Ernst-Hugo Alfred Järegård (12 December 1928 – 6 September 1998) was a Swedish actor.

Biography

Järegård was born in Ystad. He received his acting training at

Malmö City Theatre Malmö City Theatre () in Malmö, Sweden, is the main theatre of Malmö. History The first theatre in Malmö, Malmö Teater, was built in 1808 but became out of use in 1938. The Malmö City Theatre was built by the architect Sigurd Lewerentz b ...

. From 1962 he was an actor in Sweden's prominent Royal Dramatic Theatre, where he came to perform a number of much celebrated parts: his eccentric Hitler in '' Schweik in the Second World War'' by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

(1963), Estragon in the legendary 1966 Dramaten-staging of

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

's ''

Waiting for Godot ''Waiting for Godot'' ( or ) is a 1953 play by Irish writer and playwright Samuel Beckett, in which the two main characters, Vladimir (Waiting for Godot), Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), engage in a variety of discussions and encounters w ...

'', Thersites in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's '' Troilus and Cressida'' 1967, Orgon in

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

's '' Tartuffe'' 1971, Hjalmar Ekdahl in

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

's 1972 production of

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's ''

The Wild Duck ''The Wild Duck'' (original Norwegian title: ''Vildanden'') is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It explores the complexities of truth and illusion through the story of a family torn apart by secrets and the intrusion of a ...

'', Nero in

Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tr ...

's '' Britannicus'' (1974), a spot-on portrayal of

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

in play ''Tribadernas natt'' (The Night of the Tribades) by Per Olov Enquist, the title role in ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

'' by

(1980) and the extremely creepy – and slightly perverted – boss Sven in ''VD'' ("CEO") by Stig Larsson in 1985, among others. Järegård had a taste for villainous and dark characters, and enjoyed playing them. But he also had a very lyrical and soft side to him as an actor, something he showed in the TV production of ''Hans Christian och sällskapet'' (where he plays a village priest who suffers a great personal tragedy as his wife loses her mind after having a baby) and in the TV adaptation of Birger Sjöberg's ''Frida och hennes vän'' (based on Sjöberg's ''Frida's Book'') where he plays the light-hearted, daydreaming early 1900s love-struck suitor of Frida. Adding the fact that Järegård also had a beautiful and expressive singing voice (he performed in a number of stage musicals during his career) gave him an incredible range and versatility as an actor. He originated the role of Guido in the first European staging of the musical ''

Nine 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

'', for example ( Oscarsteatern, Stockholm, 1983). His distinct and original voice (with traces of the unmistakable Skåne-dialect) also made him a much appreciated and beloved narrator of children's cartoons and audio books. Particularly popular are his audio book (originally radio) recordings of

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

's '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'',

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

's '' Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'', and the narration of

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

's ''

Peter and the Wolf ''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и волк, Pétya i volk, p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk) Op. 67, a "symphonic tale for children", is a Program music , programmatic musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a ...

''. Järegård went on to play the villainous character Elaka Måns (Mean Mike in the English dub) in the Swedish animated movie ''Peter-No-Tail'' and its sequel '' Peter-No-Tail in Americat''. He also lent him voice for the Swedish dub of the film ''Valhalla'', playing the Norse God

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

; god of mischief. Järegård gained international attention when he took on the role of Doctor Helmer in

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (né Trier; born 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. Beginning in the late-1960s as a child actor working on Danish television series ''Secret Summer'', von Trier's career has spanned more than five decad ...

's highly acclaimed mini-series '' Riget'' and '' Riget II'' (aka ''The Kingdom I & II''). He also appeared in von Trier's '' Europa''. He participated in about 20 movies and 40 TV productions: aside from the ''Riget''-series; some of his greatest roles are in the ''Skånska mord''-series, in the 1975 Hasse & Tage comedy '' Släpp fångarne loss, det är vår! (Release the Prisoners to Spring)'', in the 1962 cult movie ''Raggargänget'', in ''Kådisbellan'' (aka The Slingshot) in 1993 and as the pompous old

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

Ragnar Rönn in the teleplay '' Cheek to Cheek'' (written and directed by Jonas Gardell), 1997. Also in 1997 he appeared in CHOCK as the series' host and presented each episode. Usually he would make elaborate philosophical and mystical statements regarding the plot of each episode. For his acting work, he was awarded with the '' Thalia prize'' (1967) and the '' Eugene O'Neill Award'' (1975), two of Sweden's most prestigious theatre awards. Järegård married (1923–2017) in 1949. They had a son called Johannes. Ernst-Hugo Järegård died of

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibody, antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone ...

Lidingö Lidingö (), also known in its definite form Lidingön and as Lidingölandet, is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, northeast of Stockholm, Sweden. In 2023, the population of the Lidingö urban area on the island was 48,162. It is the ...

, aged 69.

Personality

Järegård was a very colourful theatre personality who loved to stand out and celebrated originality. He loved clothes and Italian designers and was picky with designer labels in private – only the best would do. He was of the old belief that as an actor you not only represent yourself as a public person but also the theatre and the art as a whole; as being part of a public institution there for people; and therefore it is an actor's responsibility to "scrub up". In his director's commentary on the DVD release of ''Europa'',

commented that Järegård was difficult to work with, frequently sulking and making outrageous demands such as insisting on staying in one specific room in a specific hotel of his choice. He stated that Järegård was a compulsive scene-stealer who could not help attracting the focus even when he was supposed to be in the background of a scene. Von Trier claims that he eventually 'trained' Järegård by rewarding him with cigars for good behaviour but also called the actor "dear Ernst-Hugo" and said he misses him terribly.

Partial filmography

* ' (1962) – Berra * ''Adam och Eva'' (1963) – Kejsarskägget * ' (1964) – Karlman * '' Ön'' (1966) – Vicar Byström * '' Tartuffe'' (1966, TV Movie) – Tartuffe * '' Rooftree'' (1967) – Magnus * ''Het snö'' (1968) – Lennart Stenhäll * ''

'' (1971, TV Movie) – Estragon * ''

Kvartetten som sprängdes ''Kvartetten som sprängdes'' is a 1924 novel by Swedish author Birger Sjöberg. A film adaption was made by Arne Bornebusch in 1936, another in 1950 by Gustaf Molander and one by Hans Alfredson in 1973. It was also made into a graphic novel by M ...

'' (aka "The Quartet That Broke Up") (1973, TV Mini-Series) – Stolz * ' (1974, TV Mini-Series) – Fredrik Jönsson * '' Fimpen'' (1974) – Club Official * '' En handfull kärlek'' (1974) – Claes Crona * '' Släpp fångarne loss, det är vår! (Release the Prisoners to Spring)'' (1975) – Harald Hansson * ' (1978) – Owner of Chez Nous * ''Flygnivå 450'' (1980) – Giron * '' Clownen Jac'' (1981, TV Movie) – Jac the Clown * ''Peter-No-Tail'' (1981) – Elake Måns (voice) * ' (1981, TV Movie) – Hans-Cristian * '' Gråtvalsen'' (1983, TV Movie) – Hugo (as Ernst Hugo Järegård) * '' Peter-No-Tail in Americat'' (1985) – Elake Måns (voice) * ' (aka "Skåne Murders") (1986, TV Movie) – Martin Svensson * ''

Valhalla In Norse mythology, Valhalla ( , ; , )Orchard (1997:171–172) is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. There were five possible realms the soul could travel to after death. The first was Fólkvang ...

'' (1986) – Loke (Swedish version, voice) * ''Fadern, sonen och den helige ande'' (1987) – Father * '' VD'' (1988, TV Movie) – Sven, VD * ''Bryllupsfesten'' (1989) – Eugene Borchrewink * ''Den hemliga vännen'' (1990) – The man * '' Europa'' (1991) – Uncle Kessler * '' The Great Day on the Beach'' (1991) – Narrator * '' Den goda viljan (Best Intentions)'' (1992, TV Mini-Series) – Professor Sundelius * ' (1993, TV Mini-Series) * '' Kådisbellan'' (1993) – Teacher Lundin * ''Det bli'r i familien'' (1993) – Håkon Borelius * '' The Kingdom'' (1994–1997, TV Series) – Stig Helmer * '' Cheek to Cheek'' (1997, TV Movie) – Ragnar Rönn * '' CHOCK'' (1997, TV Series) – Presentatör * ''

Dimension In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus, a line has a dimension of one (1D) because only one coo ...

'' (2010, posthumously uncredited)

Stage work

Järegård's stage credits
dramaten.se; accessed 9 December 2014.

Sources

* Wennerholm, Eric: ''Ernst-Hugo – inte lik någon annan'', Bonniers, Stockholm, 1983 (biography) (Sweden)

External links

Audio/Video

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaregard, Ernsthugo 1928 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Swedish male actors Best Actor Robert Award winners Best Actor Bodil Award winners Deaths from multiple myeloma Deaths from cancer in Sweden Eugene O'Neill Award winners Litteris et Artibus recipients People from Ystad Male actors from Skåne County Swedish male film actors Swedish male television actors