Liv Ullmann

Liv Ullmann

1938 — ?

Norvège, Suède

Performing Arts20th CenturySecond half of the 20th century, golden age of European and Scandinavian art-house cinema

Liv Ullmann is a Norwegian actress, director, and screenwriter born in 1938. The muse of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, she established herself as one of the greatest actresses in European cinema of the 20th century. She also advocates for children's rights as a UNICEF ambassador.

Key Facts

  • Born on December 16, 1938, in Tokyo to Norwegian parents
  • Major artistic collaboration with Ingmar Bergman beginning in 1966 (Persona)
  • Nominated twice for Golden Globes and honored with numerous international awards
  • Appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1980
  • Directed her first film Sofie in 1992, followed by Faithless (2000), based on a screenplay by Bergman

Works & Achievements

Persona (1966)

Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece in which Liv Ullmann plays an actress who stops speaking, opposite a nurse. A landmark of European art cinema, the film revealed Ullmann's expressive genius to the world.

Cries and Whispers (Viskningar och rop) (1972)

A Bergmanian drama about death and female suffering, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Ullmann's performance earned her international recognition and a Golden Globe nomination.

Scenes from a Marriage (Scener ur ett äktenskap) (1973)

A Swedish television series later adapted for cinema, offering a devastating portrait of a couple falling apart. The work is said to have caused a dramatic spike in divorce rates across Scandinavia, so authentic did it feel.

Changing (autobiography) (1976)

Liv Ullmann's first memoir, translated into twenty languages and a worldwide bestseller. In it, she explores her life as a woman, an actress, and a mother with a candor that stands as a milestone in women's autobiographical writing.

Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander) (1982)

Ingmar Bergman's final epic, winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Ullmann plays a mother whose children experience a childhood both magical and traumatic in early twentieth-century Sweden.

Sofie (direction) (1992)

Liv Ullmann's feature directorial debut, a portrait of a Danish Jewish woman spanning several decades. The film showcases her talents as a director, shaped by the formal rigor she learned at Bergman's side.

Faithless (Trolösa) (2000)

A film directed by Ullmann from an original autobiographical screenplay by Bergman, exploring guilt and betrayal within a couple. Acclaimed as one of the finest works to emerge from their collaboration in its later phase.

Anecdotes

Liv Ullmann met Ingmar Bergman in 1965 during the filming of Persona. The Swedish director was so struck by her face that he completely rewrote the screenplay for her. This encounter marked the beginning of an artistic collaboration and a romantic relationship that would last several years, and led to the birth of their daughter Linn in 1966.

In 1973, Liv Ullmann became the first non-American actress to appear on the cover of Time magazine, under the headline 'The New Ingrid Bergman'. This international recognition illustrated how her talent had transcended Scandinavian borders to reach audiences worldwide.

At the Golden Globes ceremony following her nomination for Cries and Whispers in 1974, Liv Ullmann delivered a widely noted speech denouncing the underrepresentation of women behind the camera in Hollywood. Her feminist stance — rare at the time in the film industry — earned her as much admiration as criticism.

Appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1980, Liv Ullmann visited crisis zones in Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia. She testified before the United States Congress on the living conditions of refugee children, directly contributing to the securing of emergency funding. Her humanitarian commitment earned her numerous international honors.

In 2000, Liv Ullmann directed Faithless, based on an original screenplay by Ingmar Bergman, forty years after their first collaboration. Bergman, too old to direct it himself, entrusted her with this autobiographical work on guilt and betrayal. The film was praised by critics as one of the most accomplished works in the Bergman canon.

Primary Sources

Changing (Skifter) (1976)
I am not a liberated woman. I am a woman who is trying to liberate herself. Every role I play is a way of understanding who I am, of finding myself through others.
Choices (Valg) (1984)
The beauty of age is that you are no longer afraid to tell the truth. I spent my youth smiling when I wanted to cry. Now I cry when I want to cry, and I smile when I am happy.
Speech before the U.S. Congress on behalf of UNICEF (1982)
I have seen children die not from fate, but from indifference. Every dollar you refuse to allocate to these programs has a face, a name, an age. These children cannot vote, they cannot advocate for themselves. We must do it for them.
Interview given to Cahiers du Cinéma (1978)
Bergman did not direct actors the way other filmmakers did. He created a space of silence and absolute trust. He would watch us and wait. That gaze was a permission to be entirely oneself, without armor.

Key Places

Fårö Island, Sweden

This remote island in the Baltic Sea was Ingmar Bergman's retreat, where Liv Ullmann lived by his side for several years. It was here that some of their most personal films were conceived, in an isolation that fostered creativity.

National Theatre of Oslo, Norway

A major cultural institution where Liv Ullmann built her theatrical career and to which she regularly returns to perform Ibsen and Strindberg. This venue embodies her deep connection to the Scandinavian theatrical tradition.

Svensk Filmindustri Studios, Stockholm

These Swedish studios are the birthplace of the Ullmann-Bergman collaboration. It was on these soundstages that Persona, Cries and Whispers, and Scenes from a Marriage were filmed — landmarks of world cinema.

New York, United States

Liv Ullmann achieved great success on Broadway during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in productions of Ibsen directed by American directors. The city became her second artistic home.

Stavanger, Norway

The city where Liv Ullmann spent her childhood and teenage years, settling there after her family's return from the Far East. It was here that she discovered amateur theatre and first recognized her calling as a performer.

Gallery

Liv Ullmann

Liv Ullmann

Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5 — Created by Rita Molnár 2000.

Liv Ullmann 2014

Liv Ullmann 2014

Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 — gdcgraphics

Liv Ullmann (cropped)

Liv Ullmann (cropped)

Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5 — Created by Rita Molnár 2000.

Liv Ullmann og kultursjef Anne-Kath. Parow ankommer Teaterhuset Avant Garden (1988) (48909277038)

Liv Ullmann og kultursjef Anne-Kath. Parow ankommer Teaterhuset Avant Garden (1988) (48909277038)

Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 — Municipal Archives of Trondheim from Trondheim, Norway

Liv Ullmann 2024 (cropped)

Liv Ullmann 2024 (cropped)

Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 — Nasjonalbiblioteket


FIGURES OF LIGHT

FIGURES OF LIGHT

Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — STANLEY KAUFFMANN

Alf Olsen mottar Trondheim kommunes kulturpris (1988) (48909796741)

Alf Olsen mottar Trondheim kommunes kulturpris (1988) (48909796741)

Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 — Municipal Archives of Trondheim from Trondheim, Norway

See also