Karin Swanström

Karin Swanström (June 13, 1873 – July 5, 1942) was a Swedish actress, producer and director.

Early life Swanström was born in St. Olai congregation in Norrköping. Little is known of her life before she was accepted for the Royal Dramatic Theatre school in 1890 when she was seventeen. Already in school her acting ability was acknowledged by her performance in two student plays. In 1892 she left the Royal Dramatic Theater school and was employed by The Royal Dramatic Theater and was in the ensemble for five years. In 1897 Karin Swanström went from the Royal Dramatic Theater to Selander Company, that was run by Hjalmar and Concordia Selander, for a year and then she went to Swedish Theater Company in Helsinki in 1899. and at the same time she began acting in silent films with Maurtiz Stiller's De landsflyktige in 1921. It received even reviews it was said that the film was neither bad or good, it had good, even great, moments but it also had bad parts as a "slow tempo" because of the "large number of attraction shots". Robin Hood did celebrate Swanström for her acting but doesn't mention that she's the film's director or on her directing abilities. But Robin Hood wasn't the only one who gave Swanström special attention, Jens Flik from NDA wrote "to adapt the rich experience, that she brings from the stage to tackle cinema's own demands as an art form. You can only hope that, Mrs.Swanström is for the future hired more often than now as a director, it would do our domestic pictures a whole lot of good." Several critics remarked that the picture was more theatrical than cinematic, but one critic wrote "Karin Swanström direction was because of explainable reasons not able to make any miracles with this Bergmansk screenplay, but you can trace her ambitious work, which is best shown in the details, and that's never wrong". There was also a feeling that the climax with the confrontation at the ball wasn't as shocking as they thought it was going to be, and there were people who felt the film was paler in comparison too the book. But the critics praised Magda Holm, who played the title role of Katja, for her acting and expressiveness.

Sound Era After Girl in Tails, Swanström kept on acting in theater and films. In July 1934, she was employed by AB Svensk Filmindustri and soon became a producer, then she was an artistic adviser, and then production manager. In this role, and with her husband being also a production manager, they were heads of production in AB Svensk Filmindustri from 1934 until 1941.

In 1942, Karin Swanström died in Stockholm, aged 69; she was survived by her husband Stellan Claësson.

Partial filmography

De landsflyktige (1921) - Ivanova Barantscheff House Slaves (1923)- Mathilde Rasmussen Anna-Clara and Her Brothers (1923) - Aunt Boman at the Exhibition (1923) - Mrs. Sjöborg The Saga of Gosta Berling (1924) - Gustafva Sinclaire Unga greven tar flickan och priset (1924) - Countess Euphrosyne Behrencrona 40 Skipper Street (1925) - Mrs. Frendin Kalle Utter (1925) - Countess Stjerncrona The Flying Dutchman (1925) - Mother Tine First Mate Karlsson's Sweethearts (1925) - Bessie Doring The Girl in Tails (1926) - Widow Hyltenius Only a Dancing Girl (1926) - fru Zentler A Sister of Six (1926) - Countess Emilie Hohenstein His English Wife (1927) - Mrs. Brock, Cathleen's mother Sealed Lips (1927) - Aunt Peppina The Ghost Baron (1927) - Countess Stjärnstråle A Perfect Gentleman (1927) - Charlotte Ponson Parisiennes (1928) - Rose Duval, die Witwe Majestät schneidet Bubiköpfe (1928) - Sophie Svensson Gustaf Wasa (1928, part 1–2) - Sigbrit När rosorna slå ut (1930) - Grevinnan Charlotte Lika inför lagen (1931) - Sonja's Relative Generalen (1931) - Alexandra Trådlöst och kärleksfullt (1931) - Inventor's Hostess Tired Theodore (1931) - Rosa Hörneman En natt (1931) - Minka Longing for the Sea (1931) - Fanny's mother Half Way to Heaven (1931) - Madame Jenny Black Roses (1932) - Tilda Mother-in-Law's Coming (1932) - Mother-in-law Sten Stensson Stéen från Eslöv på nya äventyr (1932) - Tuttan Möller Servant's Entrance (1932) - Laura Persson, Cook Marriageable Daughters (1933) - Emma Lundberg Fasters millioner (1934) - Aunt Héléne Swedenhielms (1935) - Marta Boman Kärlek efter noter (1935) - Mrs. Blomkvist The Marriage Game (1935) - Carolina Berg På Solsidan (1936) - Margareta Ribe The Wedding Trip (1936) - Countess Julia Lejonsköld Unfriendly Relations (1936) - Hans tant Adventure (1936) - von Bohren The Family Secret (1936) - Lillie Ekman Russian Flu (1937) - Mrs. Brodin The Great Love (1938) - Hulda Fagerlund Styrman Karlssons flammor (1938) - Mrs. Ragna Doring Sjöcharmörer (1939) - Mrs. Ebba Österman Stål (1940) - Mrs. Gouveng Juninatten (1940) - Fru Cronsiöö Tomorrow's Melody (1942) - Fru Almen (final film role)