Monica Zetterlund (born Eva Monica Nilsson; 20 September 1937 – 12 May 2005) 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 ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), 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 ...

. Through her lifetime, she starred in over 10 Swedish film productions and recorded over 20 studio albums. She gained international fame through her collaborative album with

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

, '' Waltz for Debby.''

Career

Singer

Zetterlund began by learning the classic jazz songs from radio and records, initially not knowing the language and what they sang about in English. Her hit songs included "" (Swedish cover of " Walking My Baby Back Home"; in Swedish a tribute to

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 ...

town), " Visa från Utanmyra", "", "", "" ("

Little Green Apples "Little Green Apples" is a song written by Bobby Russell that became a hit for three different artists, with their three separate releases, in 1968. Originally written for and released by American recording artist Roger Miller, "Little Green A ...

"), "" (" Waltz for Debby"), "" ("

Hit the Road Jack "Hit the Road Jack" is a song written by the rhythm and blues singer Percy Mayfield and recorded by Ray Charles. The song was a US number 1 hit in 1961, and won a Grammy award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording, becoming one of Charles' signat ...

"), "", "", "" (cover of

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

's "Moon Over Bourbon Street") and "", among many others. She also interpreted the works of such Swedish singer-songwriters as

Evert Taube Axel Evert Taube (; 12 March 1890 – 31 January 1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians and the foremost troubadour of the Swedish ballad tradition in the 20th ce ...

Olle Adolphson Olle Adolphson (2 May 1934, in Stockholm – 10 March 2004, in Stockholm) was a Swedish writer, singer and songwriter. He released a range of books (''Aubade'', ''Foliá''), LPs (''En stol på Tegnér'', etc.) and CDs (''Älskar inte jag dig d ...

and

Povel Ramel Baron Povel Karl Henric Ramel (; 1 June 1922 – 5 June 2007) was a Swedish entertainer. Ramel was a singer, pianist, vaudeville artist, author and a novelty song composer. His style was characterized by imaginative wit, both verbal and musical. ...

, as well as international jazz musicians/songwriters. She worked with leading American players including

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of ...

Steve Kuhn Steve Kuhn (born March 24, 1938) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator. Biography Kuhn was born in New York City, New York, to Carl and Stella Kuhn (née Kaufman), and was raised in Newton, Massachusetts. Hi ...

and

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

, and in the

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n jazz world with people like Georg Riedel, Egil Johansen, Arne Domnérus,

Svend Asmussen Svend Asmussen (28 February 1916 – 7 February 2017) was a Danish jazz violinist, known as "The Fiddling Viking". A Swing style virtuoso, he played and recorded with many of the other jazz musicians, including Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and S ...

and Jan Johansson. In 1964, she recorded the jazz album '' Waltz for Debby'', featuring

, a record she herself described as "the best I've done" and was the most proud of. Her professional skill was amply demonstrated in this album in performing the challenging Harold Arlen song, "So Long, Big Time". Her long career also included the song "

En gång i Stockholm In the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, Sweden was represented by Monica Zetterlund, a popular jazz singer. Her song, written by Bobbie Ericsson and Beppe Wolgers, was called "En gång i Stockholm". Carli Thornehave also sung the winning song at the ...

" ("Once Upon a Time in Stockholm"); a jazz ballad with which she represented Sweden in the

1963 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1963 was the eighth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in London, United Kingdom. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporat ...

. She finished last, however (mainly because the song genre was not suitable for the competition) and scored ''nul points'', but remained successful in Sweden.

Actor

Her collaboration with the comic duo

Hasse & Tage Hasse & Tage ( sv, Hasse och Tage) were a popular Swedish comedy duo featuring Hans "Hasse" Alfredson and Tage Danielsson. They are sometimes known as ''Hasseåtage'', a spelling created by the Swedish press in the 1960s, but never used by the du ...

(in the 1960s and 1970s) eventually led to a stage career in revues and films. Memorable are her parts in the films '' Att angöra en brygga'' and '' Äppelkriget'', with her most memorable role being in

Jan Troell Jan Gustaf Troell (born 23 July 1931) is a Swedish writer-director, and cinematographer. His realistic films, with a lyrical photography in which nature is prominent, have placed him in the first rank of modern Swedish film directors along with I ...

's ''Utvandrarna'' (aka '' The Emigrants''; with

Liv Ullmann Liv Johanne Ullmann (born 16 December 1938) is a Norwegian actress and film director. Recognised as one of the greatest European actresses of all time, Ullmann is known as the muse and frequent partner of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. She acted in m ...

and

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

in the leads) as Ulrika, a former prostitute who together with her teenage daughter Elin (portrayed by Zetterlund's daughter, Eva Lena Zetterlund) join the main characters in their emigration to America in the 1850s, a role for which Zetterlund received a

Guldbagge Award The Guldbagge Awards ( sv, Guldbaggen, en, Gold scarab) is an official and annual Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a rose chafer, better known by the name ...

for Best Supporting Actress. She appeared in more than 20 films and television series.

Awards

Zetterlund was awarded the

Illis quorum ''Illis quorum'' (''Illis quorum meruere labores'') (English: "For Those Whose Labors Have Deserved It"), is a gold medal awarded for outstanding contributions to Swedish culture, science or society. The award was introduced in 1784 by King Gust ...

by the government of Sweden in 2002.

Health and death

She suffered from severe

scoliosis Scoliosis is a condition in which a person's spine has a sideways curve. The curve is usually "S"- or "C"-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others, it increases over time. Mild scoliosis does not t ...

which began after a childhood accident, and as a result was forced to retire from performing in 1999. On 12 May 2005, she died following an accidental fire in her

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

, probably due to her habit of smoking in bed.

Discography

Albums

* ''Swedish Sensation'' (Columbia, 1958) * ''Ahh! Monica!'' (Philips, 1962) * ''Make Mine Swedish Style'' (Philips, 1964) * ''Ohh! Monica!'' (Philips, 1964) * '' Waltz for Debby'' with Bill Evans (Philips, 1964) * ''Monica Zetterlund'' (Philips, 1967) * ''Monica - Monica'' (Gazell 1971) * ''Chicken Feathers'' (SR, 1972) * ''Hej, Man!'' (Odeon, 1975) * ''Folk Som Har Sånger Kan Inte Dö'' (YTF 1976) * '' It Only Happens Every Time'' with Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra (Inner City, 1978) * ''Holiday for Monica'' (Phontastic, 1983) * ''Monica Zetterlund Sjunger Olle Adolphson'' (Phontastic, 1984) * ''Monica Z'' (RCA, 1989) * ''Varsamt'' (RCA, 1991) * ''Topaz'' (RCA, 1993) * ''The Lost Tapes at Bell Sound Studios NYC'' (RCA Victor, 1996) * ''Det Finns Dagar'' (RCA, 1997) * ''Bill Remembered: A Tribute to Bill Evans'' (RCA Victor, 2000) * ''Diamanter'' (EMI, 2005) * ''Sista Gången Du Var Med'' (National, 2006) * ''På Café Katalin Torsdag 14 September 1989'' (Gazell, 2006) * ''På Berns 1964'' (Vax, 2016)

Notable songs

*"Va' e' de' där" ("

Dat Dere "Dat Dere" is a jazz song written by Bobby Timmons that was recorded in 1960. Lyrics were written later by Oscar Brown, Jr. Recording and lyrics The song was first recorded by Bobby Timmons in his debut album '' This Here Is Bobby Timmons'' (J ...

" with Swedish lyrics by

Beppe Wolgers John Bertil "Beppe" Wolgers (10 November 1928 – 6 August 1986) was a Swedish author, poet, translator, lyricist, actor, entertainer and artist. Career Wolgers was born in Stockholm, Sweden and was the son of forest ranger John Wolgers and Ge ...

.) *"

" *"Sakta vi gå genom stan" (" Walkin' My Baby Back Home" with Swedish lyrics by Beppe Wolgers.)

Filmography

*'' Swedish Portraits'' (''Svenska bilder'', 1964) as Mejram *''

Docking the Boat ''Docking the Boat'' ( sv, Att angöra en brygga, or sometimes: ''To Go Ashore'') is a Swedish dark comedy film from 1965 directed by Tage Danielsson. The film stars Gösta Ekman, Monica Zetterlund, Hans Alfredson, Lars Ekborg and Birgitta Ander ...

'' (''Att angöra en brygga'', 1965) as Berit *'' Night Games'' (''Nattlek'', 1966) as Lotten *'' The Emigrants'' (''Utvandrarna'', 1971) as Ulrika *''

The Apple War ''The Apple War'' ( sv, Äppelkriget) is a 1971 Swedish comedy-drama film directed by Tage Danielsson, starring Gösta Ekman, Hans Alfredsson, Tage Danielsson, Monica Zetterlund and Max von Sydow. The political theme of the film is the battle be ...

'' (''Äppelkriget'', 1971) as Anna Lindberg *''

The New Land ''The New Land'' ( sv, Nybyggarna) is a 1972 Swedish film directed and co-written by Jan Troell and starring Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Eddie Axberg, Allan Edwall, Monica Zetterlund, and Pierre Lindstedt. It and its 1971 predecessor, ''The Emi ...

'' (''Nybyggarna'', 1972) as Erika *''Stubby'', (''

Fimpen ''Fimpen'' (lit. "the cigarette butt", UK ''Stubby'', international ''The Butt'') is a 1974 Swedish family film written and directed by Bo Widerberg and starring Johan Bergman. Plot Six-year-old Johan, nicknamed "Fimpen", is an extraordinarily ...

'', 1974) as Teacher *'' Guttersnipes'' (''Rännstensungar'', 1974) as Malinda Karlsson *'' Sweden for the Swedes'' (''Sverige åt svenskarna'', 1980) as Minister of finance *'' The Children from Blue Lake Mountain'' (''Barnen från Blåsjöfjället'', 1980) as Hulda Krok *''Russian Pizza Blues'' (1992) as Herself

References

External links

* – official site (Monica Zetterlund Society & Memory Fund] (in Swedish) * *
Monica Zetterlund
article reporting her death at Aftonbladet.se (in Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Zetterlund, Monica 1937 births 2005 deaths People from Hagfors Swedish jazz singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Sweden Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1963 Melodifestivalen contestants Melodifestivalen winners Philips Records artists Swedish film actresses Accidental deaths in Sweden Deaths from fire Best Actress Guldbagge Award winners 20th-century Swedish women singers Recipients of the Illis quorum