Karl Emil Georg Gerhard (born Karl Emil Georg Johnson; 14 April 1891 – 22 April 1964) 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 ...

theater director, revue writer and actor. In 1938 he changed his surname to Gerhard and used the pseudonym Karl-Gerhard.

Biography

Karl Emil Georg Johnson was born in Hedvig Eleonora parish in

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...

. He was the son of Frans Emil Jonsson (1861–1917) and Jenny Augusta Jonsdotter (1863–1906). In 1916, he appeared as an actor under the direction of

Hjalmar Selander Hjalmar Selander (2 July 1859 – 10 August 1928) was a Swedish actor, stage director and theatre manager. Biography Selander was born in Mölndal Municipality in Västra Götaland, Sweden. He made his debut at the Stora teatern in Götebor ...

at the Nya Teatern 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 ...

. In 1919, he debuted as a couplet singer at the cabaret Fenixpalatset in Stockholm as successor to

Ernst Rolf Ernst Ragnar Johansson (20 January 1891– 25 December 1932), professionally known as Ernst Rolf was a Swedish actor, singer and composer and musical revue artist. Ernst Rolf. ''sv.wikipedia.org''. Retrieved: March 10, 2013. Rolf was born in Falun ...

(1891–1932). For many years, he was an actor in various traveling theater companies. Through most of his career, he wrote songs and couplets as well as a large number of sketches, dialogues and monologues for performance on the stages of

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 ...

and

. Many of Karl Gerhard's plays and songs were politically to the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

, and during the 1930s and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, they contained clear

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

statements. He composed and sang a number of couplet text that sharply criticized the Swedish government's apathy towards

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, among these ''Den ökända hästen från Troja'' (The Infamous Horse of Troy). He was married three times: to actresses Mary Johnson (1913 to 1920), Valborg Geyron (1922 to 1930) and Brita Werner (1930 to 1936). He was the father of actor Per Gerhard (1924–2011). Karl Gerhard byst

Selected filmography

* '' Mästerkatten i stövlar'' (1918) * '' Say It with Music'' (1929) * '' Prov utan värde'' (1930) * '' Lucky Devils'' (1932) * ''

Äktenskapsleken ''The Marriage Game'' (Swedish: ''Äktenskapsleken'') is a 1935 Swedish comedy drama film directed by Ragnar Hyltén-Cavallius and starring Zarah Leander, Gösta Cederlund and Harry Roeck-Hansen.Jacobi p.103 The film's art direction was by Ar ...

'' (1935) (also script) * ''

We Three Debutantes ''We Three Debutantes'' ( sv, Vi tre debutera) is a 1953 Swedish drama film directed by Hasse Ekman and starring Maj-Britt Nilsson, Sven-Eric Gamble and Per Oscarsson. It was shot at the Råsunda Studios in Stockholm and on location in the ...

'' (1953) * ''

The Jazz Boy ''The Jazz Boy'' (Swedish: ''Jazzgossen'') is a 1958 Swedish musical film directed by Hasse Ekman and starring Ekman, Maj-Britt Nilsson, Elof Ahrle and Georg Funkquist.Gustafsson p.118 The film was an attempt to make a nostalgical cavalcade of th ...

'' (1958)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerhard, Karl 1891 births 1964 deaths 20th-century Swedish male singers 20th-century Swedish male actors Swedish male film actors Swedish male silent film actors Swedish songwriters Singers from Stockholm Male actors from Stockholm