Gösta Ekman (senior)

Gösta Ekman
Gösta Ekman circa 1930.
Born	Frans Gösta Viktor Ekman (1890-12-28)December 28, 1890 , Sweden
Died	January 12, 1938(1938-01-12) (aged 47) Stockholm, Sweden
Nationality	Swedish
Occupation	Actor, theatre manager
Years active	1911-1937
Spouse(s)	Greta Sundström (m. 1914–38)
Children	Hasse Ekman (1915-2004) Jan Mikael Ekman (1926-1927)
Relatives	Gösta Ekman (grandson)

Gösta Ekman, Sr. (December 28, 1890 – January 12, 1938), was a Swedish actor. Generally spoken of as Swedish theatre's most legendary stage actor, Gösta Ekman enjoyed a prolific stage career during his short life, becoming the first real star of Swedish theatre.

Born as Frans Gösta Viktor Ekman, his boyish good looks attracted both sexes, helping to create a massive cult following and elevating him to the status of a living legend. Combined with a beautiful voice and a powerful stage presence, Ekman was able to captivate his audiences.

He was known as a self-taught master of disguise with theatre make-up and costumes, Gösta Ekman was equally convincing as a farmer's son, an 18th-century middle-aged aristocrat, or an 80-year-old lunatic. Furthermore, he played in comedies, tragedies, dramas, and operettas. As a result, it was believed that he was capable of being convincing in all genres and as all types of characters. At different times, he also ran and supervised several private theatres in , including the Oscarsteatern, the Vasateatern, and the Konserthusteatern. He was also head of the Gothenburg City Theatre in the 1930s. At the Vasateatern, which he ran from 1931 to 1935, he both directed and played the lead in several plays, while also producing a large number of productions. As a result, his time at the Vasateatern is considered to be the peak of his stage career. He first entered the stage as an extra in an operetta in 1907, but made his professional stage debut in the renowned Selander Company in 1911. The ghost of Gösta Ekman is still said to haunt his former dressing room at the theatre.

Ekman started in films at the dawn of the Swedish film industry and played an important role in its development. One of his first film roles was in Victor Sjöström's experimental film Trädgårdsmästaren (1912). Later, he played the lead in the first Swedish talkie, För hennes skull (1930). Ekman also acted in two films that would gain international recognition: F. W. Murnau's silent film classic Faust, where he played the title character, and in the original 1936 version of Intermezzo, where he played a world-famous violinist opposite Ingrid Bergman in her breakout role. But they had in fact already acted opposite each other in the Swedish 1935 movie Swedenhielms Family where they share a couple of wonderful scenes alone together as their characters have a heart-to-heart conversation on life and love; among the most memorable moments in the film.