Lars Passgård (14 February 1941 – 16 March 2003) was a Swedish actor and theatre director. He appeared in more than 30 films and television shows between 1961 and 2002.

Biography

Early life and education

Passgård grew up in

Smålandsstenar Smålandsstenar () is a locality situated in Gislaved Municipality, Jönköping County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is t ...

, a locality in

Jönköping County Jönköping County ( sv, Jönköpings län) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Kalmar and Kronoberg. The total county population was 356,291 inhabitants in Sept ...

. He acted in amateur theater in Smålandsstenar and, in 1959, began training at the Malmö City Theatre, which is now designated as the Malmö Theatre Academy and is a part of

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion

Career

After completing his studies, Malmö City Theatre became his main stage. Although, he also made guest appearances on theater stages in both Sweden and

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

. In 1961, he made his theater debut in Malmö and his film debut in

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known as "profoundly ...

's '' Through a Glass Darkly'', which, in part, won him roles in Bo Widerberg's 1963 feature debut '' Barnvagnen'' and the 1963 Hollywood film ''

The Prize The Prize may refer to: * ''The Prize'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Irving Wallace ** ''The Prize'' (1963 film), a 1963 film based on the novel * ''The Prize'' (1950 film), a 1950 French film * ''The Prize'' (2011 film), a 2011 Mexican film * * ...

''. Passgård later acted in

Yngve Gamlin Yngve Gamlin (17 March 1926 – 1 February 1995) was a Swedish actor and film director. His 1965 film '' The Chasers'' was entered into the 16th Berlin International Film Festival The 16th annual Berlin International Film Festival was he ...

's 1965 film '' The Chasers'', which won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Jury Prize at the

16th Berlin International Film Festival The 16th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 24 June – 5 July 1966. The Golden Bear was awarded to the British film '' Cul-de-sac'' directed by Roman Polanski. Jury The following people were announced as being on the ju ...

in 1966. In 1961, his popularity grew and he became a teen idol for his participation in the TV entertainment series '' Bialitt''. Between 1963 and 1966, Passgård was part of the TV-theater ensemble on SVT and played at various private theaters in Stockholm, including the

Stockholm City Theatre Stockholm City Theatre ( sv, Stockholms stadsteater) is live performance theater located in Stockholm, Sweden. The theatre is situated near the Sergel fountain and the Stockholm City roundabout. Location It is located in one of Stockholm's m ...

from 1965 to 1966 and 1970 to 1971, and the

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The the ...

between 1971 and 1973. He also played at the

Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and received much attention for his performance of

Prince Hamlet A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 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 ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...

'' in

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of ...

in 1969. After his time spent at the Royal Danish Theatre, he returned to Malmö, where he was the theater's drama director between 1986 and 1989. In 1962 he received the

Swedish Union for Theatre, Artists and Media The Swedish Union for Performing Arts and Film, ( sv, Teaterförbundet or Teaterförbundet för scen och film) is a Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedi ...

's Daniel Engdahl scholarship, and in 1985 he received Kvällsposten's Thalia Prize.

Death and legacy

Passgård died in on 16 March 2003 in Malmö after a brief illness. He was interred in Limhamn at the cemetery of

Limhamn Church Limhamn () is, in an administrative sense, the southern district of Malmö Municipality in Sweden. Before 1915, Limhamn was (briefly) a town of its own. The population of Limhamn-Bunkeflo (including suburbs) is 31,000, of which 7,000 live in t ...

. Following his death, Lars' mother Elvy Passgård instituted a theater scholarship, dedicated to his memory, to be shared out among theater students at the Malmö Theatre Academy of Lund University. The total fund allocates 1,000,000

Swedish kronor The krona (; plural: ''kronor''; sign: kr; code: SEK) is the official currency of the Kingdom of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it ...

to manage. The scholarship holder must be "young and promising, talented and focused on the nature of the spectacle of dramatic or comic art".

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Roles (not complete)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Passgard, Lars 1941 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Swedish male actors Swedish male film actors Swedish male television actors People from Borås Actors from Malmö