Betty Deland

Betty Deland
Born Hedvig Kristina Elisabeth Deland
14 November 1831
Örebro, Sweden
Died 1 April 1882 (aged 50)
Stockholm, Sweden
Other names Betty Almlöf
Spouse(s) Knut Almlöf

Hedvig Kristina Elisabeth "Betty" Deland, as married Almlöf, (14 November 1831 in Örebro – 1 April 1882 in Stockholm), was a Swedish child actresses, actress and principal at Dramatens elevskola. She is often mentioned as one of the most notable actors of her country's history in the Victorian age.

Early career

Betty was born into one of Sweden's most well known theatre families. Her parents were both actors; her father Pierre Deland was the leader of the famous Deland theatre company, her mother Hedvig Charlotta de Broen was the daughter of Isaac de Broen, director of Djurgårdsteatern and actor of the Royal Dramatic Theatre, and she was also the niece of Louis Deland.

Betty Deland debuted as a child actor in the Royal Dramatic Theatre in a boy's breeches role at the age of five in 1836, and made success in child parts. After studies in dance and acting she debuted in an adult part in Uppsala in 1847, which started a new part of her career.

Countryside actor

As a member of her father's troupe, she was to tour all over both Sweden and Finland during the 1850s. The Deland troupe (active 1833–1861) was one of the most prestigious in both of these countries; it performed in the theatres of the smaller cities, which did not have a permanent staff, and often performed the opening performances in new theatres.

They regularly performed in Åbo Svenska Teater and they were the first actors performing on the national stage of Finland, Swedish Theatre in Helsinki during the 1860–1861 season. In Stockholm, they often performed in Djurgårdsteatern. Of the five hundred well-known parts she did, she made three hundred of them in her father's troupe. In 1857, she married the actor Knut Almlöf, who was also from a theatre family, son of the actors Nils Almlöf and Brita Catharina Cederberg and stepson of Charlotta Almlöf, who were both well known actors at the stage of the Royal Dramatic Theatre.

City actor

In 1861, Betty Deland was employed with her husband in first Mindre teatern in Stockholm and in 1863 by the Royal Dramatic Theatre, from 1866 as a premier-actor. Both she and her husband were to become regarded as two of their country's most notable actors. She was recommended for her expressive mimic, her nuances of voice, her character interpretations and natural way of acting, though among her most popular parts were often girls' parts and comedies.

Between 1874 and 1877 she was an instructor and a principal at Dramatens elevskola jointly with her husband. She kept her position as actor at the theatre until her death in 1882.

Roles

Among her parts were Madame de Maintenon in Ludvig den fjortonde och markisinnan Maintenon (Louis XIV and Madame de Maintenon), Mrs Serpentier in Den gifta mannen i staden och på landet (The married man in the city and in the country), Emilia in Othello, the queen dowager Hedwig Eleonora in Carl den elfte (Charles XI) by Teodor Hagberg, Belise in Lärdt folk i stubb (The precieuses) by Molière, Mrs Dupuis in Ett hem (A home) by Feuillet, Fadette in Syrsan (Le petite Fadette) by George Sand, Dorine in Tartuffe, the Duchess of Marlborough in Ett glas vatten (A glass of water), Frosine in Den girige (The greedy one) by Molière, Madam Rundholmen in De ungas förbund (The union of the young) by Ibsen and the Duchess in Sällskap där man har tråkigt (Company where one is bored) by Pailleron.

References

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