Viveca Lindfors

Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (29 December 1920 – 25 October 1995) was a Swedish-born American stage and film actress, and singer.

For the Finnish figure skater, see Viveca Lindfors (figure skater).

Viveca Lindfors
Viveca Lindfors, 1957
Born
Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors

(1920-12-29)29 December 1920
Uppsala, Sweden
Died25 October 1995(1995-10-25) (aged 74)
Uppsala, Sweden
Alma materRoyal Dramatic Theatre School
OccupationActress
Years active1940–1995
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. 1941; div. 1943)

​
(
m. 1944; div. 1948)

​
(
m. 1948; div. 1953)

​
(
m. 1953; div. 1970)
Children3, including Kristoffer Tabori
Signature
Lindfors as the Moabite high priestess in The Story of Ruth (1960)
Lindfors with Bob Fosse in the Broadway revival of Pal Joey (1963)

Life and career

Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Sweden,[1] the daughter of Karin Emilia Therese (née Dymling) and Axel Torsten Lindfors.[2][3]

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.[4] She was nominated for an Emmy in 1978 for her supporting role in the TV movie A Question of Guilt.[5]

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.[6] Among her later film roles, perhaps the most memorable is the kindly and worldly-wise Professor Taub in The Sure Thing (1985).

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 (John Tabori with Hasso, and the actor Kristoffer Tabori, with Siegel) and a daughter (Lena Tabori, with Rogard).[7]

In the last years of her life, she taught acting at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and had a lead role (essentially playing herself) in Henry Jaglom's Last Summer in the Hamptons (1995). 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."[8]

Death

Lindfors died from complications of rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 74 in her native Uppsala, and was buried in Sweden.[7] 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
Lindfors, Richard Basehart and Boris Karloff in a Theatre '62 episode, "The Paradine Case" (1962)
Year Title Role Notes
1948 Adventures of Don Juan Queen Margaret
1949 Night Unto Night Ann Gracie
1950 Dark City Victoria Winant
1950 Backfire Lysa Radoff
1950 This Side of The Law Evelyn Taylor
1950 No Sad Songs for Me Chris Radna
1950 The Flying Missile Karin Hansen
1951 Four in a Jeep Franziska Idinger
1951 Journey Into Light Christine Thorssen
1952 Riders of Vengeance Elena de Ortega aka The Raiders
1955 Moonfleet Mrs. Minton
1955 Run for Cover Helga Swenson
1958 I Accuse! Lucie Dreyfus
1959 Rawhide Luisa Esquivel Y Hadley 1 episode
1960 Johnny Midnight Simone in episode "X Equals Murder")
1960 The Story of Ruth Eleilat
1960 Weddings and Babies Bea
1961 King of Kings Claudia
1961 Tempest Catherine the Great
1961 The Untouchables Mrs. Jarreau
1961 Naked City Lulu Kronen 1 episode
1962 No Exit Inez aka Sinners Go to Hell
1962/1964 The Defenders Mady Lorne / Madeline Flanders 2 episodes
1963 The Damned Freya Neilson aka These Are the Damned
1964 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Dr. Laura Rettig 1 episode
1964 12 O'Clock High Nicole Trouchard 1 episode
1965 Brainstorm Dr. Larstadt
1965 Bonanza Angela Bergstrom Episode: "The Spotlight"
1965/1966 Ben Casey Mrs. Boone / Vivian Bennett 2 episodes
1967 The Diary of Anne Frank Petronella van Daan TV movie
1967/1969 The F.B.I. Ida Salzman / Eva Bolen 2 episodes
1970 Cauldron of Blood Tania
1970 The Interns Jennie 1 episode
1972 A House Without Boundaries Señorita Elvira
1973 The Bell from Hell Marta
1973 The Way We Were Paula Reisner
1976 Welcome to L.A. Susan Moore
1978 A Question of Guilt Dr. Rosen TV movie.
Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding
Performance by a Supporting Actress
in a Drama or Comedy Special
1978 Girlfriends Beatrice
1978 A Wedding Ingrid Hellstrom
1979 Voices Mrs. Lemon
1981 The Hand Doctress
1982 Inside the Third Reich Gypsy woman TV movie
1982 Creepshow Aunt Bedelia Section: "Father's Day"
1982 Dynasty Adriana 1 episode
1983 Dies rigorose Leben Ada
1984 Trapper John, M.D. Zella Korevechi 1 episode
1984 Passions Lila TV movie
1984 Silent Madness Mrs. Collins
1985 The Sure Thing Professor Taub
1987 Frankenstein's Aunt Hannah von Frankenstein 7 episodes
1987 Rachel River Harriet White
1989 Misplaced Zofia
1989 Flickan vid stenbänken Storråda TV series
1990 Life Goes On Mrs. Doubcha 1 episode.
Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest
Actress in a Drama Series
1990 The Exorcist III Nurse X
1990 China Beach Ilsa 1 episode
1991 Zandalee Tatta
1991 Child of Darkness, Child of Light Ida Walsh
1992 North of Pittsburgh Rosa Andretti Genie Award nomination for Best Actress
1993 Law & Order Helga Holtz 1 episode
1994 Stargate Catherine Langford
1995 Last Summer in the Hamptons Helena Mora

Major stage appearances
Year Title Role Theatre
1952 I've Got Sixpence Inez Cabral Ethel Barrymore Theatre
1954/55 Anastasia Anna Lyceum Theatre
1956 Miss Julie Miss Julie Phoenix Theatre
1956 The Stronger Miss Y Phoenix Theatre
1956 King Lear Cordelia New York City Center
1959 I Rise in Flames, Cried the Phoenix Frieda Lucille Lortel Theatre
1962 Brecht on Brecht n/a Lucille Lortel Theatre
1963 Pal Joey Vera Simpson New York City Center
1965 Postmark Zero n/a Brooks Atkinson Theatre
1967 The Niggerlovers The God, Angela Lucille Lortel Theatre
1971 Dance of Death Alice Ritz Theatre
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References
  1. Lebherz, Richard (21 December 1970). "A Snow Queen In Exile". The News. Frederick, Maryland. p. 6. Retrieved 25 June 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Nättidningen RÖTTER - för dig som släktforskar! Viveca Lindfors genealogy site, genealogi.se; accessed 4 May 2017 (in Swedish).
  3. Viveca Lindfors profile, Hollywood.com; accessed 4 May 2017.
  4. "42nd Emmy Awards Nominees and Winners: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series - 1990". Television Academy. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  5. "30th Emmy Awards Nominees and Winners: Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special - 1978". Television Academy. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  6. "Berlinale 1962: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  7. Stout, David (26 October 1995). "Viveca Lindfors, Stage and Film Actress, 74". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  8. "Five Former Co-Stars Rate Reagan as a Leading—and Sometimes Misleading—Man". People. 16 (6). 10 August 1981. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
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