Liv Ullmann
Ullmann in 2024
Born (1938-12-16) 16 December 1938 (age 87)
Tokyo, Japan
Occupations Actress, filmmaker
Years active 1957–present
Spouses
Hans Jakob Stang
​
​
(m. 1960; div. 1965)​
Donald Richard Saunders
​
​
(m. 1985; div. 1995)​
Partner(s) Ingmar Bergman
(1965–1970)
Children Linn Ullmann
Relatives Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel (grandson)

Liv Johanne Ullmann (born 16 December 1938) is a Norwegian actress and filmmaker.[1] Recognised as one of the greatest European actresses of all time, Ullmann is known as the muse and frequent collaborator of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, whom she dated for five years.[2][3][4] She acted in many of his films, including Persona (1966), Cries and Whispers (1972), Scenes from a Marriage (1973), The Passion of Anna (1969), and Autumn Sonata (1978).

Ullmann won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama in 1972 for the film The Emigrants [5] and has been nominated for another four.[5] In 2000, she was nominated for the Palme d'Or for her second directorial feature film, Faithless.[6][1] She has received two BAFTA Award nominations,[7] and two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for The Emigrants [8] and Ingmar Bergman's Face to Face.[8] On March 25, 2022, Ullmann was presented with an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her "bravery and emotional transparency that has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals".[8][9][10]

Early life

Liv Johanne Ullmann was born in Tokyo on 16 December 1938,[11] the daughter of Norwegian parents Janna Erbe (née Lund; 1910–1996) and Erik Viggo Ullmann (1907–1945).[12] Her father was an aircraft engineer who was working in Tokyo at the time. Her grandfather helped Jews escape from the Norwegian town where he lived during World War II, and was thus sent to the Dachau concentration camp, where he died.[13] When Ullmann was two years old, she moved with her parents to Canada and settled in Toronto, where her father worked at the Norwegian Air Force base on Toronto Island during World War II.[14] The family then moved to the U.S. and settled in New York City, where her father died four years later after a lengthy hospitalisation from head injuries due to being struck by an aeroplane propeller, and his death affected her greatly.[14][15] Her mother worked as a bookseller while raising Ullmann and her sister alone.[16] In 1945 they returned to Norway and lived in Trondheim.[17][18]

Career

Ullmann with her mother Janna in 1959
Ullmann in 1966

Ullmann began her acting career as a stage actress in Norway during the mid-1950s. She continued to act in theatre for most of her career and became noted for her portrayal of Nora Helmer in Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll's House.

She became better known once she started to work with Swedish movie director Ingmar Bergman. She later acted, with acclaim, in 10 of his movies, including Persona (1966), The Passion of Anna (1969), Cries and Whispers (1972), and Autumn Sonata (1978), in the last of which her co-actress Ingrid Bergman resumed her own Swedish cinema career. She co-acted often with Swedish actor and fellow Bergman collaborator Erland Josephson, with whom she made the Swedish television drama Scenes from a Marriage (1973), which was also edited to feature-movie length and distributed theatrically. Ullmann acted with Laurence Olivier in A Bridge Too Far (1977), directed by Richard Attenborough.

Nominated more than 40 times for awards, including various lifetime achievement awards, she won the best-actress prize three times from the National Society of Film Critics and three times from the National Board of Review, received three awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, and a Golden Globe. During 1971, Ullmann was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for the movie The Emigrants, and again during 1976 for the movie Face to Face.

Ullmann made her New York City stage debut in 1975, also in A Doll's House. Appearances in Anna Christie and Ghosts followed, as well as the less-than-successful musical version of I Remember Mama. This show, composed by Richard Rodgers, experienced numerous revisions during a long preview period, then closed after 108 performances. She also featured in the widely deprecated musical movie remake of Lost Horizon during 1973. In 1977, when she appeared on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre in Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie, The New York Times said that she "glowed with despair and hope, and was everything one could have wished her to have been" in a performance "not to be missed and never to be forgotten", with her "grace and authority" that was "perhaps more than Garbo...born for Anna Christie:--Or more properly, Anna Christie was born for her."[19]

In 1980, Brian De Palma, who directed Carrie, wanted Liv Ullmann to play the role of Kate Miller in the erotic crime thriller Dressed to Kill and offered it to her, but she declined because of the violence.[20] The role subsequently went to Angie Dickinson. In 1982, Ingmar Bergman wanted Ullmann to play Emelie Ekdahl in his last feature film, Fanny and Alexander, and wrote the role with this in mind.[21] She declined it, feeling the role was too sad. She later stated in interviews that turning it down was one of the few things she really regretted.[21]

Former Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Liv Ullmann at the Four Freedoms Award ceremony in Middelburg on 23 June 1984

During 1984, she was chairperson of the jury at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival,[22] and during 2001 chaired the jury of the Cannes Film Festival. She introduced her daughter, Linn Ullmann, to the audience with the words: "Here comes the woman whom Ingmar Bergman loves the most". Her daughter was there to receive the Prize of Honour on behalf of her father; she would return to serve the jury herself during 2011. She published two autobiographies, Changing (1977) and Choices (1984).

Ullmann's first film as a director was Sofie (1992); her friend and former co-actor, Erland Josephson, starred on it. She later directed the Bergman-composed movie Faithless (2000). Faithless garnered nominations for both the Palme d'Or and Best Actress category at the Cannes Film Festival.

In 2003, Ullmann reprised her role for Scenes from a Marriage in Saraband (2003), Bergman's final telemovie. Her previous screen role had been in the Swedish movie Zorn (1994).

In 2004, Ullmann revealed that she had received an offer in November 2003 to play in three episodes of the American television series, Sex and the City.[23] She was amused by the offer, and said that it was one of the few programs she regularly watched, but she turned it down.[24] Later that year, Steven Soderbergh wrote a role in the movie Ocean's 12 especially for her, but she also turned that down.[25]

During 2006, Ullmann announced that she had been forced to end her longtime wish of making a film based on A Doll's House. According to her statement, the Norwegian Film Fund was preventing writer Ketil Bjørnstad and her from pursuing the project. Australian actress Cate Blanchett and British actress Kate Winslet had been intended to have been cast in the main roles of the movie. She later directed Blanchett in the play A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, at the Sydney Theatre Company in Sydney, which was performed September through October 2009, and then continued from 29 October to 21 November 2009 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, where it won a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Non-resident Production, as well as actress and supporting performer for 2009. The play was also performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York. Ullmann narrated the Canada–Norway co-produced animated short movie The Danish Poet (2006), which won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film at the 79th Academy Awards during 2007.

In 2008, she was the head of the jury at the 30th Moscow International Film Festival.[26]

During 2012, she attended the International Indian Film Academy Awards in Singapore, where she was honored for her Outstanding Contributions to International Cinema and she also showed her movie on her relationship with Ingmar Bergman.[27] In 2013, Ullmann directed a film adaptation of Miss Julie. The film, released in September 2014, stars Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, and Samantha Morton.[28] It was widely praised by the Norwegian press.

In 2018, Ullmann narrated Wars Don't End, a documentary about the Lebensborn war children.[29]

In March 2022, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that Ullmann would receive the Academy Honorary Award.[30][31] John Lithgow presented her with the statue at the Governors Awards, saying, "For those few who claim that she never would've been called one of our greatest actors without Ingmar Bergman, I would answer, Bergman would probably never been called one of our greatest filmmakers without Liv Ullman".[32]

Honours and causes

Ullmann is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador,[33] and has traveled widely for the organization. She is also co-founder and honorary chair of the Women's Refugee Commission.

In 2005, King Harald V of Norway made Ullmann a Commander with Star of the Order of St. Olav.[34]

Ullmann received an honorary degree, a doctorate of philosophy, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in 2006.[35]

Personal life

Ullmann with Ingmar Bergman in 1968

Ullmann was married to Norwegian psychiatrist Hans Jakob Stang from 1960 until they divorced in 1965. She was with Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman from 1965 to 1970, becoming his muse and frequent collaborator.[36] They had a daughter, writer Linn Ullmann (born 1966), whose son Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel (born 1990) became a filmmaker.

In 1985, Ullman married American real estate developer Donald Saunders from Boston, and they divorced in 1995 but remained in a relationship.[37][38]

Performances and works

Film

As actress

Year Title Role Director Notes
1957 Fjols til fjells Hotel Guest Edith Carlmar Uncredited extra
1959 The Wayward Girl Gerd
1962 Tonny Kari Nils R. Müller
Per Gjersøe
Kort är sommaren
1965 De kalte ham Skarven Wilfred Breistrand
Erik Folke Gustavson
1966 Persona Elisabet Vogler Ingmar Bergman
1968 Hour of the Wolf Alma Borg
Shame Eva Rosenberg
1969 An-Magritt An-Magritt Arne Skouen
The Passion of Anna Anna Fromm Ingmar Bergman
1970 Cold Sweat Fabienne Martin Terence Young
1971 The Emigrants Kristina Jan Troell
The Night Visitor Ester Jenks László Benedek
1972 The New Land Kristina Jan Troell
Cries and Whispers Maria (and her mother) Ingmar Bergman
Pope Joan Pope Joan Michael Anderson
1973 Scenes from a Marriage Marianne Ingmar Bergman
40 Carats Ann Stanley Milton Katselas
Lost Horizon Katherine Charles Jarrott
1974 Zandy's Bride Hannah Lund Jan Troell
The Abdication Queen Kristina Anthony Harvey
1975 Léonor Léonor Juan Luis Buñuel
1976 Face to Face Dr. Jenny Isaksson Ingmar Bergman
1977 The Serpent's Egg Manuela Rosenberg
A Bridge Too Far Kate ter Horst Richard Attenborough
1978 Autumn Sonata Eva Ingmar Bergman
1979 Players Tennis Spectator Anthony Harvey Uncredited
1980 Richard's Things Kate Morris
1984 The Wild Duck Gina Henri Safran
The Bay Boy Mrs. Campbell Daniel Petrie
Dangerous Moves Marina Fromm Richard Dembo
1986 Let's Hope It's a Girl Elena Mario Monicelli
1987 Gaby: A True Story Sari Luis Mandoki
Farewell Moscow Ida Nudel Mauro Bolognini
1988 The Girlfriend María Jeanine Meerapfel
1989 The Rose Garden Gabriele Fons Rademakers
1991 Mindwalk Sonia Hoffman Bernt Amadeus Capra
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes Narrator George Levenson Voice; short film
1992 The Long Shadow Katherine Vilmos Zsigmond
The Ox Mrs. Gustafsson Sven Nykvist
1994 Dreamplay Ticket Seller Unni Straume
2003 Saraband Marianne Ingmar Bergman
2006 The Danish Poet Narrator Torill Kove Voice; short film
2008 Through a Glass, Darkly Grandmother Jesper W. Nielsen
2009 Sinna mann Mother Anita Killi Voice; English version
2012 Two Lives Åse Judith Kaufmann
Liv & Ingmar Herself Dheeraj Akolkar Documentary
2018 Wars Don't End Narrator Voice; documentary

As director

Year Film Distribution
1992 Sofie Pathé
1995 Kristin Lavransdatter HVE Entertainment
1996 Private Confessions
2000 Faithless AB Svensk Filmindustri
2014 Miss Julie Columbia TriStar

Television

Year Title Role
1963 Onkel Vanja
1965 Smeltedigelen Mary Warren
1966 En hyggelig fyr Mabel
Måken Sonja
1967 Cocktailselskapet Celia
1975 Trollflöjten Woman in Audience
1979 The Lady from the Sea Ellida Wangel
1983 Jenny Jenny Winge
Jacobo Timerman: Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number Mrs. Jacobo Timerman
1988 Gli indifferenti Maria Grazia
1994 Zorn Emma Zorn
2003 Saraband Marianne
2011 Long Day's Journey into Night Mary Tyrone

Theatre

Year Title Role Venue
1975 A Doll's House Nora Helmer Vivian Beaumont Theater, Broadway
1977 Anna Christie Anna Christopherson Imperial Theatre, Broadway
1979 I Remember Mama Mama Majestic Theatre, Broadway
1982 Ghosts Mrs. Helen Alving Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway
2019 Liv Herself
2021 American Moth Grieg Hall

Awards and recognition

Year Award Category Project Result Ref
1968 National Society of Film Critics Award Best Actress Hour of the Wolf Won
Guldbagge Award Best Actress in a Leading Role Won [39]
1968 National Board of Review Award Best Actress Shame Won
1971 Academy Awards Best Actress The Emigrants Nominated [8]
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Won [5]
1972 National Board of Review Award Best Actress The New Land Won
1972 New York Film Critics Circle Award Best Actress Cries and Whispers Won
1973 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Actress in a Leading Role Scenes from a Marriage Nominated [7]
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Nominated [5]
National Society of Film Critics Award Best Actress Won
New York Film Critics Circle Award Best Actress Won
David di Donatello Awards Best Foreign Actress Won [40]
1973 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical 40 Carats Nominated [5]
1974 David di Donatello Awards David Special Award Won [40]
1975 Tony Awards Best Actress in a Play A Doll's House Nominated
1976 Academy Awards Best Actress Face to Face Nominated [8]
British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated [7]
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Nominated [5]
National Board of Review Award Best Actress Won
New York Film Critics Circle Award Best Actress Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award Best Actress Won
1977 Tony Awards Best Actress in a Play Anna Christie Nominated
1978 David di Donatello Awards Best Foreign Actress Autumn Sonata Won [40]
1986 Best Actress Let's Hope It's a Girl Nominated [40]
1987 Farewell Moscow Nominated [40]
1988 San Sebastián International Film Festival Best Actress The Girlfriend Won
1989 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama The Rose Garden Nominated [5]
1992 Montreal World Film Festival Special Grand Prize of the Jury Sofie Won
1996 Chicago International Film Festival Gold Hugo Private Confessions Nominated
2000 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Faithless Nominated [6][41]
2000 Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Best Director Nominated
Goya Award Best European Film Nominated
2021 Academy Awards Academy Honorary Award Won [8]

Honors

  • 1984: Four Freedoms Laureate, Freedom from Want
  • 2006: Ibsen Centennial Commemoration Award
  • 2006: The Danish Poet won its director Torill Kove the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 79th Academy Awards.
  • 2010: 2010 FIAF Award [42]
  • 2012: International Indian Film Academy Awards for Outstanding Contribution to International Cinema

See also

  • List of Norwegian actors
  • List of Norwegian writers
  • List of film and television directors
  • List of Norwegian speaking theatre directors in the 20th and 21st centuries
  • List of Nordic Academy Award winners and nominees
  • List of actors with Academy Award nominations
  • List of actors with more than one Academy Award nomination in the acting categories
  • List of Golden Globe winners

References

  1. ^ a b "Liv ULLMANN - Festival de Cannes". 13 August 2023. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  2. ^ Holden, Stephen (12 December 2013). "A Filmmaker's Hold on His Muse". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  3. ^ Solway, Diane (October 2009). "Liv the Life". W Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  4. ^ Hattenstone, Simon (3 February 2001). "A Lifelong Liaison". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Liv Ullmann". Golden Globes. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  6. ^ a b "TROLOSA". Festival de Cannes (in French). Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  7. ^ a b c "BAFTA Awards Search | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Academy Awards Search | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences". awardsdatabase.oscars.org. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  9. ^ Beckett, Lois (26 March 2022). "'This is going to be cherished': Samuel L Jackson and Elaine May receive honorary Oscars". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  10. ^ "ABC News 06/24/21 Honorary Academy Award Recipients Announced". ABC News. Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  11. ^ Larsen, Svend Erik Løken (30 August 2017). "Liv Ullmann". Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2018 – via Store norske leksikon.
  12. ^ "Family tree of Liv ULLMANN".
  13. ^ Hattenstone, Simon (3 February 2001). "A Lifelong Liaison". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  14. ^ a b Jones, Donald (10 May 1986). "Unravelling Little Norway's Big Secrets". Toronto Star. p. M03.
  15. ^ Ouzounian, Richard (9 September 2014). "TIFF: Liv Ullmann spent 'worst and best times of my life' in Toronto". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  16. ^ "The Bergman connection". The Daily Telegraph. 12 February 2000. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  17. ^ Marcus, J. S. (17 September 2010). "Liv Ullmann's Return to the Stage". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  18. ^ Liv Ullmann, retrieved 16 February 2026
  19. ^ Barnes, Clive (15 April 1977). "Theater: Liv Ullman's 'Anna Christie'". The New York Times.
  20. ^ "Dressed to Kill (1980)". thisdistractedglobe.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  21. ^ a b "NRK TV – Se Viggo på lørdag". 18 September 2013. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  22. ^ "Berlinale: 1984 Juries". Berlin International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  23. ^ "Sex og singelliv for Liv Ullmann". 21 November 2003. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  24. ^ "Sex og singel-Liv". 20 November 2003. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  25. ^ "Eventyrlig Liv". 15 September 2012. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  26. ^ "30th Moscow International Film Festival (2008)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  27. ^ "Honoured to Share the Dais with Shabana Azmi, Liv Ullmann: Hassan". Mid-Day. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  28. ^ Boehm, Mike (1 February 2013). "Jessica Chastain to star in Liv Ullmann's film of 'Miss Julie'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  29. ^ Akolkar, Dheeraj (26 June 2020). Wars Don't End. Vimeo.
  30. ^ Willis, Courtney (26 March 2022). "Samuel L. Jackson, Danny Glover honored at Governors Awards". The Grio. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  31. ^ Bahr, Lindsay (24 March 2022). "Liv Ullmann has given out many Oscars. Now she gets her own". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  32. ^ "John Lithgow honors Liv Ullmann at the 2022 Governors Awards". Youtube. 7 June 2022. Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  33. ^ "Unicef People". UNICEF. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  34. ^ [dead link] "People: Liv Ullmann, Sharon Stone, Seal". International Herald Tribune. 13 May 2005.
  35. ^ "Honorary Doctors". Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  36. ^ "Liv Ullmann On Love, Passion, Isolation and Friendship in Doc 'Liv & Ingmar'". Film at Lincoln Center. 12 December 2013. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  37. ^ "An Independent Woman". Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  38. ^ "A Tale as Complex as the Lives Behind It". Los Angeles Times. 11 February 2001. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  39. ^ "Skammen (1968)". Swedish Film Institute. 2 March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015.
  40. ^ a b c d e "Accademia del Cinema Italiano - Premi David di Donatello". www.daviddidonatello.it. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  41. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Faithless". Festival de Cannes. Cannes Film Festival. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  42. ^ "FIAF Award". Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.

Further reading

  • Robert Emmet Long, ed. (2006). Liv Ullmann: Interviews. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1-57806-823-1, 1-57806-824-X (paper). Collected interviews with Ullmann.
  • David Outerbridge (1979). Without Makeup, Liv Ullmann: A Photo-Biography. New York City: William Morrow and Company. ISBN 0-688-03441-1.
  • Liv Ullmann (1977). Changing. New York City: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-41148-X. Autobiography.
  • Liv Ullmann (1984). Choices. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-53986-9. ISBN 978-0-394-53986-7. Autobiography.
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