# Viveca Lindfors

Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (December 29, 1920 – October 25, 1995) was a Swedish American stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress.

## Biography

Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the daughter of Karin Emilia Therese (née Dymling) and Axel Torsten Lindfors.
She trained at the Royal Dramatic Training Academy, Stockholm. Soon after, she became a theater and film star in Sweden. She moved to the United States in 1946 after being signed by Warner Bros., and began working in Hollywood. She appeared in more than 100 films, including Night Unto Night, No Sad Songs for Me, Dark City, The Halliday Brand, King of Kings, An Affair of the Skin, Creepshow, The Sure Thing, and Stargate. She appeared with actors including Stewart Granger, Ronald Reagan, Jeffrey Hunter, Charlton Heston, Glenn Ford, Lizabeth Scott, and Errol Flynn.
In 1952, she appeared on Broadway alongside Edmond O'Brien in John Van Druten's I've Got Sixpence. Two years later, she made her West End debut in J. B. Priestley's poorly received play The White Countess.
Lindfors appeared frequently on television, usually as a guest star, though she played the title role in the miniseries Frankenstein's Aunt. Most of her TV appearances were in the 1950s and 1960s, with a resurgence in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1990, she won an Emmy Award for her guest appearance on the series Life Goes On. She was nominated for an Emmy in 1978 for her supporting role in the TV movie A Question of Guilt.
In 1962, she shared the Silver Bear for Best Actress award with Rita Gam at the Berlin Film Festival, for their performances in Tad Danielewski's No Exit. Among her later film roles, she played the kindly and worldly wise Professor Taub in The Sure Thing (1985).
In the last years of her life, she taught acting at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, and had a lead role (essentially playing herself) in Henry Jaglom's Last Summer in the Hamptons (1995). The same year, she returned to the Strindberg Festival in Stockholm to perform in the play In Search of Strindberg.

## Personal life

Lindfors was married four times, to Swedish cinematographer Harry Hasso, Swedish attorney and World Chess Federation president Folke Rogard, director Don Siegel, and Hungarian writer, producer, and director George Tabori. She had three children – two sons (John Tabori with Hasso, and actor Kristoffer Tabori, with Siegel) and a daughter (Lena Tabori, with Rogard).
Lindfors was a naturalized U.S. citizen and a liberal Democrat, who supported the presidency of Jimmy Carter.
Lindfors died from complications of rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 74 in Uppsala.

## Selected filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1940 | The Crazy Family | Lisa | |
| 1941 | If I Could Marry the Minister | Eva Örn | |
| 1941 | In Paradise | Angelica Jansson | |
| 1942 | Tomorrow's Melody | Maj-Lis Wassberg | |
| 1942 | The Woman of Sin | The Young Woman |
| 1942 | The Yellow Clinic | Nurse Doris | |
| 1943 | The Brothers' Woman | Emma | |
| 1943 | The Sin of Anna Lans | Anna Lans | |
| 1944 | Appassionata | Maria | |
| 1944 | Mist on the Sea | Maria Rosati | |
| 1944 | I Am Fire and Air | Jenny Ahrman | |
| 1945 | Black Roses | Märta Lind | |
| 1945 | The Serious Game | Lydia Stille | |
| 1945 | Maria of Kvarngarden | Maria | |
| 1946 | Interlude | Vellamo Toivonen | |
| 1948 | To the Victor | Christine Lund Lestrac | |
| 1948 | Adventures of Don Juan | Queen Margaret | |
| 1949 | Singoalla | Singoalla | |
| 1949 | Night Unto Night | Ann Gracie | |
| 1950 | Dark City | Victoria Winant | |
| 1950 | Backfire | Lysa Radoff | |
| 1950 | This Side of The Law | Evelyn Taylor | |
| 1950 | No Sad Songs for Me | Chris Radna | |
| 1950 | The Flying Missile | Karin Hansen | |
| 1951 | Four in a Jeep | Franziska Idinger | |
| 1951 | Journey Into Light | Christine Thorssen | |
| 1952 | Riders of Vengeance | Elena de Ortega | aka The Raiders |
| 1955 | Moonfleet | Mrs. Minton | |
| 1955 | Run for Cover | Helga Swenson | |
| 1957 | The Halliday Brand | Aleta Burris | |
| 1958 | I Accuse! | Lucie Dreyfus | |
| 1958 | Tempest | Caterine II | |
| 1959 | Rawhide | Luisa Esquivel Y Hadley | 1 episode |
| 1960 | Johnny Midnight | Simone in episode "X Equals Murder") | |
| 1960 | The Story of Ruth | Eleilat | |
| 1960 | Weddings and Babies | Bea | |
| 1961 | King of Kings | Claudia Procula Pontius Pilate's wife | |
| 1961 | Tempest | Catherine the Great | |
| 1961 | The Untouchables | Mrs. Jarreau | |
| 1961 | Naked City | Lulu Kronen | 1 episode |
| 1962 | No Exit | Inez | aka Sinners Go to Hell |
| 1962–1964 | The Defenders | Mady Lorne / Madeline Flanders | 2 episodes |
| 1963 | The Damned | Freya Neilson | aka These Are the Damned |
| 1964 | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea | Dr. Laura Rettig | 1 episode |
| 1964 | 12 O'Clock High | Nicole Trouchard | 1 episode |
| 1965 | Brainstorm | Dr. Larstadt | |
| 1965 | Bonanza | Angela Bergstrom | Episode: "The Spotlight" |
| 1965–1966 | Ben Casey | Mrs. Boone / Vivian Bennett | 2 episodes |
| 1967 | The Diary of Anne Frank | Petronella van Daan | TV movie |
| 1967–1969 | The F.B.I. | Ida Salzman / Eva Bolen | 2 episodes |
| 1970 | Cauldron of Blood | Tania | |
| 1970 | The Interns | Jennie | 1 episode |
| 1972 | A House Without Boundaries | Señorita Elvira | |
| 1973 | The Bell from Hell | Marta | |
| 1973 | The Way We Were | Paula Reisner | |
| 1976 | Welcome to L.A. | Susan Moore | |
| 1978 | A Question of Guilt | Dr. Rosen | TV movie. Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special |
| 1978 | Girlfriends | Beatrice | |
| 1978 | A Wedding | Ingrid Hellstrom | |
| 1979 | Voices | Mrs. Lemon | |
| 1981 | The Hand | Doctress | |
| 1982 | Inside the Third Reich | Gypsy woman | TV movie |
| 1982 | Creepshow | Aunt Bedelia | Section: "Father's Day" |
| 1982 | Dynasty | Adriana | 1 episode |
| 1983 | Dies rigorose Leben | Ada | |
| 1984 | Trapper John, M.D. | Zella Korevechi | 1 episode |
| 1984 | Passions | Lila | TV movie |
| 1984 | Silent Madness | Mrs. Collins | |
| 1985 | The Sure Thing | Professor Taub | |
| 1987 | Frankenstein's Aunt | Hannah von Frankenstein | 7 episodes |
| 1987 | Rachel River | Harriet White | |
| 1989 | Misplaced | Zofia | |
| 1989 | Flickan vid stenbänken | Storråda | TV series |
| 1990 | Life Goes On | Mrs. Doubcha | 1 episode. Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series |
| 1990 | The Exorcist III | Nurse X | |
| 1990 | China Beach | Ilsa | 1 episode |
| 1991 | Zandalee | Tatta | |
| 1991 | Child of Darkness, Child of Light | Ida Walsh | |
| 1991 | The Linguini Incident | Miracle | |
| 1992 | North of Pittsburgh | Rosa Andretti | Genie Award nomination for Best Actress |
| 1993 | Law & Order | Helga Holtz | 1 episode |
| 1994 | Stargate | Catherine Langford | |
| 1995 | Last Summer in the Hamptons | Helena Mora | |

## Major stage appearances

| Year | Title | Role | Theatre |
| 1952 | I've Got Sixpence | Inez Cabral | Ethel Barrymore Theatre |
| 1954–55 | Anastasia | Anna | Lyceum Theatre |
| 1956 | Miss Julie | Miss Julie | Phoenix Theatre |
| 1956 | The Stronger | Miss Y | Phoenix Theatre |
| 1956 | King Lear | Cordelia | New York City Center |
| 1959 | I Rise in Flames, Cried the Phoenix | Frieda | Lucille Lortel Theatre |
| 1962 | Brecht on Brecht | n/a | Lucille Lortel Theatre |
| 1963 | Pal Joey | Vera Simpson | New York City Center |
| 1965 | Postmark Zero | n/a | Brooks Atkinson Theatre |
| 1967 | The Niggerlovers | The God, Angela | Lucille Lortel Theatre |
| 1971 | Dance of Death | Alice | Ritz Theatre |