Siw Gunnel Margareta Malmkvist (born 31 December 1936) is a Swedish
schlager singer and actress
popular in
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
and
West Germany
West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
(today's Germany). She represented
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1960
The Eurovision Song Contest 1960 was the fifth edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on Tuesday 29 March 1960 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, United Kingdom, and hosted by British television presenter and actress Catherine Boyle. ...
and
West Germany
West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1969
The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 was the 14th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Madrid, Spain, following the country's victory at the with the song " La La La" by Massiel. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU ...
.
She had a number one hit in West Germany in 1964 with "Liebeskummer lohnt sich nicht" ("Lovesickness Is Not Worthwhile"), and on 18 July 1964 she became the first Swede to have a hit on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, when "Sole Sole Sole", a duet with Italian singer
Umberto Marcato, entered the chart, peaking at No. 58. Malmkwist is notable for having recorded in more than 10 languages, including Swedish, English, Finnish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish and particularly German.
Early life
Siw Malmkvist grew up in
Landskrona
Landskrona is a town in Scania, Sweden. Located on the shores of the Öresund, it occupies a natural port, which has lent the town at first military and subsequent commercial significance. Ferries operate from Landskrona to the island of Ven, an ...
, as one of nine siblings, she is the daughter of Albert Malmkvist (1901–1979) and Sigrid Lind (1899–1988). She is the older sister of singer Lil Malmkvist and aunt to
Morgan Alling
Sven Robert Morgan Alling (born ''Persson''; 8 June 1968) is a Sweden, Swedish actor, screenwriter and film director, film and theatre director.
Alling finished Malmö Theatre Academy 1990. He rose to fame in 1993 as co-host of children's telev ...
. Her career started when she was part of orchestras in
Skåne
Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...
, in 1955 she participated in a singing competition which defined her career.
She won the first round of competition locally in Skåne, and got to travel to
Stockholm Concert Hall
The Stockholm Concert Hall () is the main hall for orchestral music in Stockholm, Sweden.
With a design by Ivar Tengbom chosen in competition, inaugurated in 1926, the Hall is home to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. It is also wh ...
where the grand final took place.
She won the final and received a clock as an award, and got to record her first grammophone record called "Tweedle Dee".
Career

Her breakthrough came in 1959 when she was a hostess at
Lennart Hylands television show ''Stora famnen''.
The same year she won
Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen (; ) is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almo ...
with the song "Augustin", but did not get to represent Sweden in
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
as
Brita Borg
Brita Kerstin Gunvor Borg (10 June 1926 – 4 May 2010) was a Swedish singer, actress, and variety show artist. Her variety show career spanned from 1943 into the 1970s, while her singing career trailed away at the end of the 1960s. However, ...
was internally selected to sing the song in
Cannes
Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
. With the song "Augustin", Malmkvist got her first hit song, it went on to place fourth in the magazine ''
Show-Business''
' best seller list on 1 March 1959, and sold over 60,000 copies. Malmkvist would one year later be representing Sweden in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1960
The Eurovision Song Contest 1960 was the fifth edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on Tuesday 29 March 1960 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, United Kingdom, and hosted by British television presenter and actress Catherine Boyle. ...
in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
with the song "
Alla andra får varann", where she ended up placing tenth, in the Swedish Melodifestivalen the same year
Inger Berggren and
Östen Warnerbring
Östen Warnerbring (22 November 1934 – 18 January 2006), also known as Östen med Rösten (lit. "Östen with the Voice"), was a Sweden, Swedish singer, musician, composer, and lyrics writer who mastered several musical genres. He started as a j ...
had won with that song, but Malmkvist had been internally selected for Eurovision.
Malmkvist again won
Melodifestivalen in 1961, with the song ”April, April”, but again
SVT internally selected another singer to perform it in Eurovision, this time
Lill-Babs
Barbro Margareta Svensson (9 March 1938 – 3 April 2018), known by her stage name Lill-Babs, was a Swedish singer, actress and television host. From the early 1950s until her death in 2018, she was one of Sweden's best-known and popular singers ...
.
In 1959, she launched her career in West Germany, where she became very popular.
In 1961, she had a hit song with the song "Danke für die Blumen". Already in 1960, she released the song "
Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel" under the pseudonym "Die Jolly Sisters". Later she would release the song in Sweden as well with the title "Tunna skivor", which became a hit song and topped the chart for seven weeks and sold over 97,000 copies. Her next song, "Läs inte brevet jag skrev dej", sold over 80,000 copies.
In 1963 and onward, she lived in
Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
,
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, with her husband
Lasse Mårtenson and their daughter. During this time in 1964, she became the first Swedish singer to place on the
''Billboard'' hit list. Along with
Umberto Marcato she sang the song "Sole Sole Sole" in Italian and peaked at number 58 for five weeks.

Malmkvist had success in the singing competition Schlager-Festspiele in
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...
.
At the debut in 1962, she placed second with "Die Wege der Liebe".
In 1964, she won the competition with "Liebeskummer lohnt sich nicht", which sold 1,000,000 copies and peaked at number one in the West Germany chart for ten weeks, In Swedish the song was named "Kärleksgrubbel".
In 1968, she won the competition once again with the song "Harlekin". In 1969, she won the West German selection for the
Eurovision Song Contest the same year with the song "
Primaballerina
"Primaballerina" (from Italian for " first ballerina" – the second highest female ballet dancer) is a 1969 song performed in German by Swedish singer Siw Malmkvist and written by Hans Blum. It was the entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 196 ...
" placing seventh in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
. To this day Malmkvist's songs remain popular in Germany. In
Melodifestivalen 1988, she participated with the song "Det är kärlek".
Malmkvist had an acting career in
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
as well as Sweden. Amongst other roles she played the leading role in the film ''Förälskad i Köpenhamn'' (1960) and as Eivor in ''
Varning för Jönssonligan
''Varning för Jönssonligan'' () is a Swedish film about the gang Jönssonligan made in 1981.
It was the first Swedish adaptation of one of the original Danish ''Olsen-banden'' movies. Somewhat ironically, it was based on the sixth Olsen Gang mo ...
'' (1981). She soon also showed to have talent on stage; she had the leading role in the musical ''
Irma la douce
''Irma la Douce'' (, "Irma the Sweet") is a 1963 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond, based on the 1956 French stage musical of the same name by Marguerite Monnot and Al ...
''.
She also participated in the ''Kar de Mumma-revue'' at
Folkan in 1972, and in the
Karl Gerhard show ''Hej på dig du gamla primadonna'' at
Vasateatern
Vasateatern or ''"Vasan"'' (English language, English: ''Vasa Theatre'') is a private theatre in Stockholm, Sweden. It is located at Vasagatan, Stockholm, Vasagatan 19–21 in central Stockholm.
History
The theater was designed by (1837- 1898) ...
.
In 1980, she acted as Pippi Långstrump in a play at Folkan in Stockholm.
She received acclaim for her role as Luise in the musical ''
Nine
9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding .
Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit
Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...
'' at
Oscarsteatern
Oscarsteatern (English language, English: Oscar Theatre), also known simply as Oscars, is one of Stockholm's private theatres and is the best-known musical theatre in Sweden. It is located at Kungsgatan (Stockholm), Kungsgatan 63 in central Stock ...
1983–84, where she acted against
Ernst-Hugo Järegård
Ernst-Hugo Alfred Järegård (12 December 1928 – 6 September 1998) was a Swedish actor.
Biography
Järegård was born in Ystad. He received his acting training at Malmö City Theatre. From 1962 he was an actor in Sweden's prominent Royal ...
. In later years Malmkvist has acted in the musical ''I hetaste laget'' at Nöjesteatern in
Malmö
Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...
. In 2008, as Fräulein Schneide in
Colin Nutley's version of the musical ''
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
'' at
Stockholms stadsteater.

In later years she has done many shows like on
Hamburger Börs in Stockholm, along with
Lill-Babs
Barbro Margareta Svensson (9 March 1938 – 3 April 2018), known by her stage name Lill-Babs, was a Swedish singer, actress and television host. From the early 1950s until her death in 2018, she was one of Sweden's best-known and popular singers ...
and
Wenche Myhre
Wenche Synnøve Myhre (born 15 February 1947), known in German as Wencke Myhre, is a Norwegian singer who has had a great number of hit songs since the 1960s in the Norwegian, Danish, German and Swedish markets and languages. She represented Ger ...
. She participated in
Melodifestivalen 2004
2004 was the 44th edition of the Swedish music competition , which was organised by (SVT) and took place over a five-week period between 21 February and 20 March 2004. The winner of the competition was Lena Philipsson with the song "Det gör ...
with the song "
C'est la vie" along with
Towa Carson and
Ann-Louise Hanson. The trio went on to sing at ''
Allsång på Skansen
''Allsång på Skansen'' (''Sing-along at Skansen'') is a Sweden, Swedish show held at Skansen, Stockholm, every summer on Tuesdays between 8pm and 9pm. The audience is encouraged to sing-along, sing along with musical guest stars to well-known ...
'', which is broadcast on
SVT. Between 2003 and 2012, Malmkvist every year participated in the Arlövs revue show. In 2003 and 2004, she took part in the
Diggiloo summer tour. On 2 June 2004, Malmkvist, along with
Wenche Myhre
Wenche Synnøve Myhre (born 15 February 1947), known in German as Wencke Myhre, is a Norwegian singer who has had a great number of hit songs since the 1960s in the Norwegian, Danish, German and Swedish markets and languages. She represented Ger ...
and
Gitte Henning, debuted their show ''Gitte Wenche Siw – Die Show'', in Germany,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
and
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. The tour continued until June 2008 in
Kiel
Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...
with a total of 350 shows. Together with actor
Thorsten Flinck
Thorsten Flinck (born 17 April 1961 in Solna, Sweden), is a Swedish actor, director, and musician. He is known best for playing psychopaths and villains, and also for his outrageous personality both on stage and in real life. Between 1986 and 20 ...
, she recorded a Swedish cover of
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...
/
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...
's 1995 hit "
Where the Wild Roses Grow" called ”Vildvuxna rosor”. In 2005, Malmkvist participated in the
TV4 show ''
Körslaget
Körslaget (''The Battle of Choirs'') is a Sweden, Swedish entertainment Television program, TV program on TV4 (Sweden), TV4. The format was developed by Friday TV and based on an idea from Caroline af Ugglas, Heinz Liljedahl and Patrik Hambraeus. ...
'', where she was eliminated first on 5 April.
In 2009, she as a celebrity guest on
SVT1
SVT1 (SVT Ett; commonly referred to as Ettan) is the primary television station of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television in Sweden.
History
Television in Sweden officially launched on 4 September 1956 with the launch of '' ...
's ''
Stjärnorna på slottet'', where she told about her life and career. Between 2010 and 2011, she along with
Lill-Babs
Barbro Margareta Svensson (9 March 1938 – 3 April 2018), known by her stage name Lill-Babs, was a Swedish singer, actress and television host. From the early 1950s until her death in 2018, she was one of Sweden's best-known and popular singers ...
and
Ann-Louise Hanson had a show called "Tre damer". In 2010, published her memoirs named ''Tunna skivor av mig''.
In 2011, she performed at ''
Allsång på Skansen
''Allsång på Skansen'' (''Sing-along at Skansen'') is a Sweden, Swedish show held at Skansen, Stockholm, every summer on Tuesdays between 8pm and 9pm. The audience is encouraged to sing-along, sing along with musical guest stars to well-known ...
'' performing a medley of her hits. In 2012, she participated in the SVT show ''Who do you think you are?''. On the show she was told about her ancestors being soldiers at the
Battle at Poltava and that she had
Snapphanar amongst her relatives.
Malmkvist had signed on to be a celebrity dancer on ''
Let's Dance 2020'' which is broadcast on
TV4. However on 17 March it was revealed that she would not participate because of
restrictions concerning the COVID-19 virus.
In 2021, she took part in two episodes of the TV4 show ''
Så mycket bättre
Så mycket bättre (, ) is a Swedish reality television show broadcast on TV4 (Sweden), TV4. The basic premise is that each participating musician performs their own version of a well-known song by another artist, with each episode focusing on ...
''.
In 2023, Malmkvist was a guest celebrity judge in the episode ''MARATHON Talent Hunt'' of the Swedish language reality television series ''
Drag Race Sverige
''Drag Race Sverige'' (internationally called ''Drag Race Sweden'') is a Swedish reality competition television series based on the American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. It is broadcast by SVT1 and SVT Play in Sweden and airs on WOW Presents ...
'' broadcast on
SVT1
SVT1 (SVT Ett; commonly referred to as Ettan) is the primary television station of the Swedish public service broadcaster Sveriges Television in Sweden.
History
Television in Sweden officially launched on 4 September 1956 with the launch of '' ...
and
SVT Play.
Personal life
Siw Malmkvist was married to Finnish-Swedish musician
Lasse Mårtenson between 1963 and 1969, and the couple have one daughter. Malmkvist was in a relationship with actor
Fredrik Ohlsson from 1971 until his death in 2023; the couple have a son together born in 1973.
Discography
Albums
Singles
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malmkvist, Siw
1936 births
Living people
People from Landskrona
Musicians from Skåne County
Swedish women singers
Melodifestivalen winners
Eurovision Song Contest entrants
Swedish musical theatre actresses
Schlager musicians
German-language singers of Sweden
Spanish-language singers of Sweden
Italian-language singers of Sweden
French-language singers of Sweden
Finnish-language singers of Sweden
Dutch-language singers of Sweden
Norwegian-language singers
English-language singers from Sweden
Swedish expatriates in Finland