Johanna Maria Ellinor Berglund-Sällström (30 December 1974 – 13 February 2007) was a Swedish actress, best known for her portrayal of Linda Wallander in ''

Wallander Wallander may refer to: TV, film, books * Kurt Wallander, a fictional Swedish police inspector in novels by Henning Mankell :*Wallander (film series), ''Wallander'' (film series), Swedish-language television films of the Wallander stories starring ...

''. She worked as an actress for more than 15 years, before her death in 2007.

Early life

Sällström was born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. She was the stepdaughter of Björn Gedda.

Career

Sällström made her first stage appearance in

Hudiksvall Hudiksvall () is a cities of Sweden, city and the seat of Hudiksvall Municipality, in Hälsingland, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 16,792 inhabitants as of 2024. Hudiksvall is also known as Glada Hudik (), a term that originated in the 19th centur ...

at the age of 15, in ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

''. She became famous in Sweden in the 1990s, after portraying the teenage girl Victoria Bärnsten in the

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

'' Tre kronor''. Thereafter, she appeared in numerous productions, and received a

Guldbagge Award The Guldbagge Awards (, ) is an official and annual Sweden, Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a Cetonia aurata, rose chafer, better known by the name Guldbagg ...

for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the 1997 film '' Under ytan''. Later that same year, unable to cope with her new-found celebrity, she took a break from filming and moved to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, where she worked in a café. In 2000, Sällström returned to Sweden to continue her acting career. She did not enjoy the success of previous years until, in 2005, she played the role of detective constable Linda Wallander in the first season of the Swedish TV series ''

''. Sällström's last role was in an

Ystad Ystad () is a town and the seat of Ystad Municipality, in Scania County, Sweden. Ystad had 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates from the 11th century and has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre, and tourist attracti ...

theatre production of

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

's play ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' () is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 in literature, 1895 and first produced in 1896 in literature#Drama, 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramati ...

'', which she left prematurely due to illness.

Personal life

Sällström married Albin Sällström in 2000; they were divorced in 2002, about a year after the birth of their daughter Talulah. In 2004, Sällström and Talulah experienced the December 2004 tsunami while on holiday in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. Talulah died in 2014 from suicide, like her mother did.

Death

Sällström was found dead in her

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

home on 13 February 2007. She had recently been released from a psychiatric unit where she had been receiving treatment for depression. Her lifelong struggle with depression was exacerbated by her experience in Thailand. In a 2006 interview with the editor of the magazine ''Tove'', she said, "I always thought I would be dead by the age of 30." Henning Mankell's grief and guilt over her death swayed him from writing the last two novels of his projected Linda Wallander trilogy. Instead, he published a final novel focused on Kurt, before his own death in 2015. The character of Linda Wallander did not appear in the second ''Wallander'' series produced for Swedish TV: as another main character had just been written out because of suicide, Linda was "kept" off-screen, but said to be working elsewhere.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sallstrom, Johanna 1974 births 2007 suicides 2007 deaths Actresses from Stockholm Swedish film actresses Swedish television actresses Swedish television personalities Drug-related suicides in Sweden Best Actress Guldbagge Award winners Swedish child actresses 20th-century Swedish actresses 21st-century Swedish actresses Actresses from Malmö