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Victor David Sjöström (; 20 September 1879 – 3 January 1960), also known in the United States as Victor Seastrom, was a pioneering Swedish film director, screenwriter, and actor. He began his career in Sweden, before moving to
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
in 1924. Sjöström worked primarily in the silent era; his best known films include ''
The Phantom Carriage ''The Phantom Carriage'' (, literally "The Wagoner") is a 1921 Swedish silent film directed by and starring Victor Sjöström, based on the 1912 novel '' Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!'' (''Körkarlen'') by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf. In the ...
'' (1921), '' He Who Gets Slapped'' (1924), and '' The Wind'' (1928). Sjöström was Sweden's most prominent director in the "Golden Age of Silent Film" in Europe. Later in life, he played the leading role in
Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 â€“ 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 '' Wild Strawberries'' (1957).


Early life

Victor David Sjöström was born on 20 September 1879 in
Årjäng Årjäng is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Årjäng Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden with 3,228 inhabitants in 2010. It is located around from the Norway-Sweden border and on the road between Karlstad and Oslo. In 1540 År ...
/ Silbodal, in the
Värmland Värmland () is a ''Provinces of Sweden, landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Name Several Latinized version ...
region of Sweden. He was only a year old when his father, Olof Adolf Sjöström, moved the family to
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
. His mother died in 1886, when he was seven years old. Sjöström returned to Sweden where he lived with relatives in Stockholm, beginning his acting career at 17 as a member of a touring theater company.


Career

Drawn from the stage to the fledgling motion picture industry, he made his first film in 1912 under the direction of Mauritz Stiller. Between 1912 and 1923, he directed another forty-one films in Sweden, some of which are now lost. Those surviving include '' The Sons of Ingmar'' (1919), '' Karin, Daughter of Ingmar'' (1920) and ''
The Phantom Carriage ''The Phantom Carriage'' (, literally "The Wagoner") is a 1921 Swedish silent film directed by and starring Victor Sjöström, based on the 1912 novel '' Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!'' (''Körkarlen'') by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf. In the ...
'' (1921), all based on stories by the
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
–winning novelist
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 ...
. Many of his films from the period are marked by subtle character portrayal, fine storytelling and evocative settings in which the Swedish landscape often plays a key psychological role. The naturalistic quality of his films was enhanced by his (then revolutionary) preference for on-location filming, especially in rural and village settings. He is also known as a pioneer of
continuity editing Continuity editing is the process, in film and video creation, of combining more-or-less related shots, or different components cut from a single shot, into a sequence to direct the viewer's attention to a pre-existing consistency of story across ...
in narrative filmmaking. In 1923, Sjöström accepted an 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 ...
to work in the United States. In Sweden, he had acted in his own films as well as in those for others, but in Hollywood he devoted himself solely to directing. Using an anglicized name, Victor Seastrom, he made the drama film '' Name the Man'' (1924) based on the
Hall Caine Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine (14 May 1853 – 31 August 1931), usually known as Hall Caine, was a British novelist, dramatist, short story writer, poet and critic of the late 19th and early 20th century. Caine's popularity during his lifetim ...
novel, '' The Master of Man''. He directed stars of the day such as
Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras. Regarded as one of the g ...
, John Gilbert,
Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893 – February 27, 1993) was an American actress best known for her work in movies of the silent era. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was dubbed the "F ...
, Lon Chaney, and
Norma Shearer Edith Norma Shearer (August 11, 1902June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated women. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'Neill, ...
in another eight films in America before his first
talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...
in 1930. One of these was the 1926 film ''
The Scarlet Letter ''The Scarlet Letter: A Romance'' is a historical novel by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who concei ...
'', starring
Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893 – February 27, 1993) was an American actress best known for her work in movies of the silent era. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was dubbed the "F ...
as the adulterous Hester Prynne. Uncomfortable with the modifications needed to direct
sound film A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...
s, Victor Sjöström returned to Sweden, where he directed two more films before his final directing effort, an English-language drama filmed in the United Kingdom '' Under the Red Robe'' (1937). Over the following 15 years, Sjöström returned to acting in the theatre, performed a variety of leading roles in more than a dozen films, and was a company director of Svensk Film Industri. Arguably his noted performance came with his final film role. On the cusp of turning 78, he played the elderly professor Isak Borg in
Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 â€“ 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 film '' Wild Strawberries'' (1957).


Personal life

Sjöström was married three times. His daughter was actress Guje Lagerwall (1918–2019).


Death and legacy

Victor Sjöström died in Stockholm on 3 January 1960 at the age of 80, and was buried in the
Norra begravningsplatsen Norra begravningsplatsen, literally "The Northern Burial Place" in Swedish, is a major cemetery of the Stockholm urban area, located in Solna Municipality. Inaugurated on 9 June 1827, it is the burial site for a number of Swedish notables. Th ...
(Northern cemetery). A theatre in Filmhuset, home of the
Swedish Film Institute The Swedish Film Institute () (SFI) is a statutory body located in Stockholm, Sweden that supports the Swedish film industry. Founded in 1963, the institute is responsible for administering the annual Guldbagge Awards, and for managing the Swed ...
, was named in his honour as "Bio Victor". His film ''
The Phantom Carriage ''The Phantom Carriage'' (, literally "The Wagoner") is a 1921 Swedish silent film directed by and starring Victor Sjöström, based on the 1912 novel '' Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!'' (''Körkarlen'') by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf. In the ...
'' serves as an inspiration for the 2024 film ''
Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' () is a 1922 silent film, silent German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionist vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It stars Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who ...
''.


Filmography


Director

* '' Ett hemligt giftermål'' (1912) * '' Trädgårdsmästaren'' (1912) * '' Marriage Bureau'' (''Äktenskapsbyrån'') (1913) * '' Laughter and Tears'' (''Löjen och tårar'') (1913) * '' Lady Marion's Summer Flirtation'' (''Lady Marions sommarflirt'') (1913) * '' The Voice of Passion'' (''Blodets röst'') (1913) * '' The Conflicts of Life'' (''Livets konflikter'') (1913) * '' Ingeborg Holm'' (''Margaret Day'') (1913) * '' Half Breed'' (''Halvblod'') (1913) * '' The Miracle'' (''Miraklet'', ''Within the Gates'') (1913) * ''The Poacher'' (''Kärlek starkare än hat eller skogsdotterns hemlighet'') (1914) * '' The Clergyman'' (''Prästen'', ''Saints and Their Sorrows'', ''The Parson'') (1914) * '' Judge Not'' (''Dömen icke'') (1914) * '' The Strike'' (''Strejken'') (1914) * '' A Good Girl Keeps Herself in Good Order'' (''Bra flicka reder sig själv'') (1914) * '' Children of the Streets'' (''Gatans barn'') (1914) * '' Daughter of the Peaks'' (''Högfjällets dotter'') (1914) * '' Hearts That Meet'' (''Hjärtan som mötas'') (1914) * ''One of the Many'' (''En av de många'') (1915) * '' Guilt Redeemed'' (''Sonad skuld'') (1915) * ''Det var i maj'' (1915) * ''The Governor's Daughters'' (''Landshövdingens döttrar'', ''Det var i maj'') (1915) * ''Stick to Your Last, Shoemaker'' (''Skomakare, bliv vid din läst'') (1915) * '' In the Hour of Trial'' (''I prövningens stund'') (1915) * '' The Price of Betrayal'' (''Judaspengar'') (1915) * '' The Ships That Meet'' (''Skepp som mötas'') (1916) * '' The Sea Vultures'' (''Havsgamar'', ''Predators of the Sea'') (1916) * ''She Triumphs'' (''Hon segrade'') (1916) * '' Kiss of Death'' (''Dödskyssen'') (1916) * '' Therèse'' (1916) * '' A Man There Was'' (''Terje Vigen'') (1917) * '' The Lass from the Stormy Croft'' (''Tösen från Stormyrtorpet'', ''The Girl from the Marsh Croft'', ''The Woman He Chose'') (1917) * '' The Outlaw and His Wife'' (''Berg-Ejvind och hans hustru'', ''Eyvind of the Hills'', ''Love: The Only Law'', ''You and I'') (1918) * ''
Sons of Ingmar ''Sons of Ingmar'' (), also released in the United Kingdom under the title ''Dawn of Love'',His Lordship's Last Will'' (''Hans nåds testamente'', ''His Grace's Last Testament'', ''His Grace's Will'') (1919) * ''
The Monastery of Sendomir ''The Monastery of Sendomir'' () is a 1920 Swedish drama film directed by Victor Sjöström, based on an 1828 short story by Franz Grillparzer. It has also been released in the UK as ''The Secret of the Monastery''. A German adaptation of the ...
'' (''Klostret i Sendomir'', ''Secret of the Monastery'') (1920) * '' Karin Daughter of Ingmar'' (''Karin Ingmarsdotter'', ''God's Way'') (1920) * '' A Lover in Pawn'' (''Mästerman'') (1920) * ''
The Phantom Carriage ''The Phantom Carriage'' (, literally "The Wagoner") is a 1921 Swedish silent film directed by and starring Victor Sjöström, based on the 1912 novel '' Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!'' (''Körkarlen'') by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf. In the ...
'' (''Körkarlen'', ''The Phantom Chariot'', ''The Stroke of Midnight'', ''Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness'') (1921) * ''Love's Crucible'' (''Vem dömer, Mortal Clay'') (1922) * ''The Surrounded House'' (''Det omringade huset'', ''The House Surrounded'') (1922) * '' Fire on Board'' (''Eld ombord'', ''Jealousy'', ''The Hell Ship'') (1923) * '' Name the Man'' (1924) * '' He Who Gets Slapped'' (1924) * '' Confessions of a Queen'' (1925) * '' The Tower of Lies'' (1925) * ''
The Scarlet Letter ''The Scarlet Letter: A Romance'' is a historical novel by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850. Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who concei ...
'' (1926) * '' The Divine Woman'' (1928) * '' The Masks of the Devil'' (1928) * '' The Wind'' (1928) * '' A Lady to Love'' (1930) * '' Father and Son'' (1930) * (''Markurells i Wadköping'', ''Father and Son'', ''Vater und Sohn'') (1931) * '' Under the Red Robe'' (1937)


Actor

* ''De svarta maskerna'' (1912) as Lieutenant von Mühlen * ''I lifvets vår'' (1912) as Cyril Alm * '' The Voice of Passion'' (1913) as Daniel Barkner * '' The Conflicts of Life'' (1913) as Otto Berner * ''För sin kärleks skull'' (1914) as Borgen * '' The Strike'' (1914) as Karl Bernsson / Gustav Bernsson * '' Kiss of Death'' (1916) as Òveringenjör Weyler / Ingenjör Lebel * '' Terje Vigen'' (''A Man There Was'', 1917) as Terje Vigen * '' Thomas Graals bästa barn'' (''Thomas Graal's First Child'' 1917) as Thomas Graal * '' The Outlaw and His Wife'' (1918) as Outlaw / Kári * ''Thomas Graals bästa barn'' (1918) as Thomas Graal * ''
Sons of Ingmar ''Sons of Ingmar'' (), also released in the United Kingdom under the title ''Dawn of Love'',Karin Daughter of Ingmar'' (1920) as Ingmar * '' A Lover in Pawn'' (1920) as Sammel Eneman * '' Körkarlen'' (''The Phantom Carriage'', 1921) as David Holm * ''Det omringade huset'' (1922) as Captain Davies * ''Eld ombord'' (1923) as Dick * '' Colourful Pages'' (1931) as Sjöström, director (uncredited) * ''Markurells i Wadköping'' (1931) as Markurell * '' Synnöve Solbakken'' (1934) as Sämund - Sæmund * ''
Walpurgis Night Walpurgis Night (), an abbreviation of Saint Walpurgis Night (from the German language, German ), also known as Saint Walpurga's Eve (alternatively spelled Saint Walburga's Eve) and Walpurgisnacht, is the Vigil#Eves of religious celebrations ...
'' (1935) as Frederik Bergström, Editor * ''
John Ericsson, Victor of Hampton Roads ''John Ericsson, Victor of Hampton Roads'' (Swedish language, Swedish: ''John Ericsson – segraren vid Hampton Roads'') is a 1937 Swedish historical film, historical drama film directed by Gustaf Edgren and starring Victor Sjöström, Märta Ekst ...
'' (1937) as John Ericsson * ''Gubben kommer'' (1939) as Carl-Henrik de Grévy, 'Gubben' * '' Mot nya tider'' (1939) as Hjalmar Branting * '' The Fight Continues'' (1941) as Andreas Berg * '' There's a Fire Burning'' (1943) as Henrik Falkman * '' The Word'' (1943) as Knut Borg Sr. * '' The Emperor of Portugallia'' (1944) as Jan i Skrolycka * '' Rail Workers'' (1947) as Stora Ballong * '' I Am with You'' (1948) as Vicar * '' Dangerous Spring'' (1949) as P. Bladh, antiques dealer * '' Till glädje'' (''To Joy'', 1950, directed by Ingmar Bergman) as professor Sönderby * '' The Quartet That Split Up'' (1950) as Gustaf Borg * '' The Clang of the Pick'' (1952) as Klaus Willenhart * ''
Love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...
'' (1952) as Bishop * ''
Men in the Dark ''Men in the Dark'' (Swedish: ''Männen i mörker'') is a 1955 Swedish drama film directed by Arne Mattsson and starring Elof Ahrle, Sigge Fürst and Sven Lindberg.Qvist & Von Bagh p.134 It was shot at the Kungsholmen Studios of Nordisk Tonef ...
'' (1955) as Gustaf Landberg * '' Smultronstället'' (''Wild Strawberries'', 1957, directed by
Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 â€“ 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 ...
) as Dr. Eberhard Isak Borg (final film role)


References


External links

* * * *
Victor Sjöström
at Virtual History
"Victor Sjostrom and Mauritz Stiller" UC Santa Barbara Research Paper (2005) by Maximilian Schmige

The Emperor of Portugallia
directed by Gustaf Molander (1944) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sjostrom, Victor 1879 births 1960 deaths People from Årjäng Municipality Swedish film directors Swedish male stage actors Burials at Norra begravningsplatsen Swedish male silent film actors 20th-century Swedish male actors Swedish male screenwriters Swedish male film actors Cinema pioneers 20th-century Swedish screenwriters 20th-century Swedish male writers Swedish emigrants to the United States