Biography
Åke Fridell was a Swedish actor. Born in Gävle, he trained at Axel Witzansky’s theatre school in Stockholm from 1942 to 1944 and made his stage debut around that time. He worked at theatres including Malmö Stadsteater and appeared in more than ninety films and numerous stage productions between 1944 and 1975.
Fridell was frequently cast by Ingmar Bergman in expressive supporting roles, often portraying coarse or eccentric characters from the lower classes. His best-known film parts include the blacksmith Plog in The Seventh Seal (1957), Tubal in The Magician (1958), the groom Frid in Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) and the wife’s lover in Wild Strawberries (1957). He also appeared in Summer with Monika (1953), Sawdust and Tinsel (1953), It Rains on Our Love (1946) and The Emigrants (1971).
In 1959 he received the Thalia statuette. Fridell died in Stockholm in 1985.
