Carl Olof Magnus Winnerstrand (26 August 1875 â€" 16 July 1956) was a
Swedish actor.Born in a bourgeois home in Stockholm, Winnerstrand was
a son of the well-known Stockholm goldsmith and jeweller C.A.
Winnerstrand, and started out in his father's footsteps, learning the
trade. His parents opposed his acting dreams and, being loyal to a
promise to his father, he took over the family business when his
father died in 1899, and worked a couple of years as goldsmith.
However, his longing for the stage increased and he was encouraged by
great Swedish actor Emil Hillberg in pursuing in acting, after he had
witnessed Winnerstrand's striking talent and by offering a place in
his theatre company. Now, this time with the blessing of his mother,
he sold the family company and joined Hillberg's theatre troupe.Olof
Winnerstrand made his professional debut in 1901 at Helsingborg City
Theatre and then toured with the Hillberg Company in 1901-02 and then
with the famous Selander Company 1902-04, where he met his future wife
and the love of his life, Miss Frida Kumlin (the couple married in
1906 and for decades was one of Swedish theatre's most popular and
beloved theatre couple, often performing opposite each other on stage
as well). In 1906 he was contracted by the notorious theatre manager
Albert Ranft to play at Vasateatern (Vasa Theatre), the theatre stage
above all in Sweden with a tradition of playing farces and comedies.
Here Winnerstrand rose to star fame in the late 1900s as a top comedy
actor, for years performing leading parts in numerous farces and
comedies popular of those days by Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw,
Georges Feydeau and Georges Berr (in many of the original Swedish
stagings of the plays); such as his Mr Ernest in Oscar Wilde's The
Importance of Being Earnest, Mr Valentine in Shaw's You Never Can
Tell, in Franz Arnold's & Ernst Bach's The Spanish Fly (Die Spanische
Fliege; Spanska flugan) and as Vicomte Goring in Wilde's An Ideal
Husband.By 1919 Winnerstrand had made a name for himself as a comedy
actor and was asked by the then manager of the national stage, Tor
Hedberg, to come and perform at the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten).
Just seeking a change at the time, Winnerstrand came to remain at the
national stage until his retirement in 1949; he performed in
altogether 119 parts between 1919 and 1949, here also showing himself
as a strong and versatile actor in drama plays and in character parts.
He is considered as one of Sweden's very finest stage and film actors
of the early 20th century.
Swedish actor.Born in a bourgeois home in Stockholm, Winnerstrand was
a son of the well-known Stockholm goldsmith and jeweller C.A.
Winnerstrand, and started out in his father's footsteps, learning the
trade. His parents opposed his acting dreams and, being loyal to a
promise to his father, he took over the family business when his
father died in 1899, and worked a couple of years as goldsmith.
However, his longing for the stage increased and he was encouraged by
great Swedish actor Emil Hillberg in pursuing in acting, after he had
witnessed Winnerstrand's striking talent and by offering a place in
his theatre company. Now, this time with the blessing of his mother,
he sold the family company and joined Hillberg's theatre troupe.Olof
Winnerstrand made his professional debut in 1901 at Helsingborg City
Theatre and then toured with the Hillberg Company in 1901-02 and then
with the famous Selander Company 1902-04, where he met his future wife
and the love of his life, Miss Frida Kumlin (the couple married in
1906 and for decades was one of Swedish theatre's most popular and
beloved theatre couple, often performing opposite each other on stage
as well). In 1906 he was contracted by the notorious theatre manager
Albert Ranft to play at Vasateatern (Vasa Theatre), the theatre stage
above all in Sweden with a tradition of playing farces and comedies.
Here Winnerstrand rose to star fame in the late 1900s as a top comedy
actor, for years performing leading parts in numerous farces and
comedies popular of those days by Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw,
Georges Feydeau and Georges Berr (in many of the original Swedish
stagings of the plays); such as his Mr Ernest in Oscar Wilde's The
Importance of Being Earnest, Mr Valentine in Shaw's You Never Can
Tell, in Franz Arnold's & Ernst Bach's The Spanish Fly (Die Spanische
Fliege; Spanska flugan) and as Vicomte Goring in Wilde's An Ideal
Husband.By 1919 Winnerstrand had made a name for himself as a comedy
actor and was asked by the then manager of the national stage, Tor
Hedberg, to come and perform at the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten).
Just seeking a change at the time, Winnerstrand came to remain at the
national stage until his retirement in 1949; he performed in
altogether 119 parts between 1919 and 1949, here also showing himself
as a strong and versatile actor in drama plays and in character parts.
He is considered as one of Sweden's very finest stage and film actors
of the early 20th century.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.