Per Ragnar, ''Per-Erik Ragnar'' (born 29 May 1941), is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

actor, director and author.

Biography

Ragnar was born in

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total o ...

, Sweden and is the son of district manager Hans Ragnar and the postal clerk Karin, née Pettersson. Ragnar trained at the Royal Dramatic Training Academy in 1962-65. The following year he got a job as director's assistant to

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known as "profoundly ...

(on his stage production of

Peter Weiss Peter Ulrich Weiss (8 November 1916 – 10 May 1982) was a German writer, painter, graphic artist, and experimental filmmaker of adopted Swedish nationality. He is particularly known for his plays '' Marat/Sade'' and '' The Investigation'' and ...

' play '' The Investigation''), where Ragnar states he learned a lot on the art of acting and directing from "the master", just by watching and listening when Bergman worked with his actors and the script. In 1968 Per Ragnar had his breakthrough as an actor, earning much critical acclaim and audience praise for his performances in the

Arnold Wesker Sir Arnold Wesker (24 May 1932 – 12 April 2016) was an English dramatist. He was the author of 50 plays, four volumes of short stories, two volumes of essays, much journalism and a book on the subject, a children's book, some poetry, and ot ...

"trilogy" staged that year in Sweden: ''Hönssoppa med korngryn ( Chicken Soup with Barley)'', ''Rötter ( Roots)'' and ''Jag talar om Jerusalem (I'm talking about Jerusalem)''. The same year he also made his film-breakthrough with ''

Korridoren ''The Corridor'' ( sv, Korridoren) is a 1968 Swedish drama film directed by Jan Halldoff. It was entered into the 6th Moscow International Film Festival. Cast * Per Ragnar as Dr. Jan Eriksson * Agneta Ekmanner as Kerstin * Ann Norstedt as Mar ...

(The Corridor)'',

Jan Haldoff Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article N ...

's social commenting film on hospitals and the health care system in Sweden, where Ragnar plays a young doctor, new on the job, facing the dilemmas of prioritizing patients. In the 1970s his collaborating with TV director

Bengt Lagerkvist Bengt may refer to: People In arts, entertainment and media Actors * Bengt Djurberg (1898–1941), Swedish actor and singer * Bengt Ekerot (1920–1971), Swedish actor and director * Bengt Eklund (1925–1998), Swedish actor * Bengt Logardt (1914� ...

led to notable performances on TV, first as

Arvid Falk Arvid, Arved, Arnvid or Arvydas is a male given name, most common in Scandinavia but also in Iran and Lithuania. In Scandinavia it is derived from Old Norse and means "forest of eagles" or 'eagle wood'. Arvid is a royal male name that is comp ...

in Lagerkvist's TV adaption of

Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish people, Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote mo ...

's play '' The Red Room)'' (''Röda rummet''), and in the popular Swedish TV-series ''Någonstans i Sverige (~Somewhere In Sweden)'', a series covering the years in Sweden during the time of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in Europe, where Ragnar played the character of

fänrik ''Fänrik'' () ( en, second lieutenant in the Swedish Army/Air Force, Acting sub-lieutenant in the Navy) is a company grade officer rank. In the army/airforce, it ranks above sergeant and below lieutenant. In the navy, it ranks above sergeant ...

Ancker. For a young audience today, in Sweden, he became unforgettable when playing the religious psycho Sten Frisk in the popular and long-running 1990s TV series ''Tre Kronor'' (1994) on Swedish channel TV4, a role that followed him for long and for more than a decade led to him often being typecast as evil characters and crazy psychos in various roles on film and TV. Even though being cast in a Swedish vampire film, his character of Håkan was this time a bit more complex than just "evil"; in director Tomas Alfredson's popular success feature '' Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In)'' in 2008. Previously he had worked with Tomas Alfredson and his "Killinggänget" group in their film ''En liten film.. (A Little Film..)'' in 1999, where he had a small key part as an absent-minded boss. Being versatile in the entertainment field, Per Ragnar has also worked as a TV presenter and host for the Swedish morning show ''Gomorron Sverige!'' (''Good Morning Sweden!''). He has also written a number of books, including a book on

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

and his closed community of friends and party members, and one on

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Luther ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

philosophy. His most recent book is called ''Om bland tusen stjärnor: en tankebok om döden (~Among Thousand Stars: A Book On Death)'', which deals with how differently all of us deals with – and approaches – the subject of death; children and adults, different

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural ...

s; scientifically, spiritually and logically. Per Ragnar is also an appreciated lecturer and gives many lectures and public readings around Sweden, in various assembly halls; both on acting and around the subjects from his books and research. He is a longtime vegetarian and an outspoken pacifist, inspired by

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

's non-violence philosophy. He is also attracted to the ideas and concept of Martinus

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosophe ...

. In 2009 he will play the character of Emperor Zing, Master of The Universe, in the Swedish children's sci-fi film feature ''Kenny Begins'', a film adaption of the popular Swedish children's TV-series ''Kenny Starfighter''; about the space super hero Kenny Starfighter. Per Ragnar was married to Veronica Tigerhjärta from October 2000 to 2014. He has one daughter (born 2001).

Selected filmography

*''

'' (1968) *'' Tre Kronor'' (1994) (TV-series) *'' Under ytan'' (1997) *'' The Last Contract'' (1998) *''

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...

'' (2005) *'' Let the Right One In'' (2008) *''

Psalm 21 Psalm 21 is the 21st psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The king shall joy in thy strength". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christian Old Testamen ...

'' (2009) *'' Kenny Begins'' (2009) *''

Faust 2.0 ''Faust 2.0'' is a Swedish horror anthology film produced by NjutaFilms. It's a modern spin on the story of Faust, the premise being that people accept the End-user license agreement of iPhone application without reading it through, allowing the ...

'' (2014)

Books

*''Om bland tusen stjärnor: en tankebok om döden'' (2009) *''Så tänker mitt hjärta'' (2006) *''Hitler: Hans folk'' (2006) *''Till min älskade dotter'' (2002) *''Luther: död eller levande'' (2000) *''Du som är: meditationer och dikter'' (1999) *''När ska jag ha tid att leva'' (1996) *''Hitler'' (1994) *''Datorer - herrar eller tjänare'' (1980) *''Sommar vid Bråviken: Dikter'' (1980) *''Därför är jag vegetarian'' (1976) *''Julresan'' (1973) *''Brevet till mormor'' (1972)

References

*The biography a
perragnar.se
(The Official Per Ragnar Website - Swedish)

External links

Official site
*
Interview with Per Ragnar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ragnar, Per 1941 births Living people Swedish male film actors Swedish male stage actors Swedish male television actors Swedish male writers Swedish-language writers People from Kalmar