Birgitta Andersson died on Sunday after a short illness, according to her son Matti Bye.
All the children and grandchildren were with her, he told TT.
She reportedly began her career with the dream of playing heavy Russian drama. Birgitta Andersson did not get many such roles, even though she was involved with the Dramaten in Stockholm for a number of years.
Instead, she became best known as a comedian, with a sense of timing and sharp lines. On the revue stage, she collaborated with Karl Gerhard, Hagge Geigert, Povel Ramel and Hasse & Tage. The latter also hired her for the film classic "Att angöra en brygga" in 1965.
Small as a teaspoon
But it was in the Christmas calendar "The Old Woman Who Shrunk to the Size of a Teaspoon" in 1967 that she really made a big impact. Alf Prøysen's story about the old woman who shrank to miniature size at the most inopportune moments was so popular that it became a television series in 1973 with the same cast.
In an interview with Aftonbladet in 2023 ahead of her 90th birthday, she said that the atmosphere almost became "nasty" during the recordings:
Since it was a recording, I had the whole costume on and there were so many children standing around me saying, "Be small!" Word had spread that we were recording there, and that was probably why I was surrounded by children who wanted me to be small.
The nose grew
In 1974 she took a new role. In “From A to Ö - a journey around the world”, she played Hedvig Hök who lived in the forest, with the owl Helge (Bert-Åke Varg) as her closest neighbor. Every time she pretended to understand a difficult word, her nose grew and did not shrink again until she learned the correct meaning of the word.
The troll Tova in the Christmas calendar "Trolltider" and Dynamit-Harry's charming girlfriend Doris in the "Jönssonligan" films are also roles that Birgitta Andersson has left her mark on. In an interview with Aftonbladet in 2018, she was asked what had been the most fun to do during her career.
I can't say that. When I was working, I always used to say that this is the role I'm doing at the moment. There was a lot that was fun and good. But "From A to Ö" with Bert-Åke as the owl and me as Hedvig, I probably put it as number one.
In 2016, she received the honorary award at the Guldbagge Gala for her contributions to Swedish film with the motivation "Birgitta Andersson is one of the absolute foremost comediennes of our time."
Sara Ullberg/TT
Facts: Birgitta Andersson
TT
Born in 1933 in Mariestad.
She became interested in acting at an early age and attended the Pickwick Club's theatre school alongside her high school studies. When she applied to the Gothenburg City Theatre's student school the following year, she was not accepted - but her career took off anyway.
Had her big breakthrough in Hagge Geigert's summer revue in 1960, where she performed, among other things, "Sveriges vackraste röst" and "Sverigebruden". Participated in Knäpppupp previews with Karl Gerhard and Povel Ramel and was in the Svenska Ord revues "Gula hund" and "Spader Madame!".
On television, she played the role of Teskedsgumman in "The Little Lady Who Became Small as a Teaspoon", the year's advent calendar in 1967. In 1974, she made her debut as Hedvig Hök in the television series "Från A till Ö - en resa orden runt" and played the troll Tova in the Christmas calendar "Trolltider" in 1979.
She performed at both the Royal Dramatic Theatre and various private theatres. One of her leading roles was Martha Brewster in "Arsenic and Old Laces".
Many also remember her as Doris in the "Jönssonligan" films, where she played opposite Björn Gustafson's Dynamit-Harry and as Abbe's mother in "Madicken".
Birgitta Andersson's son Matti Bye has made a name for himself as a pianist and composer.
