Kyllikki Forssell
Teatterineuvos Vapaaherratar Kyllikki Forssell | |
|---|---|
 Forssell in 2007 | |
| Born | Kyllikki Kaarina Forssell 2 May 1925 |
| Died | 7 October 2019 (aged 94) Helsinki |
| Occupation(s) | actress, director |
| Spouses | Patrick Bruun
(m. 1945; div. 1950)Erik Indrenius-Zalewski
(m. 1951; died 1962) |
| Awards |
|
Kyllikki Forssell (2 May 1925 — 7 October 2019)[1] was a leading Finnish stage and film actress, with a career spanning over 60 years from the mid-20th to the early 21st century and film director.[2][3][4] She was one of the first four Finnish women film directors.[5]
Early life and education
Kyllikki Forssell was born in Helsinki to cavalry Colonel Juho Forssell and Kyllikki née Nyman-Linnove.[3] She had a strict, military-style upbringing, with her mother insisting — despite the family being Finnish-speaking — on speaking French to her daughter.[6] She received her education in Finnish, Swedish and German,[6] completing her secondary school in 1943, and went on, against the wishes of her anti-thespian father, to study acting at the Suomi-Filmi cinematic school (1943–44) and the Swedish Theatre stage school (1944–46).[2][3]
Career
Forssell was regarded as an intelligent, confident, and technically skilled actor, with a line of strong, regal characters in her repertoire.[7]
Although she appeared in several films, she is best known as a stage actor, most notably attached to the Finnish National Theatre where she worked over 40 years from 1948 until the early 1990s.[7][4] She also worked extensively with the Helsinki City Theatre.[8] She also directed four productions at the National Theatre,[2] as well as three television dramas.[9]
Stage work (selected)
A small selection of Forssell's many roles included (all at the Finnish National Theatre, unless otherwise indicated):[2][10]
- Jessica in Dirty Hands
- Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker
- Catharine in Suddenly Last Summer
- Gwendolen Fairfax in The Importance of Being Earnest
- Mary Tyrone in Long Day's Journey into Night
- Miss Mary Shepherd / Margaret Fairchild in The Lady in the Van
- Marquise de Merteuil in Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Her portrayal of Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker was considered by some as the performance of the decade.[2]
Filmography as actress (selected)
- Tyttö Astuu Elämään (1943) — Aino Mäkinen
- Nuoria Ihmisiä (1943) — Leni
- Suomisen Olli Yllättää (1945) — Leila
- Ylijäämänainen (1951) — Ella Quist
Filmography as director
- Shamrock (1953) - episode Happy Family
- Merihevonen (1961)
- Play Strindberg (1971)
Honours and awards
In 1976, Forssell received the Pro Finlandia medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland,[12] and in 1991, Finland's premier theatre award, the Ida Aalberg Prize.[2] In 1989, the honorary title of Teatterineuvos (lit. 'Theatre Counselor') was conferred on Forssell by the President of Finland.[1]
Personal life
In 1945, Forssell married the historian, Professor Patrick Bruun, but the marriage ended in divorce only five years later.[2] In 1951, she married Freiherr Erik Indrenius-Zalewski, thus becoming entitled Freifrau (Finnish: Vapaaherratar).[2] In the 1960s her affair with fellow actor Esko Salminen, 15 years her junior, caused something of a scandal due to their age difference.[7] Forssell retired in 2012, and died in 2019 at the age of 94, after a long battle with cancer.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Teatterineuvos Kyllikki Forssell on kuollut". Helsingin Sanomat (in suomi). 7 October 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 "Forssell, Kyllikki (1925-2019)". Kansallisbiografia.fi (in suomi). National Biography of Finland. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Kuka Kukin On (Who's Who) (in suomi). Helsinki: Otava. 1978. p. 139. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Forssell, Kyllikki". Uppslagsverket.fi (in svenska). Retrieved 21 April 2022.
- ↑ "Ensimmäiset neljä naista – vain he saivat ohjata suomalaisen elokuvan kultakaudella" [The first four women - only they got to direct in the golden age of Finnish film]. YLE.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Vapaaherratar löysi sisältään intohimoisen naisen". Turun Sanomat (in suomi). 26 October 2007. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Kyllikki Forssell oli Suomen johtava teatteridiiva – suhde Esko Salmiseen teki hänestä aikansa kohujulkkiksen" (in suomi). Yle. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ↑ "Teatterineuvos Kyllikki Forssell, 94, on kuollut". Iltalehti (in suomi). 7 October 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Kyllikki Forssell". IMDb.com. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ↑ "Rakastettu näyttelijä Kyllikki Forssell on kuollut". Kansallisteatteri.fi (in suomi). National Theatre. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
- ↑ "Kyllikki Forssell". Elonet. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
- ↑ "SUOMEN LEIJONAN PRO FINLANDIA -MITALIN SAAJAT 1945-2021". Ritarikunnat.fi (in suomi). The Orders of the White Rose of Finland and the Lion of Finland. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
