Waldemar Bergendahl (18 April 1933 – 21 March 2022) was a Swedish film director, film editor, film producer, cinematographer and screenwriter. Bergendahl is best known as the producer behind the films based on novels by

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil of Lönneberga, Karlsson-on- ...

Life and career

Bergendahl was born in April 1933 in Årsunda. He grew up on a farm between

Årsunda Årsunda is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in Sandviken Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 1,008 inhabitants in 2010. Sports The following sports clubs are located in Årsunda: * Årsunda IF References

Populat ...

and Gästrike-Hammarby. His parents were farmers with cows, horses, chickens, pigs and many other animals. Bergendahl later went to University in

Gävle Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Swede ...

. Then he moved 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 ...

. In 1957 Bergendahl lived along with the production manager of

Europafilm Europafilm was an influential Swedish film company established in 1929 by Schamyl Bauman and Gustaf Scheutz. The office was located at Kungsgatan in central Stockholm, while the film studio was located in Mariehäll, Bromma, northwest of Stock ...

in an apartment in Stockholm. The production manager told Bergendahl to apply for a job at the film company. One year later, Bergendahl was part of the film crew of '' Miss April'', a film with

Gunnar Björnstrand Knut Gunnar Johanson (13 November 1909 – 24 May 1986) was a Swedish actor known for his frequent work with writer and director Ingmar Bergman. Biography Björnstrand was born Knut Gunnar Johanson in Stockholm as son of actor Oscar Johanson and ...

and

Gaby Stenberg Ida Gabriella Stenberg (9 January 1923 – 20 September 2011)Gaby Stenberg har avlidit
in ' ...

in the leading roles. At that time he did know anything about film work, so he tried to help wherever he could. Bergendahl dreamed of becoming an actor, but realized soon that he was not suitable for the job. However, he wanted to continue working in the film industry and therefore decided to work as a producer. In 1963 Bergendahl produced the film ''

Raven's End ''Raven's End'' ( sv, Kvarteret Korpen) is a 1963 Swedish drama film directed by Bo Widerberg, about an aspiring working-class writer in Malmö. The story bears some similarities to Widerberg's own background, although he claimed it to be entirely ...

''. In 1984 he started working with

and produced ''

Ronia, the Robber's Daughter ''Ronia, the Robber's Daughter'' ( Swedish: ''Ronja rövardotter'') is a children's fantasy book by the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, first published in 1981. The book has been adapted as a prize-winning 1984 film, a Danish and a German musi ...

''. His film ''

My Life as a Dog ''My Life as a Dog'' ( sv, Mitt liv som hund) is a Swedish drama film which was released to cinemas in Sweden on 12 December 1985, directed by Lasse Hallström. It is based on the second novel of a semi-autobiographical trilogy by Reidar Jönsson ...

'' (1988) was nominated as the best non English film for the

British Academy Film Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

. Bergendahl produced around 120 films. He worked along with

Tage Danielsson Tage Danielsson (; 5 February 1928 – 13 October 1985) was a Swedish author, actor, comedian, poet and film director. He is best known for his collaboration with Hans Alfredson in the comedy duo Hasse & Tage. Career After graduation from ...

Bo Widerberg Bo Gunnar Widerberg (; 8 June 1930 – 1 May 1997) was a Sweden, Swedish film director, screenwriter, writer, film editing, editor and actor. Biography Early life Widerberg was born in Malmö, Malmöhus County, Sweden. Career Widerberg was th ...

Lasse Hallström Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström (; born 2 June 1946) is a Swedish film director. He first became known for directing almost all the music videos by the pop group ABBA, and subsequently became a feature film director. He was nominated for an Acade ...

Helena Bergström Helena Kristina Bergström Nutley (born 5 February 1964) is a Swedish actress and film director. From an acting family, she began her career in 1982. She has appeared on the stages of the Royal Dramatic Theatre (''Dramaten'') and the Stockholm ...

and many others. He always selected the employees for his films himself. In 2010 Bergendahl was honored as a film producer by winning the Hedersguldbaggen.

Private life

Bergendahl lived until his death in Stockholm. He has two younger sisters. In 2008 Bergendahl was diagnosed with Parkinson's.

Selected filmography

Awards & nominations

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

* 1988:

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

: ''

'' (Nomination)

Guldbagge 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 nam ...

* 1986:

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

(Bästa film): ''My Life as a Dog'' (Award) * 1992: Best Film (Bästa film): ''

Agnes Cecilia – en sällsam historia ''Agnes Cecilia – en sällsam historia'' is a 1991 Swedish mystery film directed by Anders Grönros, based on Maria Gripe's young adult novel of the same name. Grönros won the award for Best Director and Per Källberg won the award for Be ...

'' (shared with Ingrid Dalunde, Nomination) * 1994: Best Film (Bästa film): ''

The Slingshot ''The Slingshot'' (; lit. "Story of a Man") is a 2009 South Korean television series starring Park Yong-ha, Park Si-yeon, Kim Kang-woo, Han Yeo-woon, Lee Phillip, and Park Ki-woong. It aired on KBS2 from April 6 to June 9, 2009 on Mondays and Tue ...

'' (Nomination) * 1996: Best Film (Bästa film): ''En på miljonen'' (Nomination) * 1998: Best Film (Bästa film): ''

Adam & Eva ''Adam & Eva'' is a 1997 Swedish romantic comedy film written and directed by Hannes Holm and Måns Herngren. Starring Björn Kjellman as Adam and Josefin Nilsson as Eva. The film tells the story about a married couple Adam and Eva and their vario ...

'' (Nomination) * 2010: Hedersguldbaggen as film producer (Award)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergendahl, Waldemar 1933 births 2022 deaths Swedish film directors Swedish film editors Swedish film producers Swedish cinematographers Swedish screenwriters People from Sandviken Municipality