Inga Tidblad

About Inga Tidblad

Inga Sofia Tidblad (born May 29, 1901 – died September 12, 1975) was a Swedish actress. She was one of the most praised actresses in Swedish theatre.

Inga is most notable for her many female leads in Shakespeare and Strindberg plays, star performances by Tidblad on stage include her Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Billie Moore in Broadway, the Angel in Cenodoxus, Aude in Graven under triumfbågen, Anna Boleyn in Henry VIII, Juliet in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Ellen in Älskling jag ger mig, Rosalind in Shakespeare's As You Like It, Lotta Enterfelt in Svenska sprätthöken, Alegre in Maxwell Anderson's play Key Largo (1940), Sonja in Crime and Punishment, Blanche in Folkungasagan, Portia in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Mary Vetsera in Mayerlingdramat, Cecilia in Rovdjuret, The Daughter in Strindberg's The Ghost Sonata, Mrs. Kenyon in Samson Raphaelson's play Skylark (1943), Beréngère in Robert Boissy's Jupiter (1943), Marguerite Gautier in Alexandre Dumas' The Lady of the Camellias (1954), Mary Tyrone in the world premiere of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night (1956), in Terence Rattigan's Separate Tables at Vasateatern (1958–59) and as Queen Christina in August Strindberg's play Kristina in 1961.

She starred in some notable early Swedish silent films, including Norrtullsligan (1923), Mälarpirater (1923), Farbror Frans (1926) and Svarte Rudolf (1928). She made her film debut in Andersson, Pettersson och Lundström in 1923. In 1930 she starred in the lead, opposite Gösta Ekman, in the first Swedish talkie; For Her Sake. Notable performances on film include Norrtullsligan (1923), Sången om den eldröda blomman (1934), Intermezzo (the original Swedish 1936 film), Flames in the Dark (1942), Det brinner en eld (1943), Den osynliga muren (1944), Frånskild aka Divorced (1951; directed by Gustaf Molander and written by Ingmar Bergman), Kvinnohuset (1953), Enhörningen (1955), Pärlemor (1961); and Pistolen (1973), for which Tidblad was awarded a Guldbagge Award (the finest Swedish film award, the Golden Beetle) for Best Actress, shortly before her death.

She was also the voice of Pinocchio in the Swedish dubbing of Walt Disney's film Pinocchio (1940) and also guest-starred in an episode of the early American TV series Foreign Intrigue in 1956. Was awarded the Eugene O'Neill Award in 1956 and a Guldbagge Award for Best Actress in 1974 for her role in Pistol.

Inga was married first to actor Ragnar Billberg (1923–1930) and then to actor Håkan Westergren from 1931 (to her death in 1975), with whom she had daughter Meg Westergren and son Claes-Håkan Westergren, also actors.