Nils Bengt Folke Ekerot (8 February 1920 – 26 November 1971) was a Swedish actor and stage director best known for portraying Death in '' The Seventh Seal'' (1957) directed by

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

. In 1956, he directed the world premiere of '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', considered the magnum opus of American playwright

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

Early life

Ekerot was born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Career

He had several roles in Swedish films, but in

's '' The Seventh Seal'' (1957) he portrayed

Death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

as a white-faced man in a black cloak. The decision to perform the role in this way was a joint decision between the actor and director. Bergman wrote in his autobiography ''Images: My Life in Film'' that the two men "agreed that Death should wear a clown mask, a white clown’s mask. A fusion of a clown mask and a skull." He also appeared in Bergman's 1958 film, '' The Magician'' (also released as ''Ansiktet'' (lit. Swedish: "The Face") as Johan Spegel, an ailing

vaudevillian Vaudeville (; ) is a theatre, theatrical genre of variety show, variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comic ...

Death

A man with a self-destructive personality, health issues from smoking and excessive drinking affected Ekerot's later career resulting in him losing potential roles. He died from lung cancer in 1971.

Partial filmography

* '' They Staked Their Lives'' (1940) - Freedom Fighter * '' Hanna in Society'' (1940) - Fred Hummerberg * '' The Talk of the Town'' (1941) - Sven Törring * ''Snapphanar'' (1941) - Lille-Jonas * ''Lågor i dunklet'' (1942) - Åke Kronström, Student (uncredited) * '' We House Slaves'' (1942) - Linus Tallhagen * '' Nothing Is Forgotten'' (1942) - Student at art school (uncredited) * '' Night in Port'' (1943) - John * ''När ungdomen vaknar'' (1943) - Lennart * '' Sonja'' (1943) - Bengt * '' Gentleman with a Briefcase'' (1943) - Stig * ''Tre söner gick till flyget'' (1945) - Erik * '' The Rose of Tistelön'' (1945) - Anton, hennes bror * ''Fram för lilla Märta eller På livets ödesvägar'' (1945) - Radio Speaker (voice, uncredited) * '' Crime and Punishment'' (1945) - Studenten * ''13 stolar'' (1945) - Clerk (uncredited) * '' Brita in the Merchant's House'' (1946) - 'Paniken' * '' Interlude'' (1946) - Tjuven * ''

Dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

'' (1947) - Allan Axelson * '' Marianne'' (1953) - Companion (uncredited) * ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' (1955, TV Movie) - Hamlet, prins av Danmark * '' Stage Entrance'' (1956) - Johan Eriksson * '' The Seventh Seal'' (1957) - Death * '' The Jazz Boy'' (1958) - Erik Jonsson * '' The Magician'' (1958) - Johan Spegel * '' On a Bench in a Park'' (1960) - Sam Persson * ''Myten'' (1966) - Policeman / Social Worker / Guard / Doctor * '' Here Is Your Life'' (1966) - Byberg * '' Life's Just Great'' (1967) - The Neighbour * ''Ola & Julia'' (1967) - Max * '' Who Saw Him Die?'' (1968) - Eriksson * ''Korridoren'' (1968) - Birger Olsson (final film role)

References

External links

* * 1920 births 1971 deaths Male actors from Stockholm 20th-century Swedish male actors Swedish film directors Deaths from lung cancer in Sweden {{Sweden-film-actor-stub