Rolf Forsberg (July 12, 1925 – February 16, 2017) was an American playwright, film and theater director.

Biography

Forsberg is known for directing films such as ''

The Late Great Planet Earth ''The Late Great Planet Earth'' is a best-selling 1970 book by Hal Lindsey with Carole C. Carlson, and first published by Zondervan. ''The New York Times'' declared it to be the bestselling nonfiction book of the 1970s. The book was first feature ...

'' and ''

Parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...

'', a film produced for the ''

1964 New York World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...

''. ''Parable'' portrayed humanity as a traveling circus and

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

as a circus clown. This marked a new depiction of Christ and inspired the musical ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical composed by Stephen Schwartz with book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hymn ...

''. ''Parable'' went on to be honored at

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

, the

Edinburgh Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

and

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

. On June 8, 2013, the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...

offered a retrospective of the works of Rolf Forsberg titled ''The Outre World of Rolf Forsberg''. He died in February 2017 at the age of 92.

Filmography

*Sacagawea – on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

, (2003) *Tecumseh – History Channel (1997) *Seven Signs of Christ's Return (1997) *Where Jesus Walked – starring Barbara Harris (1995) *Touring Civil War Battlefields (1992) *Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – narrated by

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow ...

(1990) * Beyond The Next Mountain – starring Saeed Jaffery and Barry Foster (1987) *

– starring

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

(1979) * Mother Tiger Mother Tiger (1976) *Peace Child (1974) *Nail (1974) *And There Was Morning (1973) *One Friday (1973) *King of the Hill (1972) *Ark (1970) * Stalked – starring

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mil ...

(1968) *Awareness (1968) * Antkeeper – narrated by

Fred Gwynne Frederick Hubbard Gwynne (July 10, 1926 – July 2, 1993) was an American actor, artist and author widely known for his roles in the 1960s television sitcoms ''Car 54, Where Are You?'' as Francis Muldoon and as Herman Munster in ''The Munsters'' ...

(1966) *

(1964) *Light Time for

(1960)

Stage-ography

*A Tenth of an Inch Makes The Difference – Performer's Arena, Chicago (1984) *Revival – Pasadena Playhouse Studio (1973) *The Dybbuk Between Two Worlds –

Court Theatre (Chicago) Court Theatre is a Tony Award-winning professional theatre company located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, where it was established in 1955. Court Theatre is affiliated with the University of Chicago, receiving in-kind suppo ...

(1962) *A Tenth of an Inch makes the Difference – New York (1961) *The Tempest- off-Broadway (1959) *The Tempest – San Francisco Shakespeare Festival (1958) *Oedipus Rex –

(1960) *Round Dance – Playwrights, Chicago (1955) *Shakuntala – Playwrights, Chicago (1954) *

The Trojan Women ''The Trojan Women'' ( grc, Τρῳάδες, translit=Trōiades), also translated as ''The Women of Troy'', and also known by its transliterated Greek title ''Troades'', is a tragedy by the Greek playwright Euripides. Produced in 415 BC during ...

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

–

(1956) *Rashomon – Chicago (1953) *Moods From Shakespeare, USA Tour (1944–1953)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forsberg, Rolf 1925 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American film directors American people of Swedish descent Writers from Chicago