Mai Elisabeth Zetterling (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈmajË
ˈsɛ̂tË É›ËŒÉɪŋ]; 24 May 1925 â€" 17 March 1994) was a Swedish
actress and film director.Zetterling was born in Västerås, Sweden,
to a working class family. She started her career as an actress at the
age of 17 at Dramaten, the Swedish national theatre, appearing in
war-era films.Zetterling appeared in film and television productions
spanning six decades from the 1940s to the 1990s. Her breakthrough
came in the 1944 film Torment written by Ingmar Bergman, in which she
played a controversial role as a tormented shopgirl. Shortly
afterwards she moved to England and gained instant success there with
her title role in Basil Dearden's Frieda (1947) playing opposite David
Farrar. After a brief return to Sweden in which she worked with
Bergman again in his film Music in Darkness (1948), she returned to
Britain and starred in a number of UK films, playing against such
leading men as Tyrone Power, Dirk Bogarde, Richard Widmark, Laurence
Harvey, Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Richard Attenborough, Keenan Wynn,
Stanley Baker, and Dennis Price.Some of her notable films as an
actress include Quartet (1948), a film based on some of W. Somerset
Maugham's short stories, The Romantic Age (1949) directed by Edmond T.
Gréville, Only Two Can Play (1962) co-starring Peter Sellers and
directed by Sidney Gilliat, and The Witches (1990), an adaptation of
Roald Dahl's book directed by Nicolas Roeg. Having gained a reputation
as a sex symbol in dramas and thrillers, she was equally effective in
comedies, and also was very active in British television in the 50s
and 60s.
ˈsɛ̂tË É›ËŒÉɪŋ]; 24 May 1925 â€" 17 March 1994) was a Swedish
actress and film director.Zetterling was born in Västerås, Sweden,
to a working class family. She started her career as an actress at the
age of 17 at Dramaten, the Swedish national theatre, appearing in
war-era films.Zetterling appeared in film and television productions
spanning six decades from the 1940s to the 1990s. Her breakthrough
came in the 1944 film Torment written by Ingmar Bergman, in which she
played a controversial role as a tormented shopgirl. Shortly
afterwards she moved to England and gained instant success there with
her title role in Basil Dearden's Frieda (1947) playing opposite David
Farrar. After a brief return to Sweden in which she worked with
Bergman again in his film Music in Darkness (1948), she returned to
Britain and starred in a number of UK films, playing against such
leading men as Tyrone Power, Dirk Bogarde, Richard Widmark, Laurence
Harvey, Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Richard Attenborough, Keenan Wynn,
Stanley Baker, and Dennis Price.Some of her notable films as an
actress include Quartet (1948), a film based on some of W. Somerset
Maugham's short stories, The Romantic Age (1949) directed by Edmond T.
Gréville, Only Two Can Play (1962) co-starring Peter Sellers and
directed by Sidney Gilliat, and The Witches (1990), an adaptation of
Roald Dahl's book directed by Nicolas Roeg. Having gained a reputation
as a sex symbol in dramas and thrillers, she was equally effective in
comedies, and also was very active in British television in the 50s
and 60s.
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