Lars Gunnar Torbjörn Kullänger-Axelman (28 April 1932 – 25 February 2023) was a Swedish television producer, director and writer.

Early life

Axelman was born on 28 April 1932 in

Eskilstuna Eskilstuna () is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 69,948 inhabitants in 2020, with a total population of 107,806 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality ...

, Sweden, the son of Valdemar Axelman, a bookseller, and his wife Märtha (née Engström). He passed ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968, ...

'' in

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

in 1951 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1955 and a Master of Philosophy degree from

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

in 1956.

Career

Axelman did TV studies in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1956 and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1961 and 1966. Axelman was a journalist at ''

Nerikes Allehanda ''Nerikes Allehanda'' (shortened ''NA'') is a daily newspaper based in Örebro, Sweden, and distributed across Örebro County. It was founded in 1843 as a weekly paper and became a daily in 1894. The paper is owned by the media group LT Liberala ...

'' and ''Tidningen Upsala'' periodically from 1952 to 1966 and was a producer at

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

and

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...

from 1956 to 1985. He produced cultural programs ''Prisma'' from 1958 to 1961 and several programs together with the artist Ardy Strüwer and

Lasse Åberg Lars Gunnar Åberg (born 5 May 1940), known professionally as Lasse Åberg, is a Swedish comedian, actor, musician, film director and artist. Between 1960 and 1964 he studied at the Konstfack department of graphic design. Åberg has produced som ...

. Axelman was also a painter and book illustrator and held solo exhibitions in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

in 1953 and 1954,

Visby Visby () is an urban areas in Sweden, urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic League, ...

in 1983, 1985, 1987–1989,

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 ...

1986–1989, Grythyttan in 1987,

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

in 1989,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1990 and in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1990. He was also part of joint exhibition, for example at the

Liljevalchs konsthall Liljevalchs konsthall () is a kunsthalle art venue located on Djurgården island in Stockholm, Sweden. Designed by architect Carl Bergsten (1879–1935) and inaugurated in March 1916, it is today owned by the City of Stockholm. Behind the ent ...

in 1961. Axelman was also CEO of AB Stockholms Aero from 1984 and he was a member of the Society Stallbröderna.

Personal life

Brucebo shooting

Around two o'clock in the afternoon of 1 December 2008, Axelman shot the chairman of the Brucebo Foundation, Joakim Hansson in the back at Brucebo north of

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

. There had been a dispute between the owner of the house, the Brucebo Foundation, and Torbjörn Axelman, who previously owned the house and now rented a part of it. Axelman had lived in the house for more than 30 years, but now he would be dismissed from his lease. The trigger to the drama was when the foundation's chairman came to get the fixtures in the house. On Monday morning, the chairman of the Brucebo Foundation and an assistant were driving a truck to Brucebo to retrieve paintings, sculptures and other works of art. The intention was that the works would be recorded, cleaned and restored and then returned. A large police force was sent to the scene as well as the

National Task Force The National Task Force (, ''NI''), formerly known as the National Task Force of the Swedish Civilian Police (), is a police tactical unit within the National Operations Department of the Swedish Police Authority. History After the assassinat ...

. When Axelman voluntarily came out of the house at ten o'clock in the evening, he was armed and fired shots at the police. The Task Force shot Axelman in the chest and a shot in each thigh. Axelman lost a lot of blood and late at night he was treated for his gunshot wounds which was serious but not life-threatening. Hansson was consulted by the police and treated for gunshot wounds in the back, chest and hand. His general condition was described as non-life-threatening. On 5 February 2009, Axelman was found guilty by the Gotland District Court, of three charges of attempted murder. According to the

Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine The Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine (, abbreviated RMV) is a Swedish government agency organized under the Ministry of Justice, responsible for forensic psychiatry, forensic chemistry, forensic medicine and forensic genetics. The agen ...

, Axelman suffered from a severe mental disorder and in need of psychiatric treatment, and that there was a risk that he would commit further offenses. The district court's sentence was established by the

Svea Court of Appeal Svea Court of Appeal (), located in Stockholm, is one of six appellate courts in the Swedish legal system, as well as the oldest Swedish court currently in use (the Supreme Court being constituted only in 1789, over 150 years later). It is loca ...

on 10 June 2010. In April 2012, Uppsala Administrative Court decided that Axelman would be released.

Death

Axelman died on 25 February 2023, at the age of 90.

Filmography

Axelman's filmography:

Director

*''Oidentifierad Huset'' *''Oj oj oj eller Sången om den eldröda hummern'' (1966) *''Kanariehunden'' (1967) *''Lejonsommar'' (1968) *''Het snö'' (1968) *''Kameleonterna'' (1969) *''Gotlandsturisten'' (1969) *''Amiralsskeppet Rikswasa'' (1969) *''Tagning Ljusår'' *''Smoke'' (1971) *''Sanningens ögonblick'' (1974) *''Må vårt hus förskonas från tigrar'' (1975) *''Fata Morgana'' (1979) *''Flygnivå 450'' (1980)

Screenplay

*''Oj oj oj eller Sången om den eldröda hummern'' (1966) *''Lejonsommar'' (1968) *''Het snö'' (1968) *''Kameleonterna'' (1969) *''Smoke'' (1971) *''Sanningens ögonblick'' (1974) *''Må vårt hus förskonas från tigrar'' (1975) *''Flygnivå 450'' (1980)

Idea

*''Oj oj oj eller Sången om den eldröda hummern'' (1966)

Producer

*''Het snö'' (1968) *''Smoke'' (1971) *''Må vårt hus förskonas från tigrar'' (1975) *''Oidentifierad Medeltid'' (1991)

Production manager

*''Lejonsommar'' (1968)

Music

*''Smoke'' (1971)

Roles

*''Oj oj oj eller Sången om den eldröda hummern'' (1966) *''Lejonsommar'' (1968) *''Må vårt hus förskonas från tigrar'' (1975)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Axelman, Torbjorn 1932 births 2023 deaths Swedish film directors Swedish television producers Swedish screenwriters Swedish male actors Swedish writers Swedish poets Swedish journalists People from Eskilstuna Uppsala University alumni 20th-century Swedish businesspeople 20th-century Swedish writers