Edda Heiðrún Backman

Edda Heiðrún Backman (27 November 1957 – 1 October 2016) was an Icelandic actress, voice actress, singer, painter and director.

She was involved in many theatre productions in Iceland, as well as Icelandic films. In 2004 she quit acting and started directing after getting diagnosed with MND. She retired altogether from the theatre in 2006.

Early life Backman was born to parents Jóhanna Dagfríður Arnmundardóttir and Halldór Sigurður Backman in Akranes, Iceland in 1957. The family moved to Reykjavík when she was three years old. She has 3 siblings: Arnmundur Sævar, supreme court prosecutor, Inga Jónína, singer and Ernst Jóhannes, graphic advertiser.

In 1997 she looked back on her childhood with happy memories: "I used to visit my grandparents in Akranes quite often. I used to call it "fat camp". I was a tiny little thing as a child and my grandmother made sure that I would return to the city well fed. I loved to stay with my grandparents. It was so quiet and I could run around rhubarb gardens and steal an occasional rutabaga".

Backman's debut role was as Árdís in the play Í hart í bak by Jökull Jakobsson. The play was set up in Iðnó in central Reykjavík. After that she starred in an Icelandic adaptation of Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre of Iceland. It is a memorial grant from the estate of actress Stefaníu Guðmundsdóttur given to promising Icelandic actors. Backman used the money to travel to Russia for 5 weeks visiting theatres in Moscow and Leningrad for educational purposes. In the spring of 1991, after a disagreement with the theatre director, Backman tore up her contract with the National Theatre of Iceland and went back to the Reykjavík City Theatre.

She then starred as Elmira in Tartuffe by Molière. In 1992-1993 theatre season she starred in the Spanish fly and Eva Luna.

In the years 1994-1997 she played in numerous other plays and musicals. To name a few are: Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Elvira in Don Juan and Sally Bowles in Cabaret in 1995. In 1996 she starred in a Finnish-French-Icelandic TV-series for teenagers about people on horses in the Icelandic highlands.

Backman was also a talented voice actress and lent her voice to numerous animated characters. To name some are: Jasmine in Aladdin, Shenzi in Lion King, Esmeralda in The Huncback of Notre Dame, Kanga in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Georgette in Oliver & Company and Lady in Lady and the Tramp.

Singing career Backman had her singing debut in the Little Shop of Horrors in 1985. She took singing and piano lessons for one semester.

in 1990 she started the singing quartet Blái Hatturin (Eng: the blue hat) with fellow actors/singers Egill Ólafsson, Jóhann Sigurðarsson, Jóhann G. Jóhannsson and Ása Hlín Svavarsdóttir. They traveled and performed all over Iceland and went abroad a few times. The group split in 1993 but remained friends.

She has released an album with Icelandic children's songs, children's Christmas songs and released albums with her musicals: The Little Shop of Horrors, Cabaret and Eva Luna.

Backman became a vivid spokesperson for the rights of disabled people. She raised about 200 million Icelandic Kronas for rebuilding and updating facilities for people who were training to get back mobility after sickness or accidents. Her funeral took place in Hallgrímskirkja on 10 October 2016.

Awards 2003 - Edda Award 2005 - Order of the Falcon 2006 - City Artist of Reykjavík 2008 - The parliament of Iceland's honorary artist award 2015 - Gríman (theatre academy of Iceland) honorary Award