Liv Johanne Ullmann (born 16 December 1938)[1] is a Norwegian actress.[2] Recognised as one of the greatest European actresses of all time, Ullmann is known as the muse and frequent collaborator of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.[3][4][5] She acted in many of his films, including Persona (1966), Cries and Whispers (1972), Scenes from a Marriage (1973), The Passion of Anna (1969), and Autumn Sonata (1978).
Liv Ullmann | |
|---|---|
 Ullmann in 2024 | |
| Born | 16 December 1938 |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, director, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1957–present |
| Spouses | Hans Jakob Stang
(m. 1960; div. 1965)Donald Richard Saunders
(m. 1985; div. 1995) |
| Partner | Ingmar Bergman (1965–1970) |
| Children | Linn Ullmann |
| Family | Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel (grandson) |
Ullmann won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama in 1972 for the film The Emigrants [6] and has been nominated for another four.[6] In 2000, she was nominated for the Palme d'Or for her second directorial feature film, Faithless.[7][2] She has received two BAFTA Award nominations,[8] and two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for The Emigrants [9] and Ingmar Bergman's Face to Face.[9] On March 25, 2022, Ullmann was presented with an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her "bravery and emotional transparency that has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals".[9][10][11]
Early life
editUllmann was born in Tokyo, Japan, the daughter of Norwegian parents, Erik Viggo Ullmann (1907–1945), an aircraft engineer who was working in Tokyo at the time, and Janna Erbe (née Lund; 1910–1996).[12]
Her grandfather was sent to the Dachau concentration camp during World War II for helping Jews escape from the town where he lived in Norway; he died in this camp.[13] When she was two years old, the family moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where her father worked at the Norwegian air force base on Toronto Island (in Lake Ontario) during the Second World War.[14] The family moved to New York, where four years later, her father died after a lengthy hospitalization from head injuries due to being struck by an airplane propeller, his death affecting her greatly.[14][15] Her mother worked as a bookseller, while raising two daughters.[16] They eventually moved to Norway, settling in Trondheim.[17]
Career
editUllmann began her acting career as a stage actress in Norway during the mid-1950s. She continued to act in theatre for most of her career and became noted for her portrayal of Nora in Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House.
She became better known once she started to work with Swedish movie director Ingmar Bergman. She later acted, with acclaim, in 10 of his movies, including Persona (1966), The Passion of Anna (1969), Cries and Whispers (1972), and Autumn Sonata (1978), in the last of which her co-actress Ingrid Bergman resumed her own Swedish cinema career. She co-acted often with Swedish actor and fellow Bergman collaborator Erland Josephson, with whom she made the Swedish television drama Scenes from a Marriage (1973), which was also edited to feature-movie length and distributed theatrically. Ullmann acted with Laurence Olivier in A Bridge Too Far (1977), directed by Richard Attenborough.
Nominated more than 40 times for awards, including various lifetime achievement awards, she won the best actress prize three times from the National Society of Film Critics, three times from the National Board of Review, received three awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, and a Golden Globe. During 1971, Ullmann was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for the movie The Emigrants, and again during 1976 for the movie Face to Face.
Ullmann made her New York City stage debut in 1975 also in A Doll's House. Appearances in Anna Christie and Ghosts followed, as well as the less than successful musical version of I Remember Mama. This show, composed by Richard Rodgers, experienced numerous revisions during a long preview period, then closed after 108 performances. She also featured in the widely deprecated musical movie remake of Lost Horizon during 1973. In 1977, when she appeared on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre in Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie, The New York Times said that she "glowed with despair and hope, and was everything one could have wished her to have been" in a performance "not to be missed and never to be forgotten", with her "grace and authority" that was "perhaps more than Garbo...born for Anna Christie:--Or more properly, Anna Christie was born for her."[18]
In 1980, Brian De Palma, who directed Carrie, wanted Liv Ullmann to play the role of Kate Miller in the erotic crime thriller Dressed to Kill and offered it to her, but she declined because of the violence.[19] The role subsequently went to Angie Dickinson. In 1982, Ingmar Bergman wanted Ullmann to play Emelie Ekdahl in his last feature film, Fanny and Alexander, and wrote the role with this in mind.[20] She declined it, feeling the role was too sad. She later stated in interviews that turning it down was one of the few things she really regretted.[20]
During 1984, she was chairperson of the jury at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival,[21] and during 2001 chaired the jury of the Cannes Film Festival. She introduced her daughter, Linn Ullmann, to the audience with the words: "Here comes the woman whom Ingmar Bergman loves the most". Her daughter was there to receive the Prize of Honour on behalf of her father; she would return to serve the jury herself during 2011. She published two autobiographies, Changing (1977) and Choices (1984).
Ullmann's first film as a director was Sofie (1992); her friend and former co-actor, Erland Josephson, starred on it. She later directed the Bergman-composed movie Faithless (2000). Faithless garnered nominations for both the Palme d'Or and Best Actress category at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2003, Ullmann reprised her role for Scenes from a Marriage in Saraband (2003), Bergman's final telemovie. Her previous screen role had been in the Swedish movie Zorn (1994).
In 2004, Ullmann revealed that she had received an offer in November 2003 to play in three episodes of the American television series, Sex and the City.[22] She was amused by the offer, and said that it was one of the few programs she regularly watched, but she turned it down.[23] Later that year, Steven Soderbergh wrote a role in the movie Ocean's 12 especially for her, but she also turned that down.[24]
During 2006, Ullmann announced that she had been forced to end her longtime wish of making a film based on A Doll's House. According to her statement, the Norwegian Film Fund was preventing her and writer Ketil Bjørnstad from pursuing the project. Australian actress Cate Blanchett and British actress Kate Winslet had been cast intended in the main roles of the movie. She later directed Blanchett in the play A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, at the Sydney Theatre Company in Sydney, which was performed September through October 2009, and then continued from 29 October to 21 November 2009 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., where it won a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Non-resident Production as well as actress and supporting performer for 2009. The play was also performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York. Ullmann narrated the Canada–Norway co-produced animated short movie The Danish Poet (2006), which won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film at the 79th Academy Awards during 2007.
In 2008, she was the head of the jury at the 30th Moscow International Film Festival.[25]
During 2012, she attended the International Indian Film Academy Awards in Singapore, where she was honored for her Outstanding Contributions to International Cinema and she also showed her movie on her relationship with Ingmar Bergman.[26] In 2013, Ullmann directed a film adaptation of Miss Julie. The film, released in September 2014, stars Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, and Samantha Morton.[27] It was widely praised by the Norwegian press.
In 2018, Ullmann narrated Wars Don't End, a documentary about the Lebensborn war children.[28]
In March 2022 it was announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that Ullmann would receive the Academy Honorary Award.[29][30] John Lithgow presented her with the statue at the Governors Awards saying, "For those few who claim that she never would've been called one of our greatest actors without Ingmar Bergman, I would answer, Bergman would probably never been called one of our greatest filmmakers without Liv Ullman".[31]
Personal life
editUllmann was married to Norwegian psychiatrist Hans Jakob Stang from 1960 until 1965. She met Swedish director Ingmar Bergman and the two had a relationship that lasted from 1965 to 1970.[32] Writer Linn Ullmann (b. 1966) is their daughter. In 1985, Ullman married Boston real estate developer Donald Saunders, and they remained together after their 1995 divorce.[33][34]
Honors and causes
editShe is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador,[35] and has traveled widely for the organization. She is also co-founder and honorary chair of the Women's Refugee Commission.
In 2005, King Harald V of Norway made Ullmann a Commander with Star of the Order of St. Olav.[36] She received an honorary degree, a Doctorate of Philosophy, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in 2006.[37]
Acting and filmmaking credits
editFilm
editAs actress
As director
| Year | Film | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Sofie | Pathé |
| 1995 | Kristin Lavransdatter | HVE Entertainment |
| 1996 | Private Confessions | |
| 2000 | Faithless | AB Svensk Filmindustri |
| 2014 | Miss Julie | Columbia TriStar |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Onkel Vanja | |
| 1965 | Smeltedigelen | Mary Warren |
| 1966 | En hyggelig fyr | Mabel |
| Måken | Sonja | |
| 1967 | Cocktailselskapet | Celia |
| 1975 | Trollflöjten | Woman in Audience |
| 1979 | The Lady from the Sea | Ellida Wangel |
| 1983 | Jenny | Jenny Winge |
| Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number | Mrs. Jacobo Timerman | |
| 1988 | Gli indifferenti | Maria Grazia |
| 1994 | Zorn | Emma Zorn |
| 2003 | Saraband | Marianne |
| 2011 | Long Day's Journey into Night | Mary Tyrone |
Theatre
edit| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | A Doll's House | Nora Helmer | Vivian Beaumont Theater, Broadway |
| 1977 | Anna Christie | Anna Christopherson | Imperial Theatre, Broadway |
| 1979 | I Remember Mama | Mama | Majestic Theatre, Broadway |
| 1982 | Ghosts | Mrs. Helen Alving | Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway |
| 2019 | Liv | Herself | |
| 2021 | American Moth | Grieg Hall |
Awards and recognition
editHonors
- 1984: Four Freedoms Laureate, Freedom from Want
- 2006: Ibsen Centennial Commemoration Award
- 2006: The Danish Poet won its director Torill Kove the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 79th Academy Awards.
- 2010: 2010 FIAF Award [41]
- 2012: International Indian Film Academy Awards for Outstanding Contribution to International Cinema
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Larsen, Svend Erik Løken (30 August 2017). "Liv Ullmann". Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2018 – via Store norske leksikon.
- ^ a b "Liv ULLMANN - Festival de Cannes". 13 August 2023. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (12 December 2013). "A Filmmaker's Hold on His Muse". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ^ Solway, Diane (October 2009). "Liv the Life". W Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ^ Hattenstone, Simon (3 February 2001). "A Lifelong Liaison". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Liv Ullmann". Golden Globes. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ a b "TROLOSA". Festival de Cannes (in French). Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ a b c "BAFTA Awards Search | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f "Academy Awards Search | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences". awardsdatabase.oscars.org. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ Beckett, Lois (26 March 2022). "'This is going to be cherished': Samuel L Jackson and Elaine May receive honorary Oscars". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "ABC News 06/24/21 Honorary Academy Award Recipients Announced". ABC News. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ "Family tree of Liv ULLMANN".
- ^ Hattenstone, Simon (3 February 2001). "A Lifelong Liaison". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ^ a b Jones, Donald (10 May 1986). "Unravelling Little Norway's Big Secrets". Toronto Star. p. M03.
- ^ Ouzounian, Richard (9 September 2014). "TIFF: Liv Ullmann spent 'worst and best times of my life' in Toronto". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ^ "The Bergman connection". The Daily Telegraph. 12 February 2000. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ^ Marcus, J. S. (17 September 2010). "Liv Ullmann's Return to the Stage". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ^ Barnes, Clive (15 April 1977). "Theater: Liv Ullman's 'Anna Christie'". The New York Times.
- ^ "Dressed to Kill (1980)". thisdistractedglobe.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ a b "NRK TV – Se Viggo på lørdag". 18 September 2013. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ "Berlinale: 1984 Juries". Berlin International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
- ^ "Sex og singelliv for Liv Ullmann". 21 November 2003. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ "Sex og singel-Liv". 20 November 2003. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ "Eventyrlig Liv". 15 September 2012. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ "30th Moscow International Film Festival (2008)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- ^ "Honoured to Share the Dais with Shabana Azmi, Liv Ullmann: Hassan". Mid-Day. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
- ^ Boehm, Mike (1 February 2013). "Jessica Chastain to star in Liv Ullmann's film of 'Miss Julie'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ Akolkar, Dheeraj (26 June 2020). Wars Don't End. Vimeo.
- ^ Willis, Courtney (26 March 2022). "Samuel L. Jackson, Danny Glover honored at Governors Awards". The Grio. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ Bahr, Lindsay (24 March 2022). "Liv Ullmann has given out many Oscars. Now she gets her own". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "John Lithgow honors Liv Ullmann at the 2022 Governors Awards". Youtube. 7 June 2022. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ "Liv Ullmann On Love, Passion, Isolation and Friendship in Doc 'Liv & Ingmar'". Film at Lincoln Center. 12 December 2013. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ "An Independent Woman". Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ "A Tale as Complex as the Lives Behind It". Los Angeles Times. 11 February 2001. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ "Unicef People". UNICEF. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ [dead link]"People: Liv Ullmann, Sharon Stone, Seal". International Herald Tribune. 13 May 2005.
- ^ "Honorary Doctors". Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ "Skammen (1968)". Swedish Film Institute. 2 March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015.
- ^ a b c d e "Accademia del Cinema Italiano - Premi David di Donatello". www.daviddidonatello.it. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Faithless". Cannes Film Festival. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
- ^ "FIAF Award". Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
Further reading
edit- Robert Emmet Long, ed. (2006). Liv Ullmann: Interviews. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1-57806-823-1, 1-57806-824-X (paper). Collected interviews with Ullmann.
- David Outerbridge (1979). Without Makeup, Liv Ullmann: A Photo-Biography. New York City: William Morrow and Company. ISBN 0-688-03441-1.
- Liv Ullmann (1977). Changing. New York City: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-41148-X. Autobiography.
- Liv Ullmann (1984). Choices. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-53986-9. ISBN 978-0-394-53986-7. Autobiography.
External links
edit- Liv Ullmann at the Internet Broadway Database
- Liv Ullmann at IMDb
- Liv Ullmann at the TCM Movie Database
- Liv Ullmann collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- Liv Ullmann on Charlie Rose
- The Guardian/NFT interview with Shane Danielson, 23 January 2001 Archived 27 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- Peter Bradshaw review of Trolösa Archived 27 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 9 February 2001
- A 1980 Interview for the Yugoslav Television on YouTube