Ester Vilhelmina Textorius (22 August 1883 – 13 February 1972) was a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
actress and opera singer, known for her comedic theater roles.
Early life and marriage
Ester Vilhelmina Pettersson was born in
Västerås
Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049.
Västerås ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, on 22 August 1883. In 1904 she married the actor
Oskar Textorius
(1864-1938).
Career
Textorius started her acting career by answering an advertisement by theater leader Emil Hillberg, and made her stage debut in 1901 at Halmstad theater in
Halmstad
Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Socia ...
as Paula in the play ''Fri vilja''. After studies with Hillberg and actress Josefina Gullberg, she worked for a few years at different theaters in the countryside. It was during these years that she had the opportunity to work with the famous
Dramaten
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 ...
actor J. Gustaf Fredrikson (1832-1921).
Her favorite part during these years was as Käthe in the play ''Gamla Heidelberg''. At about this same time she also met her future husband.
Stockholm debut
In 1907, Textorius made her Stockholm debut in a
farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...
at Djurgårdsteatern
and also recorded three records for Lycrophon with recorded
operette
This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names.
"Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most c ...
n. In 1909 and 1910 she worked with Anton Salmson at the newly opened Operett-teatern at
Östermalm
Östermalm (; "Eastern city-borough") is a 2.56 km2 large district in central Stockholm, Sweden. With 71,802 inhabitants, it is one of the most populous districts in Stockholm. It is an extremely expensive area, having the highest housing p ...
in Stockholm. And from 1911–18 she worked at Vasateatern. During these years she did a lot of operetten; even though successful, she never considered herself a good enough singer for such roles and later preferred speaking roles. She also played in a revue.
In 1911, the couple made their joint film debut in
Anna Hofman-Uddgren
Anna Maria Viktoria Hofman-Uddgren (23 February 18681 June 1947) ''née'' Hammarström; also known as ''Hoffman'' and ''Hofmann'', was a Swedish actress, cabaret singer, music hall and revue artist, theatre director, and film director. Until 2 ...
's short film ''Stockholmsfrestelser''.
Textorius, however, never become an established actress and participated only in a handful of films, mostly comedic roles in the 1940s.
By 1912 she had done some recordings for the label Odeon.
Between 1919 and 1925, the Textorius duo worked in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
, Ester mostly at Folkteatern, but they returned to Stockholm where her husband obtained a job as a director at Oscarsteatern and Vasateatern.
Ester worked with the administration at the same time.
In 1939, Textorius became a widow and had her final stage performance in
Pauline Brunius
Pauline Brunius, née ''Emma Maria Pauline Lindstedt'' (10 February 1881 in Stockholm – 30 March 1954 in Stockholm) was a Swedish stage and film actor, screenwriter and film and theatre director. She was the managing director of the Royal Dra ...
's play ''Kvinnorna'' at Dramaten.
Death and legacy
Textorius died on 13 February 1972 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 ...
, at the age of 88.
Sfi – Ester Textorius
sfi.se Retrieved 4 September 2015
Filmography
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Textorius, Ester
1883 births
1972 deaths
Swedish actresses
People from Västerås
20th-century Swedish women opera singers