Victor Sjöström

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Victor Sjöström
Värmlands län, United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway
Died3 January 1960(1960-01-03) (aged 80)
Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation(s)Director, screenwriter, actor
Years active1896–1957
Spouse(s)Alexandra Stjagoff (1900–1912)
Lili Bech (1914–1916)
Edith Erastoff [sv] (m. 1922; died 1945)
ParentOlof Adolf Sjöström (1841–1896)
AwardsNBR Award for Best Actor
1958 Wild Strawberries

Victor David Sjöström (Swedish: [ˈvɪ̌kːtɔr ˈɧø̂ːstrœm] ⓘ; 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 in 1924. Sjöström worked primarily in the silent era; his best known films include The Phantom Carriage (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's Wild Strawberries (1957).

Early life

Victor David Sjöström was born on 20 September 1879 in

Brooklyn, New York. His mother died in 1886, 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.[citation needed
]

Career

Drawn from the stage to the fledgling motion picture industry, he made his first film in 1912 under the direction of

Karin, Daughter of Ingmar (1920) and The Phantom Carriage (1921), all based on stories by the Nobel Prize–winning novelist Selma Lagerlöf. 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.[citation needed] He is also known as a pioneer of continuity editing in narrative filmmaking.[2]

In 1923, Sjöström accepted an offer from

talkie in 1930. One of these was the 1926 film The Scarlet Letter, starring Lillian Gish
as the adulterous Hester Prynne.

Uncomfortable with the modifications needed to direct

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's film Wild Strawberries
(1957).

Personal life

Sjöström was married three times. His daughter was actress Guje Lagerwall (1918-2019).[citation needed]

Death and legacy

Victor Sjöström died in Stockholm on 3 January 1960 at the age of 80, and was buried in the Norra begravningsplatsen (Northern cemetery).

A theatre in

Filmhuset, home of the Swedish Film Institute, was named in his honour as "Bio Victor".[4]

Filmography

Director

Actor

References

  1. ^ kommun, Årjängs. "Victor Sjöström - Årjängs kommun". www.arjang.se.
  2. ^ "The "golden age" of silent film - Sweden - bio, actress, children, wife, cinema, role, story". www.filmreference.com.
  3. ISBN 978-90-8964-504-3
    .
  4. ^ "Cinemas". Swedish Film Institute. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2024.

External links

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