Josephine Elisabeth Larissa Alhanko (born 24 April 1981) is 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 beauty pageant titleholder who won

Miss Sweden Miss Sweden or Miss Universe Sweden (in Swedish: ''Fröken Sverige''), is the title of the Swedish beauty pageant, qualifying delegates to the Miss Universe competition. In 2009 the pageant renamed as Miss Universe Sweden and the first nationa ...

2006 and represented her country at

Miss Universe 2006 Miss Universe 2006 was the 55th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, United States on July 23, 2006. At the end of the event, Natalie Glebova of Canada crowned Zuleyka Rivera of Puerto Rico as Mi ...

where she placed Top 20. She is a niece of the ballet dancer,

Anneli Alhanko Anneli Elisabeth Alhanko Skoglund (born 11 December 1953 in Bogotá, Colombia) is a Swedish ballet dancer and actress. She is the daughter of the Finnish consul Erkki Alhanko, who was stationed in Colombia when she was born. From 1971 to 1997 ...

. Alhanko was Sweden's 28th semi-finalist at the

pageant, held on 23 July in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. She was the first Miss Sweden to place in nine years. Alhanko won

title in 2006, with the judges describing her as "professional, humble and sympathetic." At the Miss Universe pageant in 2006, Alhanko beat favorites including

Erin McNaught Erin McNaught (born 22 May 1982) is an Australian model, actress, presenter, television personality and beauty pageant titleholder. McNaught grew up in Australia alongside her older brothers and began playing in a band named "Short Straw" in her ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. She has acted in various TV productions, movies and plays. She was also a student in the English

National Ballet School Canada's National Ballet School, also commonly known as the National Ballet School of Canada, is a classical ballet school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Along with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, it is a provider of professional ballet tr ...

(1997–98). She played Flash/Florence in the series '' Real Humans'', which was broadcast on SVT and on Yle in Finland, and has since become an underground cult classic.

Filmography

*2002 – ''Dieselråttor och sjömansmöss'' *2002 – ''En av oss'' *2004 – ''Första intrycket'' *2005 – ''Världarnas bok'' *2012 – ''Irene Huss - Jagat vittne'' *2012 – Real Humans (Äkta människor): ''Flash/Florentine''

References

External links

* 1981 births Living people Actresses from Stockholm Swedish female models Swedish people of Finnish descent Miss Universe 2006 contestants Swedish film actresses Swedish stage actresses Swedish television actresses Miss Sweden winners Swedish beauty pageant winners 21st-century Swedish actresses {{Sweden-actor-stub