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 filmmakerIngmar Bergman, whom she dated for five years.[2][3][4] She acted in many of his films, includingPersona (1966),Cries and Whispers (1972),Scenes from a Marriage (1973),The Passion of Anna (1969), andAutumn Sonata (1978).
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 duringWorld War II, and was thus sent to theDachau concentration camp, where he died.[13] When Ullmann was two years old, she moved with her parents to Canada and settled inToronto, where her father worked at theNorwegian Air Force base onToronto 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] They eventually returned to Norway and lived inTrondheim.[17]
Ullmann with her mother Janna in 1959Ullmann 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 ofNora Helmer inHenrik Ibsen's playA Doll's House.
Ullmann made her New York City stage debut in 1975, also inA Doll's House. Appearances inAnna Christie andGhosts followed, as well as the less-than-successful musical version ofI Remember Mama. This show, composed byRichard Rodgers, experienced numerous revisions during a long preview period, then closed after 108 performances. She also featured in the widely deprecated musical movie remake ofLost Horizon during 1973. In 1977, when she appeared on Broadway at theImperial Theatre inEugene O'Neill'sAnna 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."[18]
In 1980,Brian De Palma, who directedCarrie, wanted Liv Ullmann to play the role of Kate Miller in the erotic crime thrillerDressed to Kill and offered it to her, but she declined because of the violence.[19] The role subsequently went toAngie 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.[20] 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.[20]
During 1984, she was chairperson of the jury at the34th Berlin International Film Festival,[21] 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) andChoices (1984).
Ullmann's first film as a director wasSofie (1992); her friend and former co-actor, Erland Josephson, starred on it. She later directed the Bergman-composed movieFaithless (2000).Faithless garnered nominations for both thePalme d'Or and Best Actress category at theCannes Film Festival.
In 2003, Ullmann reprised her role forScenes from a Marriage inSaraband (2003), Bergman's final telemovie. Her previous screen role had been in the Swedish movieZorn (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.[22] She was amused by the offer, and said that it was one of the few programs she regularly watched, but she turned it down.[23] Later that year,Steven Soderbergh wrote a role in the movieOcean's 12 especially for her, but she also turned that down.[24]
In 2018, Ullmann narratedWars Don't End, a documentary about theLebensborn war children.[28]
In March 2022, theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that Ullmann would receive theAcademy Honorary Award.[29][30]John Lithgow presented her with the statue at theGovernors 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".[31]
Ullmann was married to Norwegian psychiatrist Hans Jakob Stang from 1960 until they divorced in 1965. She was with Swedish filmmakerIngmar Bergman from 1965 to 1970, becoming his muse and frequent collaborator.[35] They had a daughter, writerLinn Ullmann (born 1966), whose sonHalfdan Ullmann Tøndel (born 1990) became a filmmaker.
In 1985, Ullman married American real estate developer Donald Saunders fromBoston, and they divorced in 1995 but remained in a relationship.[36][37]
^Larsen, Svend Erik Løken (30 August 2017)."Liv Ullmann".Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved11 December 2018 – via Store norske leksikon.
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
