Jan Wilhelm Malmsjö (born 29 May 1932) is a Swedish stage and film
actor
An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
, musical star and singer.
He is married to
Marie Göranzon and is the father of
Jonas Malmsjö.
Biography
Malmsjö was born in
Lund
Lund (, ;["Lund"](_blank)
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. He trained at the
Royal Dramatic Training Academy from 1950 to 1953 and one of his first parts on the national stage was as Paris in Shakespeare's ''
Romeo and Juliet
''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...
'' (1953).
He appeared in two episodes of the World War II drama ''
Combat!'' in 1966, first on the fourth season episode "Sudden Terror" as Bruener and secondly on the fifth season episode "The Chapel at Able Five" as Captain Krauss. In the same year he played Ilya W. Vorchek in the episode "Agent of the East" of the World War II espionage series ''
Blue Light''.
Malmsjö has a great range as an actor from the title role in Shakespeare's ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
'' (
Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1974) and Reverent Manders in
Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...
's ''
Ghosts
In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
'' to Henry Higgins in ''
My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...
'' and leading roles in other musicals such as ''La Cage aux Folles'' and ''Victor/Victoria''. He has also cut several music records in his native Sweden. His Swedish language recording of "Willkommen"; ''Välkomna till Cabaret'' (from
Malmö City Theatre's successful production of ''
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
'' 1970; where Malmsjö played the part of Emcee) is well known.
He has filmed sporadically: one of his most famous film parts is as the ''Bishop Edvard Vergérus'' 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 ''
Fanny and Alexander
''Fanny and Alexander'' () is a 1982 Historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family in Uppsala, Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. Follow ...
'' (1982). One of his more recent stage parts was as The Captain in
Strindberg's ''
The Dance of Death'' in the 1993
Royal Dramatic Theatre production, directed by
Lars Norén (adapted for TV in 1996).
He also voiced
Lumiere in the Swedish dub of
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
's ''
Beauty and the Beast''.
In December 2007, Malmsjö participated in the Swedish reality show ''
Stjärnorna på slottet'' (''Stars at the Castle''), at
Trolleholm Castle, along with
Peter Stormare,
Arja Saijonmaa,
Britt Ekland and
Magnus Härenstam.
He participated in
Melodifestivalen 2019 with the song "Leva Livet".
Malmsjö was still acting as recently as 2017 at the age of 85, when he was rehearsing the title role of ''
Krapp's Last Tape'' by
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 ...
, at Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theatre. In early 2019, he was one of the contestants (in a preparatory heat) for Sweden's selection for the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
; last time he appeared in the show had been fifty years before.
Personal life
Malmsjö is married to actress and colleague of the Royal Dramatic Theatre,
Marie Göranzon. His son,
Jonas Malmsjö, is also an actor (and acted opposite his father 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 staging of ''
The Ghost Sonata'' by
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 2000).
Awards
In 1972, Malmsjö was awarded ''
Svenska Dagbladet
(, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden.
History and profile
The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...
''
's
Thalia Prize. He was awarded the
Litteris et Artibus and
Illis quorum in 1986 and the
Eugene O'Neill Award in 1988.
He received the
Guldmasken in 1997, 1999, 2004, and 2009.
Selected filmography
* 1959 – ' (a.k.a. The Imaginary Invalid) (TV theatre)
* 1959 – ''
Pojken Winslow'' (a.k.a.
The Winslow Boy
''The Winslow Boy'' is an English play from 1946 by Terence Rattigan based on an incident involving George Archer-Shee in the Edwardian era. The incident took place at the Royal Naval College, Osborne.
Background
Set against the strict cod ...
) (TV theatre)
* 1960 – ''
The Die Is Cast''
* 1960 – ''
Mälarpirater'' (aka, ''Pirates on the Malonen'')
* 1962 – ''
The Lady in White''
* 1963 – ''
Hide and Seek''
* 1964 – ''
Älskande par'' (aka, ''Loving Couples'')
* 1966 – ''
Torn Curtain'' (in final scene of this Hitchcock movie) – Swedish Photographer (uncredited)
* 1973 – ''
Scenes from a Marriage''
* 1975 – ''
Släpp fångarne loss, det är vår!''
* 1980 – ''
Marmalade Revolution''
* 1982 – ''
Fanny and Alexander
''Fanny and Alexander'' () is a 1982 Historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family in Uppsala, Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. Follow ...
''
* 1986 – ''
Peter the Great
Peter I (, ;
– ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
'' (miniseries)
* 1986 – ' (mini series)
* 1987 – ''
Jim & Piraterna Blom'' (a.k.a. ''Jim and the Pirates'')
* 1993 – ''
Drömkåken'' (a.k.a. The Dream House)
* 1996 – ''
Dödsdansen'' (TV-theatre,
SVT)
* 1997 – ''
Jag är din krigare''
* 1998 – ''
Den tatuerade änkan'' (TV)
* 2006 – ' – Walter
* 2006 – ''
Beck – Den japanska shungamålningen'' – Ernst Levendahl
* 2007 – ' – Eckelstein
* 2013 – ' (2013) – Axel Frankel
Singles
Photographs
Jan Malmsjö as Hummel in Strindberg's "Ghost Sonata", directed by Ingmar Bergman (2000; left Gunnel Lindblom as The Mummy)Jan Malmsjö in the 1970sJan Malmsjö – 2001 portraitJan Malmsjö as Manders in "Ghosts" by Henrik Ibsen (left: Pernilla August as Mrs. Alving)Photo from Dramaten.se
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malmsjo, Jan
1932 births
Eugene O'Neill Award winners
Litteris et Artibus recipients
Living people
Male actors from Lund
Swedish male film actors
Swedish male musical theatre actors
Swedish male singers
Swedish male television actors
Recipients of the Illis quorum
Musicians from Skåne County