Tore Svennberg
Vintage Swedish postcard. Paul Heckscher, 1645.
Olof Theodor (Tore) Svennberg, born 28 February 1858 in Stockholm and died 8 May 1941 in Stockholm, was a Swedish actor, director and theatre manager, well remembered for his leads in Victor Sjöström's films Sons of Ingmar, The Monastery of Sendomir and The Phantom Carriage.
Tore Svennberg was the son of Josefina Adolfina Svennberg, and as a young man he worked as a travelling blacksmith and for a time was employed at the gasworks. He made his stage debut for Magda von Dolcke at the Ladugårdsland Theatre in Stockholm in 1877 as Landry in Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer's The Cricket. Thereafter he was engaged by various touring theatre companies such as Albergs, Novanders, Lindmarks and others. During 1888-1891 he was engaged by August Lindberg. In 1891 he embarked on a six-month study tour of Europe, where he studied German and Austrian acting in particular. After returning to Sweden, he started his own company, while making guest appearances in Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries. He mainly collaborated with Julia Håkansson. At times he was also employed at Albert Ranft's theatres, the longest period being 1905-1919, when he performed alternately at the Swedish Theatre and the Vasa Theatre.
At the Swedish Theatre he played in several Strindberg dramas such as Göran Persson in Gustav Vasa and the main role in Erik XIV in 1899, the lawyer in A Dream Play in 1907 and Edgar in The Dance of Death in 1919. He also interpreted many Ibsen roles: Helmer in A Doll's House in 1889, Hjalmar Ekdahl in Hedda Gabler in 1891 and Borkman in John Gabriel Borkman in 1897. In 1920, Svennberg moved to the Royal Dramatic Theatre, where he later became director from 1922 to 1928. He succeeded in attracting audiences by focussing on classics and foreign news.
In 1919, when he was well in his fifties, Svennberg debuted onscreen opposite Victor Sjöström as old Ingmar in Sjöström's film Ingmarssönerna/ Sons of Ingmar. He soon became one of Sjöström's favorite actors, with leads in the period drama Klostret i Sendomir/ The Monastery of Sendomir (1920), as a lord who explodes when he not only discovers his wife (Tora Teje) has an extramarital affair but also his son isn't his, and as George, the ghostly driver of the phantom carriage in Körkarlen/ The Phantom Carriage (1921), one of Sjöström's best and most famous films, with Sjöström himself in the lead, as the repenting drunkard David Holm. In Vem dömer/Mortal Clay (Sjöström, 1922) Svennberg had a supporting part as the mayor, while instead he had the male lead as the husband of Pauline Brunius in John Brunius' En vildfagel/ A WIld Bird (1921), about a woman who searches for the child she gave up at birth. After a long absence from the screen while still acting on stage at Dramaten, often in plays by his own hand, Svennberg returned when sound film set in. He acted in six more films between 1929 and 1940, the last one being Stål/Steel (1940), at the age of 82.
From 1905 Svennberg was married to the actress Karin Wiberg (1878-1950).
Sources: Swedish Wikipedia, IMDb.
Tore Svennberg
Vintage Swedish postcard. Paul Heckscher, 1645.
Olof Theodor (Tore) Svennberg, born 28 February 1858 in Stockholm and died 8 May 1941 in Stockholm, was a Swedish actor, director and theatre manager, well remembered for his leads in Victor Sjöström's films Sons of Ingmar, The Monastery of Sendomir and The Phantom Carriage.
Tore Svennberg was the son of Josefina Adolfina Svennberg, and as a young man he worked as a travelling blacksmith and for a time was employed at the gasworks. He made his stage debut for Magda von Dolcke at the Ladugårdsland Theatre in Stockholm in 1877 as Landry in Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer's The Cricket. Thereafter he was engaged by various touring theatre companies such as Albergs, Novanders, Lindmarks and others. During 1888-1891 he was engaged by August Lindberg. In 1891 he embarked on a six-month study tour of Europe, where he studied German and Austrian acting in particular. After returning to Sweden, he started his own company, while making guest appearances in Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries. He mainly collaborated with Julia Håkansson. At times he was also employed at Albert Ranft's theatres, the longest period being 1905-1919, when he performed alternately at the Swedish Theatre and the Vasa Theatre.
At the Swedish Theatre he played in several Strindberg dramas such as Göran Persson in Gustav Vasa and the main role in Erik XIV in 1899, the lawyer in A Dream Play in 1907 and Edgar in The Dance of Death in 1919. He also interpreted many Ibsen roles: Helmer in A Doll's House in 1889, Hjalmar Ekdahl in Hedda Gabler in 1891 and Borkman in John Gabriel Borkman in 1897. In 1920, Svennberg moved to the Royal Dramatic Theatre, where he later became director from 1922 to 1928. He succeeded in attracting audiences by focussing on classics and foreign news.
In 1919, when he was well in his fifties, Svennberg debuted onscreen opposite Victor Sjöström as old Ingmar in Sjöström's film Ingmarssönerna/ Sons of Ingmar. He soon became one of Sjöström's favorite actors, with leads in the period drama Klostret i Sendomir/ The Monastery of Sendomir (1920), as a lord who explodes when he not only discovers his wife (Tora Teje) has an extramarital affair but also his son isn't his, and as George, the ghostly driver of the phantom carriage in Körkarlen/ The Phantom Carriage (1921), one of Sjöström's best and most famous films, with Sjöström himself in the lead, as the repenting drunkard David Holm. In Vem dömer/Mortal Clay (Sjöström, 1922) Svennberg had a supporting part as the mayor, while instead he had the male lead as the husband of Pauline Brunius in John Brunius' En vildfagel/ A WIld Bird (1921), about a woman who searches for the child she gave up at birth. After a long absence from the screen while still acting on stage at Dramaten, often in plays by his own hand, Svennberg returned when sound film set in. He acted in six more films between 1929 and 1940, the last one being Stål/Steel (1940), at the age of 82.
From 1905 Svennberg was married to the actress Karin Wiberg (1878-1950).
Sources: Swedish Wikipedia, IMDb.