Liv Ullmann

Liv Ullmann
Liv Ullmann.jpg
Liv Ullmann at Cannes in 2000.
Born Liv Johanne Ullmann
December 16, 1938 (1938-12-16) (age 70)
Tokyo, Japan
Spouse(s) Gappe Stang (1960-1965)
Donald Saunders (1985-)

Liv Johanne Ullmann (born December 16, 1938 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Norwegian actress and was the beloved muse of Swedish Academy Award winning director Ingmar Bergman. A winner of the Golden Globe, Ullman has also been nominated for both the Palme d'Or, and twice-nominated for the Academy Award and the BAFTA Award.

Contents

Personal life

Ullmann was born in Tokyo (where her father, an aircraft technician, was working at the time) and grew up in Trondheim, Norway. She has also lived in Canada as a child during World War II and now lives in Miami, Florida.

In addition to her native Norwegian, Ullmann speaks Swedish, English and other European languages, though with a heavy Norwegian accent. She is also a committed UNICEF goodwill ambassador [1] and has traveled widely for the organization. She is also honorary chair of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children. In 2005, King Harald V of Norway awarded Ullmann with a Commander with Star of the Order of St. Olav[2]. In 2006, she received a Ph.D. honoris causa from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.[3]

Ullmann has been married and divorced twice. Her first marriage was to Dr. Hans Jacob Stang, a Norwegian psychiatrist, whom she divorced in the late 1960s. According to her biographer, Ketil Bjørnstad, the marriage was marred by infidelities on both sides. In the 1980s, she married Boston real estate developer Donald Saunders, whom she divorced in 1995. Nevertheless, in 2007 the couple still live together.[4]

She has one child, Linn Ullmann, fathered by Ingmar Bergman (according to her autobiography, Changing, 1977) but born while Ullmann still was married to her first husband, Hans Jacob Stang. Ullmann also has two grandchildren, a boy and a girl, of her daughter's two marriages.

Liv Ullmann still keeps an apartment in Oslo, Norway, as well as a summer house in Sandefjord, Norway.

Career

She played lead roles in nine films by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, with whom she has a daughter, Norwegian author and journalist Linn Ullmann. A consummate psychological actress, she was the object of considerable critical acclaim during the 1960s and 1970s (awards include three Best Actress prizes from the prestigious National Society of Film Critics, two from the National Board of Review, a threesome from the New York Film Critics Circle, and one Golden Globe as well as a LAFCA honor).

Her work with Bergman, especially in the powerful Scenes from a Marriage, turned her into a 1970s feminist and cultural icon, as well as one of the most respected actresses of her time. In addition, her natural and very photogenic Nordic red-blond beauty, fit well into the 1970s vogue. Ullmann was nominated twice for an Academy Award (for The Emigrants and Face to Face), and published two successful autobiographies (Changing and Choices) while out of work in the late 1970s.

Coincidentally, two of Ullmann's biggest flops were musical adaptations of classic works. The film version of Lost Horizon was a critical and commercial disaster, and the Broadway production of I Remember Mama underwent numerous revisions during an unusually long preview period, then closed after only 108 performances.

Recently, Ullmann has been making a name for herself as a film director too (most notably with the acclaimed, Bergman-scripted drama Faithless) and could also be seen reprising her role from Scenes from a Marriage in 2003's Saraband (Bergman's final telemovie). Faithless was close to be awarded with the prestigious Golden Palm at Cannes Film Festival, and the female lead, Swedish actress Lena Endre, won first prize for her performance in this film.

Ullmann was chairing the jury of the Cannes Film Festival in 2002. She introduced her daughter by Ingmar Bergman, Linn Ullmann, to the festival audience with these infamous words: "Here comes the woman whom Ingmar Bergman loves the most". (Her daughter was about to receive the Prize of Honour on her famous father's behalf). In 2006 Liv Ullmann publicly gave up a long-time dream of making a film based on the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's play "A Doll's House". According to her, the Norwegian Film Fund worked against her and writer Kjetil Bjørnstad. Australian actress Cate Blanchett and British actress Kate Winslet were intended for lead roles in the movie.

Ullmann narrated the Canada/Norway co-produced animated short film The Danish Poet, which won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film at the 79th Academy Awards in 2007.

Awards and nominations

Academy Award

BAFTA Award

Golden Globe Award

Other Awards

Selected filmography

As actress

Year Film Role Other notes
1966 Persona Elisabeth Vogler
1968 Shame Eva Rosenberg
1968 Hour of the Wolf Alma Borg
1969 The Passion of Anna Anna Fromm
1971 The Emigrants Kristina
1972 Cries and Whispers Maria (and her mother)
Pope Joan Pope Joan
1973 Scenes from a Marriage Marianne
40 Carats Ann Stanley
Lost Horizon Katherine
1974 Zandy's Bride Hannah Lund
The Abdication Queen Kristina
1976 Face to Face Dr. Jenny Isaksson
1977 The Serpent's Egg Manuela Rosenberg
A Bridge Too Far Kate Ter Horst
1978 Autumn Sonata Eva
1984 The Bay Boy Mrs. Campbell
1987 Gaby: A True Story Sari
Farewell Moscow
1988 La amiga María
1989 The Rose Garden Gabriele
1991 Mindwalk Sonia Hoffman
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes Narrator (voice)
1992 The Long Shadow Katherine
1994 Drømspel Ticket Seller
Zorn Emma Zorn (TV)
2003 Saraband Marianne (TV)
2006 The Danish Poet Narrator (voice)

As director

Viewed by as much as two-thirds of the population, one of Norway's most domestically successful films ever -- an important cultural event.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Unicef People". UNICEF.
  2. ↑ "People: Liv Ullmann, Sharon Stone, Seal". International Herald Tribune (2005-05-13).
  3. ↑ "Honorary Doctors". Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
  4. ↑ Donald L. Saunders Michael Scherer, Mother Jones, March 5, 2001

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Jane Fonda
for Klute		 NYFCC Award for Best Actress
1972
for Cries and Whispers		 Succeeded by
Joanne Woodward
for Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams
Preceded by
Jane Fonda
for Klute		 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
1973
for The Emigrants		 Succeeded by
Marsha Mason
for Cinderella Liberty
Preceded by
Joanne Woodward
for Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams		 NYFCC Award for Best Actress
1974
for Scenes from a Marriage		 Succeeded by
Isabelle Adjani
for The Story of Adele H.
Preceded by
Isabelle Adjani
for The Story of Adele H.		 NYFCC Award for Best Actress
1976
for Face to Face		 Succeeded by
Diane Keaton
for Annie Hall
Preceded by
Arve Tellefsen		 Norsk kulturråds ærespris
1997		 Succeeded by
Sverre Fehn
Preceded by
Matt Dillon
Max von Sydow		 Donostia Award
San Sebastian International Film Festival
2007
 Succeeded by
-
Persondata
NAME Ullmann, Liv
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ullmann, Liv Johanne
SHORT DESCRIPTION actress, author, director
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1938 (1938-12-16) (age 70)
PLACE OF BIRTH Tokyo, Japan
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH