Нильс Поппе: Швециялық актер және комедия шебері

Swedish actor (1908–2000)

Nils Poppe (31 May 1908 – 28 June 2000) was a Swedish actor, comedian, director, screenwriter and theatre manager. He is internationally most famous for his part in Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, but in Sweden he was much loved and participated in over 50 films on cinema and TV.

Poppe's mother was unmarried and forced to place him with a Danish foster mother in Malmö, Sweden, who put him on a diet of bread dipped in beer. After two years he was rescued from her by Anders and Amanda Jönsson at Möllevången in Malmö, who became his foster parents. His theatrical dreams began to blossom early, and at school he showed off his comic talent. On 1 August 1926, Poppe enlisted in the navy and trained as a torpedoman at the 1st Professional Company in Karlskrona as No. 427 Jönsson. However, the four year enlistment period had to be prematurely terminated on 16 March 1928, likely due to a heart condition, which had shortly before resulted in 30 days of treatment at the Navy Hospital. Thereafter, he was not called up for military service, but he enlisted with number 936 2/1928. Nils Poppe attended in Svalöv from 1929 to 1930.

His career began with at the in Malmö in 1930, arranged by the school rector. Initially he had his sights set on becoming a dramatic actor, but realised that he was better suited for comedy, revue, operetta and musical, especially as he also was a good dancer and singer, and decided to develop his comic streak. From the start he had a natural talent for dance and acrobatics, which he used for most of his career. During his four years at the Hippodrome Theatre, he appeared in a wide range of revues and operettas, including The Green Pastures, Mutt and Jeff, and The Flower of Hawaii. During a tour with the operetta Mr. Cinders (1934), he was offered a role in Klangerevyn at the Folkets Hus theatre in Stockholm. Poppe accepted and became a resident of Stockholm for a long time to come. He quickly became an indispensable part of the Klangerevyn, demonstrating his acrobatic talents in sketches. He became famous and popular in the Stockholm entertainment scene. It was at the Folkets Hus theatre that he first performed his Charlie Chaplin parody. Nils Poppe was often compared to Chaplin; the similarities were many, although Poppe developed his own style over time. The Poppe Ericson pair became a popular dance couple and were often compared to Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. In 1949, a film version was made entitled .

His film debut was in 1937, a modest role as a bear in the Adolf Jahr film ; a series of film comedies then followed, including Tre glada tokar, Tre skojiga skojare, Melodin från Gamla stan and Karusellen går. In the 1940s Poppe became the country's leading film comedian. With Annalisa Ericson as his partner, he made comic dance films such as Don't give up and Stackars lilla Sven. He tried to combine his comic talent with seriousness and reflection in films such as (1943), Money (1946) and (1946), which were artistic successes but not audience hits. In 1948 the character was born, the pedantic bully with the mustache, who became one of Poppe's most popular film characters. The first film, , was a smash hit, running for 48 weeks in Stockholm cinemas. Seven Bom films were made, including (1949), Customs Officer Bom (1951) and (1958). The Bom films were also international successes, and were particularly popular in Germany. Another figure associated with Poppe is , the Scanian student who knew all the law by heart. There were four comedy feature films with him as the main character. Consequently, Ingmar Bergman's decision to cast Poppe in Ingmar Bergman's 1957 film The Seventh Seal as the joker Jof surprised many, but with that role Poppe showed that he could also convey much warmth and compassion. He would later appear in another Bergman film, The Devil's Eye (1960), playing a vicar.

In the early 1960s, his career took a downturn. His desire to entertain disappeared and his popularity declined. His career was revived when he took over the open air theatre in Helsingborg in 1966 and returned to the stage. The first play was Charles Dyer's Rattle of a Simple Man and was the start of a long lasting tradition. With operettas and farces such as Charley's Aunt, The White Horse Inn, , The Chaste Libertine and Meine Schwester und ich, he made the open air theatre a national phenomenon. People flocked from all over Sweden to see Poppe, in rain or shine. When the plays began to be broadcast on Sveriges Television during Epiphany weekend, the audience numbers increased even more. In addition to his success at Fredriksdalsteatern, Poppe made guest appearances at Lisebergsteatern in Gothenburg, Maximteatern in Stockholm, and the city theatres in Helsingborg and Malmö. Particularly memorable is his Tevye in the musical Fiddler on the Roof at the Helsingborg City Theatre in 1979. Throughout his career, Poppe was rather private. Just in time for his 80th birthday in 1988, he was persuaded by TV producer to appear in an interview series called Poppe i närbild ('Poppe close up'). Many admired and marvelled at Poppe's vitality and mobility; at the age of 80 he could still perform small dance numbers on stage. He retired at the age of 85 and gave his last performance, Bröderna Östermans huskors, in 1993. He performed opposite Eva Rydberg, who later took over Fredriksdalteatern and continued it in Poppe's spirit.