Viveca Lindfors


Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors was a Swedish-born American stage and film actress, and singer.

Life and career

Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the daughter of Karin Emilia Therese and Axel Torsten Lindfors.
She trained at the Royal Dramatic Theatre School, Stockholm. Soon after, she became a theater and film star in Sweden. She moved to the United States in 1946 after being signed by Warner Bros. and began working in Hollywood. She appeared in more than 100 films, including Night Unto Night, No Sad Songs for Me, Dark City, The Halliday Brand, King of Kings, An Affair of the Skin, Creepshow, The Sure Thing, and Stargate. She appeared with actors such as Ronald Reagan, Jeffrey Hunter, Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott and Errol Flynn.
In 1952 she appeared on Broadway alongside Edmund O'Brien in John Van Druten's I've Got Sixpence. Two years later she made her West End debut in J.B. Priestley's poorly received play The White Countess.
Lindfors appeared frequently on television, usually as a guest star, though she played the title role in the miniseries Frankenstein's Aunt. Most of her TV appearances were in the 1950s and 1960s, with a resurgence in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1990, she won an Emmy Award for her guest appearance on the series Life Goes On. She was nominated for an Emmy in 1978 for her supporting role in the TV movie A Question of Guilt.
In 1962, she shared the Silver Bear for Best Actress award with Rita Gam at the Berlin Film Festival, for their performances in Tad Danielewski's No Exit. Among her later film roles, perhaps the most memorable is the kindly and worldly-wise Professor Taub in The Sure Thing.
Lindfors was married four times: to Harry Hasso, a Swedish cinematographer; Folke Rogard, a Swedish attorney and World Chess Federation president; Don Siegel, the director; and George Tabori, a Hungarian writer, producer and director. She had three children: two sons and a daughter.
In the last years of her life, she taught acting at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and had a lead role in Henry Jaglom's Last Summer in the Hamptons. The same year, she returned to the Strindberg Festival in Stockholm to perform in the play In Search of Strindberg, which had been produced earlier that year at the Actors Studio.
Lindfors was a naturalized U.S. citizen and a liberal Democrat who supported the presidency of Jimmy Carter and later said of her former co-star Ronald Reagan that "Ronnie was not a big star. He didn't carry enough weight. To think that the guy became president is really kind of funny."

Death

Lindfors died from complications of rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 74 in her native Uppsala, and was buried in Sweden. In New York City, a service was held at the Actors Studio where Gene Frankel, who had directed her in I Am a Woman and Brecht on Brecht.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1948Adventures of Don JuanQueen Margaret
1949Night Unto NightAnn Gracie
1950Dark CityVictoria Winant
1950BackfireLysa Radoff
1950This Side of The LawEvelyn Taylor
1950No Sad Songs for MeChris Radna
1950The Flying MissileKarin Hansen
1951Four in a JeepFranziska Idinger
1951Journey Into LightChristine Thorssen
1952Riders of VengeanceElena de Ortegaaka The Raiders
1955MoonfleetMrs. Minton
1955Run for CoverHelga Swenson
1958I Accuse!Lucie Dreyfus
1959RawhideLuisa Esquivel Y Hadley1 episode
1960Johnny MidnightSimone in episode "X Equals Murder")
1960The Story of RuthEleilat
1960Weddings and BabiesBea
1961King of KingsClaudia
1961TempestCatherine the Great
1961The UntouchablesMrs. Jarreau
1961Naked CityLulu Kronen1 episode
1962No ExitInezaka Sinners Go to Hell
1962/1964The DefendersMady Lorne / Madeline Flanders2 episodes
1963The DamnedFreya Neilsonaka These Are the Damned
1964Voyage to the Bottom of the SeaDr. Laura Rettig1 episode
196412 O'Clock HighNicole Trouchard1 episode
1965BrainstormDr. Larstadt
1965BonanzaAngela BergstromEpisode: "The Spotlight"
1965/1966Ben CaseyMrs. Boone / Vivian Bennett2 episodes
1967The Diary of Anne FrankPetronella van DaanTV movie
1967/1969The F.B.I.Ida Salzman / Eva Bolen2 episodes
1970Cauldron of BloodTania
1970The InternsJennie1 episode
1972A House Without BoundariesSeñorita Elvira
1973The Bell from HellMarta
1973The Way We WerePaula Reisner
1976Welcome to L.A.Susan Moore
1978A Question of GuiltDr. RosenTV movie.
Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding
Performance by a Supporting Actress
in a Drama or Comedy Special
1978GirlfriendsBeatrice
1978A WeddingIngrid Hellstrom
1979VoicesMrs. Lemon
1981The HandDoctress
1982Inside the Third ReichGypsy womanTV movie
1982CreepshowAunt BedeliaSection: "Father's Day"
1982DynastyAdriana1 episode
1983Dies rigorose LebenAda
1984Trapper John, M.D.Zella Korevechi1 episode
1984PassionsLilaTV movie
1984Silent MadnessMrs. Collins
1985The Sure ThingProfessor Taub
1987Frankenstein's AuntHannah von Frankenstein7 episodes
1987Rachel RiverHarriet White
1989MisplacedZofia
1989Flickan vid stenbänkenStorrådaTV series
1990Life Goes OnMrs. Doubcha1 episode.
Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest
Actress in a Drama Series
1990The Exorcist IIINurse X
1990China BeachIlsa1 episode
1991ZandaleeTatta
1991Child of Darkness, Child of LightIda Walsh
1992North of PittsburghRosa AndrettiGenie Award nomination for Best Actress
1993Law & OrderHelga Holtz1 episode
1994StargateCatherine Langford
1995Last Summer in the HamptonsHelena Mora

Major stage appearances