Eva Dahlbeck

Eva Dahlbeck (8 March 1920 – 8 February 2008) was a Swedish actress and author. Eva Dahlbeck was born in Saltsjö-Duvnäs near Stockholm. She attended the prestigious acting school of the Royal Dramatic Theatre (in Swedish: Dramatens elevskola) from 1941 to 1944, and acted on the Theatre's stage from 1944 to 1964. She made her film debut in the role of Botilla in Rid i natt! in 1942. Among her most notable roles in Swedish films were the shrewd celebrity reporter Vivi in Kärlek och störtlopp (1946), the working-class mother Rya-Rya in the drama Bara en mor (1949); Mrs. Larsson, the warmhearted mother of seven in the popular children's film Kastrullresan (1950), and the young primary school teacher in Gustaf Molander's Trots (1952) (screenplay by Vilgot Sjöman). In the mid-1950s Dahlbeck was one of Sweden's most popular and successful actresses. She became internationally known for her strong female leads in a number of Ingmar Bergman's films, in particular his comedies Secrets of Women (1952), A Lesson in Love (1954) and Smiles of a Summer Night (1955).