Naima Wifstrand (pronounced [ˈnâjma ˈvÃ®Ë fstrand];[check tonemes]
4 September 1890 â€" 23 October 1968) was a Swedish film actress,
operetta singer, troubadour, director and composer. Internationally,
she was most notable for strong supporting parts in her later years in
a number of Ingmar Bergman-films.Born Siri Naima Matilda Wifstrand in
Stockholm in 1890, she was raised by her mother in Fleminggatan.
Wifstrand never trained acting but learned the art thoroughly when she
in 1905 joined the Anna Lundberg Theatre Company, a well reputed and
respected theatre company in Sweden at the time. She travelled with
them for a number of years, appearing in small parts and in extra
parts. This eventually led her to small parts at theatres in Helsinki
and around Stockholm. But at this time Wifstrand did not have her mind
set on acting, instead she sought to be a singer. And it was as a
grand operetta singer she became famous and enjoyed a much successful
star career for 30 years in Sweden (her speaking parts as an actress
came long after; when she after singing-career gradually turned to
acting in the 1940s and then earned acclaim as one of Sweden's finest
supporting and character actresses on stage and film).Wifstrand
studied music and singing in Stockholm at the Swedish Royal Academy of
Music and in 1910 she went to London and further trained for Raymond
von zur Mühlen. After her studies she was one of the most
acknowledged operetta singers in Scandinavia. She worked at
Oscarsteatern (Sweden's foremost operetta and musical stage)
1913â€"1918 and for years to come toured Sweden and Scandinavia. Her
big break-through came as Countess Stasi in Emmerich Kálmán's
operetta Die Csárdásfürstin in 1916. She worked in the 1920s mainly
at the opera houses in Oslo and Copenhagen. For many years she lived
in London where she also performed with troubadour-songs alone along
with her guitar. A curiosity here is that when the first attempts at
broadcast television took place in Britain Wifstrand became one of the
first "TV-stars", so to speak, as she appeared on TV in the 1930s and
performed a number of songs.
4 September 1890 â€" 23 October 1968) was a Swedish film actress,
operetta singer, troubadour, director and composer. Internationally,
she was most notable for strong supporting parts in her later years in
a number of Ingmar Bergman-films.Born Siri Naima Matilda Wifstrand in
Stockholm in 1890, she was raised by her mother in Fleminggatan.
Wifstrand never trained acting but learned the art thoroughly when she
in 1905 joined the Anna Lundberg Theatre Company, a well reputed and
respected theatre company in Sweden at the time. She travelled with
them for a number of years, appearing in small parts and in extra
parts. This eventually led her to small parts at theatres in Helsinki
and around Stockholm. But at this time Wifstrand did not have her mind
set on acting, instead she sought to be a singer. And it was as a
grand operetta singer she became famous and enjoyed a much successful
star career for 30 years in Sweden (her speaking parts as an actress
came long after; when she after singing-career gradually turned to
acting in the 1940s and then earned acclaim as one of Sweden's finest
supporting and character actresses on stage and film).Wifstrand
studied music and singing in Stockholm at the Swedish Royal Academy of
Music and in 1910 she went to London and further trained for Raymond
von zur Mühlen. After her studies she was one of the most
acknowledged operetta singers in Scandinavia. She worked at
Oscarsteatern (Sweden's foremost operetta and musical stage)
1913â€"1918 and for years to come toured Sweden and Scandinavia. Her
big break-through came as Countess Stasi in Emmerich Kálmán's
operetta Die Csárdásfürstin in 1916. She worked in the 1920s mainly
at the opera houses in Oslo and Copenhagen. For many years she lived
in London where she also performed with troubadour-songs alone along
with her guitar. A curiosity here is that when the first attempts at
broadcast television took place in Britain Wifstrand became one of the
first "TV-stars", so to speak, as she appeared on TV in the 1930s and
performed a number of songs.
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