Mai Zetterling

Mai Zetterling was a Swedish actress, film director and novelist whose work in film and television stretched across six decades. Raised in Västerås, she joined the Royal Dramatic Theatre at 17, and her breakthrough came when Ingmar Bergman wrote Torment (1944) for her. She then moved to England, where Basil Dearden cast her in the title role of Frieda (1947), and she later acted for Bergman again on Music in Darkness (1948). She was known for glamorous parts in dramas and thrillers, yet comedy suited her just as well. Among her credits were Only Two Can Play (1962) opposite Peter Sellers and The Witches (1990), directed by Nicolas Roeg. From the early 1960s she also directed, and her short The War Game brought a BAFTA nomination and a Silver Lion at Venice. Her first feature, Älskande par (1964), stirred scandal at Cannes, and she wrote novels as well.