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Lars Hanson (July 26, 1886 - April 8,
1965)
 Born
Lars Mauritz Hanson in Göteborg, Sweden, Hanson began his career on
the stages of Sweden after studying drama in Helsinki, Finland and
Stockholm as a Shakespearean actor, appearing in such classics as
Othello and Hamlet. Hanson made his film debut in the 1915 film
Dolken, directed by Mauritz Stiller, and his popularity as a leading
man in his homeland grew with ensuing roles. He was a student of
Dramatens elevskola.
While already a well established popular actor in Sweden and much of
continental Europe, Lars Hanson gained greater international
recognition for his role as the title character in the 1923 Stiller
film Gösta Berlings saga (English: The Story of Gösta Berling),
which featured a young Mauritz Stiller protegé named Greta Garbo in
one of her first major appearances on screen as well as film stage
actress Gerda Lundequist. At the request of American actress Lillian
Gish, Hanson arrived in Hollywood, California in 1926 (the same year
as Garbo) to star opposite Gish in the film version of The Scarlet
Letter directed by fellow countrymen Victor Sjöström.
Hanson's Hollywood career as an actor steadily grew momentum during
the 1920s and he was paired with Greta Garbo in two more motion
pictures; MGM's 1927 box-office hit Flesh and the Devil, which also
starred Garbo's offscreen lover, the successful film actor John
Gilbert, and 1928's The Divine Woman, again directed Victor Sjöström.
Sjöström also directed Hanson in a performance opposite Lillian Gish
in The Wind (1928). By the end of the 1920s however, the era of the
silent film was waning, and seeing that his heavy Swedish accent
might be a liability in American films, Lars Hanson returned to
Europe.
Upon arriving back in Europe in 1928, Hanson starred in the aptly
titled German film Heimkehr (English: Homecoming) opposite Gustav
Fröhlich and Dita Parlo.
Lars Hanson continued to appear in Swedish films until the early
1950s before retiring. Hanson's last performance was in the 1951
film Dårskapens hus (The Nuthouse).
Hanson balanced his film work with an outstanding stage career,
making memorable appearances in A Dream Play (1935), The Ghost
Sonata (1942), and as James Tyrone in the world premiere of Eugene
O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night (1956). In 1956, Hanson,
along with actress Inga Tidblad became the first two actors to
receive The Eugene O'Neill Award, presented annually to Sweden's
most outstanding stage actors. Hanson was also a successful
Shakespearean actor, especially for his performance as Richard III. |
