Bibi Andersson

Bibi Andersson was born and raised in Sweden where she took her classic innocent demeanor and broke into acting in her teens. She studied acting while bouncing around various uncredited and extra roles. Most notably, she worked with the director Ingmar Bergman on a commercial when she was 15 years old. A few years later, she found her way into a small part in "Smiles of a Summer Night" (1955), which was the start of her prolific career working with the legendary filmmaker. Major roles in "The Seventh Seal" (1957) and "Brink of Life" (1958) followed up her Bergman debut and received much acclaim for her portrayals, even earning a Best Actress award for "Brink of Life" at the Cannes Film Festival. She continued to work with Bergman and other Swedish filmmakers in the 1960s, with her peak of the era being her electric performance in the psychological thriller "Persona" (1966). That same year, Andersson attempted to break into Hollywood with "Duel at Diablo" (1966), though she never broke through in America the same way she was beloved in Sweden. It wasn't for a lacking of trying, as she appeared in the Steve McQueen-starring "An Enemy of the People" (1977) and Robert Altman's "Quintet" (1979). In the '80s and '90s, she appeared in a few films while also exploring the stage, both acting and directing. Her last performance was in Swedish action flick "Arn - The Knight Templar" (2007). Her final decade was rife with illness, as a stroke made speaking difficult. Andersson passed away in her home city Stockholm on April 14, 2019.