Monica Ingeborg Elisabeth "Mona" Mårtenson (4 May 1902 – 8 July 1956) was a Swedish film actress. She appeared in 28 films between 1923 and 1949. She was born and died 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 ...
, Sweden.
Early career
Mona grew up in
Helsingborg
Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...
and studied at the
Royal Dramatic Training Academy
The Royal Dramatic Training Academy (, also known as ''Dramatens elevskola''), was the acting school of Sweden's national stage, the Royal Dramatic Theatre, and for many years (1787–1964) seen as the foremost theatre school and drama education ...
. She made her first film appearance in ''Anderssonskans Kalle på nya upptåg'' (''Kalle Anderssonskan's New Pranks'', 1923) directed by
Sigurd Wallén
Sigurd Richard Engelbrekt Wallén (1 September 188420 March 1947) was a Swedish actor, film director, and singer.Greta Gustafson (who would change her name to Greta Garbo that same year) were selected by the school to audition for noted Swedish film director
Mauritz Stiller
Mauritz Stiller (born Moshe Stiller, 17 July 1883 – 8 November 1928) was a Finnish film director of Jewish origin, best known for discovering Greta Garbo and bringing her to America. Stiller was a pioneer of the Swedish film industry, writing ...
. Both actresses were cast in his upcoming film, the epic romance '' Gösta Berlings saga'' (''The Saga of Gosta Berling'') in 1924. The film was based on the 1892 debut novel by
Selma Lagerlöf
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish writer. She published her first novel, ''Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which she was ...
and featured Lars Hanson as the handsome young priest, Gösta Berling, who is fired over his drinking and improper lifestyle. Shamed, he is later hired by an unscrupulous and wealthy woman to be a tutor to her beautiful step-daughter played by Mona Mårtenson.
After the success of the film, Garbo, Hanson and director Stiller were invited to Hollywood, but Mårtenson reportedly turned down a contract offer from
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1884Mayer maintained that he was born in Minsk on July 4, 1885. According to Scott Eyman, the reasons may have been:
* Mayer's father gave different dates for his birthplace at different times, so ...
. She remained in Stockholm, where she worked in the
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre (, 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 theatre has been at its present lo ...
. She also appeared in several films: ''Skeppargatan 40'' (1925) directed by Gustaf Edgren with Einar Hanson; the two-part '' Karl XII'' (1925) directed by John W. Brunius) and featuring
Gösta Ekman (senior)
Frans Gösta Viktor Ekman (28 December 1890 – 12 January 1938) was a Swedish actor, director and singer. Generally spoken of as Swedish theatre's most legendary stage actor, Gösta Ekman enjoyed a prolific stage career during his short life, b ...
; and ''Ingmarsarvet'' (''The Ingmar Inheritance'', 1925) directed by
Gustaf Molander
Gustaf Harald August Molander (18 November 1888 – 19 June 1973) was a Swedish actor and film director. His parents were director Harald Molander, Sr. (1858–1900) and singer and actress Lydia Molander, ''née'' Wessler, and his brother was t ...
) with
Conrad Veidt
Hans Walter Conrad Veidt ( , ; 22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German and British actor. He attracted early attention for his roles in the films ''Different from the Others'' (1919), ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920), and ''The Man ...
. Molander directed Mona and Lars Hanson in another Selma Lagerlöf adaptation, ''Till österland'' (''To the Orient'', 1926), filmed in Jaffa, Israel. She again starred for Molander in ''Förseglade läppar ''(''Sealed Lips'', 1927), co-starring Fred Louis Lerch and Sandra Milovanoff, and based on a story by
Guy de Maupassant
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the naturalist school, depicting human lives, destinies and s ...
. A huge success in Sweden, the lead role was to have been played by French actress Geneviève Cargese, who fell ill in Stockholm and was replaced by Mårtenson.
''Laila''
In Germany, Mårtenson starred in '' Die Frau im Talar'' (''The Woman in the Advocate's Robe'', 1929) directed by Adolf Trotz and featuring
Aud Egede-Nissen
Aud Egede-Nissen (30 May 1893 – 15 November 1974) was a Norwegians, Norwegian actress, director and producer. She appeared in many early 20th-century German silent films.
Early life
Born in Bergen, Norway in 1893, Egede-Nissen was a daughter ...
and Paul Richter. In Norway, she appeared in the romantic melodrama '' Laila'' (1929), directed by Danish-German filmmaker and noted cinematographer
George Schnéevoigt
George Schnéevoigt (born Fritz Ernst Georg Fischer; 23 December 1893 – 6 February 1961) was a Denmark, Danish film director, cinematographer, and actor of the 1910s to early 1940s. Schnéevoigt was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 23 Decem ...
. In the title role, Mårtenson played a young girl separated from her Norwegian parents as a baby and raised by a wealthy Sami (Lapp) reindeer owner Aslag ( Peter Malberg) in the frozen tundra of Scandinavia. Laila grows into a young woman of two worlds, at home with both her settled and nomadic upbringings, but soon finds herself in a love triangle with her foster brother Mellet ( Henry Gleditsch) and her cousin Anders ( Harald Schwenzen), played out against the dramatic backdrop of the Norwegian mountain country. Schnéevoigt also directed her in ''Eskimo'' (1930) with Paul Richter, re-released in German as '' Der weiße Gott'' (1932).
Late career
In 1930, she left the Royal Dramatic Theater and moved to Gösta Ekman's Lorensbergsteatern in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
Harald Madsen
Harald Martin Bergmann Madsen (20 November 1890 – 13 July 1949) was a Danish film actor. He appeared in 51 films between 1917 and 1948. Harald Madsen was a part of the Danish comedian couple ''Ole & Axel, Fyrtårnet og Bivognen'' (''Fy og ...
). Mårtenson continued her film career into the sound era with ''I nöd och lust'' (''In Sickness and Health'', 1938) directed by Ivar Johansson and in the drama '' Västkustens hjältar'' (''West Coast Heroes'', 1940) directed by Lau Lauritzen and
Alice O'Fredericks
Alice O'Fredericks (born Mitzi Otha Alice Frederiksen; 8 September 1899 – 18 February 1968) was a Denmark, Danish actress, screenwriter, and film director. O'Fredericks was the first female director of sound films in Denmark. Having written 38 ...
as the mother of the hero played by
Fritiof Billquist
Erik Fritiof Billquist (5 May 1901 – 21 April 1972) was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1931 and 1969.
Selected filmography
* '' Tired Theodore'' (1931)
* '' International Match'' (1932)
* '' South of the H ...
. In later years, she played bit parts in Scandinavian films. Her last film was '' Pippi Långstrump'' (''Pippi Longstocking'', 1949) directed by Per Gunvall, the first film adaptation of
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 i Lönneberga, Emil of Lönneberga, ...
's classic children's novel, four years after its publication in Sweden. Pippi was played by the 26-year old Viveca Serlachius, and Mårtenson played a supporting role as Pia.
Mona Mårtenson died in 1956 in Stockholm, aged 54.
Selected filmography
* ''
New Pranks of Andersson's Kalle
''New Pranks of Andersson's Kalle'' (Swedish: ''Anderssonskans Kalle på nya upptåg'') is a 1923 silent film, silent comedy film directed by Sigurd Wallén and starring Gösta Alexandersson, Dagmar Ebbesen and Edvin Adolphson.Qvist & Von Bagh p.1 ...
Ingmar's Inheritance
''Ingmar's Inheritance'' (Swedish: ''Ingmarsarvet'') is a 1925 Swedish silent film, silent drama film directed and co-written by Gustaf Molander and starring Lars Hanson, Conrad Veidt and John Ekman.Hjort & Lindqvist p.253 It was shot at the Rås ...
Charles XII
Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...
'' (1925)
* ''
To the Orient
''To the Orient'' (Swedish: ''Till österland'') is a 1926 Swedish silent drama film directed as well as co-written by Gustaf Molander and starring Lars Hanson, Jenny Hasselqvist and Mona Mårtenson.Qvist & Von Bagh p.29 It was shot at the R ...
Eskimo
''Eskimo'' () is a controversial Endonym and exonym, exonym that refers to two closely related Indigenous peoples: Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Canadian Inuit, and the Greenlandic Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Sibe ...
Simon of Backabo
''Simon of Backabo'' (Swedish: ''Simon i Backabo'') is a 1934 Swedish comedy film directed by Gustaf Edgren and starring Fridolf Rhudin, Hilda Borgström and Sickan Carlsson.Larsson & Marklund p.125 It was shot at the Råsunda Studios in Stockho ...
'' (1934)
* ''
Career
A career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work (human activity), work and other aspects of personal life, life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways.
Definitions
The ...
The Yellow Clinic
''The Yellow Clinic'' (Swedish: ''Gula kliniken'') is a 1942 Swedish drama film directed by Ivar Johansson and starring Arnold Sjöstrand, Viveca Lindfors and Nils Lundell.Qvist & Von Bagh p.105 It was made at the Centrumateljéerna Studios in St ...
Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking () is the fictional main character in a series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story when she was off school.
Pippi is ...