lindeberska teatern (''The Lindeberg Theatre''), was a Swedish theatre at Kungsgatan in Stockholm, active 1842–1863. The building was used as localities for the Royal D ...

. From 1863 onward, she was employed as an actor at the

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The the ...

and, from 1865, as an opera singer at the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side ...

in parallel. About her career at the ''

'' it was said: :"She was there given the opportunity to demonstrate an intelligent judgement, which in union with a lively acting and an elegant appearance made her noted by the audience and resulted in her being among those of the Stjernström staff selected to remain in employment when the ''Mindre Teatern'' was sold to the Royal Theater in 1863.
Kungl. teatrarne under ett halft sekel 1860-1910: personalhistoriska anteckningar (vol. 1)
' In her capacity of a singer, she was often used within the ''

Opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...

''. She performed as a guest artist in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, notably at the

Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first ser ...

in 1869. About her career as a singer it was said: :"... while not the owner of any remarkable resources she managed, by her acting talent and energetic work, solve several important tasks very well." In 1877, she and her spouse were appointed joint principals of ''

''. She also gave singing lessons. One of her notable pupils was

John Forsell Carl Johan Jacob Forsell (6 November 1868 – 30 May 1941), known as John Forsell, was a prominent Swedish baritone, opera administrator and teacher of voice. He was the leading baritone of the Royal Swedish Opera (RSO) from 1896–1918, ...

(1868–1941) who was later the leading baritone of the

. Of Willman as an instructor it was said that: :"... there she exposed the energy and the sense, which illustrated her as a professional artist." Hedvig Willman died in Stockholm in 1887 "after a long lasting illness". In retrospect it was said about her career: :"Mrs Willman was in possession of a great deal of stage talent, much will power and perseverance. As a purely dramatic artist she would with no doubt, if she had acted exclusively as such, reached an immensely more important position, than what she was able to reach now, when she gave her strongest efforts to the opera. "

References

Other sources

* Nordensvan, Georg (1918) ''Svensk teater och svenska skådespelare från Gustav III till våra dagar. Andra delen, 1842-1918'' (Stockholm: Bonnier) (Swedish)

External links

*
Europas konstnärer
', 1887 {{DEFAULTSORT:Willman, Hedvig 19th-century Swedish actresses Swedish stage actresses 1841 births 1887 deaths Actresses from Stockholm 19th-century Swedish women opera singers