---
name: "Mai Zetterling"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/mai-zetterling"
fi1m_id: "mai-zetterling"
imdb_id: "nm0955195"
tmdb_id: 55156
wikidata_id: "Q236656"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "24 May 1925"
died: "17 March 1994"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-04T21:33:45.332666+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Mai Zetterling

## Identity

Mai Zetterling

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/mai-zetterling
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** mai-zetterling
- **IMDb ID:** nm0955195
- **TMDB ID:** 55156
- **Wikidata ID:** Q236656
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai_Zetterling, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q236656, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0955195/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/55156

Actor. Born 24 May 1925 in Västerås, Västmanlands län, Sweden. Died 17 March 1994.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 24 May 1925, Västerås, Västmanlands län, Sweden
- **Died:** 17 March 1994
- **Also known as:**  Maj Zetterling, Mai Elizabeth Zetterling, مای زترلینگ
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai_Zetterling, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q236656, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0955195/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/55156

## Streaming the US now

- **Peacock:** [*The Witches*](https://film.one/film/the-witches.md) (82)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Mai Zetterling was a Swedish actress and film director. Born in Västerås in 1925, she trained at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm and made her screen debut in 1941.

She gained prominence as an actress in the 1944 film *Torment*, written by Ingmar Bergman, and later appeared in his *Music in Darkness* (1948). She worked extensively in British and American films, including *Frieda* (1947) and *Only Two Can Play* (1962). Late in her career she returned to acting as Helga Eveshim in *The Witches* (1990).

From the early 1960s Zetterling also directed feature films and documentaries, among them *Loving Couples* (1964), *Night Games* (1966) and *The Girls* (1968). She died in London in 1994.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, britannica.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Witches* (1990), Fi1m 82, as Helga Eveshim — [page](https://film.one/film/the-witches.md)

## Complete filmography (72)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Meeting with Mai* (1996), Actor
- *Minns ni?* (1993), as (archive footage)
- *Morfars resa* (1993), as Elin Fromm
- *Love at First Sight* (1992), series, Director
- *Sunday Pursuit* (1990), Director
- *Hidden Agenda* (1990), as Moa
- *The Witches* (1990), as Helga Eveshim — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/the-witches.md)
- *Chillers* (1990), series, Director, Writer
- *Concrete Grandma* (1986), Director
- *Amorosa* (1986), Director, Writer, Editor
- *The Hitchhiker* (1983), series, Director
- *Scrubbers* (1982), Director, Writer
- *Love* (1982), Writer, Director
- *Of Seals and Men* (1981), Director, Writer
- *Stulet nyår* (1978), as Gerda
- *Svenska noveller* (1978), series, as Gerda
- *Mai Zetterling's Stockholm* (1978), Director
- *My Heart Is Red* (1977), as Nietzsche
- *The Moon Is a Green Cheese* (1977), Director, Writer
- *We Have Many Names* (1976), as Lena · Director
- *Visions of Eight* (1973), Narrator, Director
- *Vincent the Dutchman* (1972), Director
- *The Girls* (1968), Writer, Director
- *Doctor Glas* (1968), Director, Screenplay
- *One Pair of Eyes* (1967), series, Actor
- *Night Games* (1966), Director, Writer
- *Lianbron* (1965), Actor
- *Loving Couples* (1964), Director, Writer
- *The Man Who Finally Died* (1963), as Lisa von Deutsch
- *The War Game* (1963), Director, Screenplay, Producer
- *The Bay of St. Michel* (1963), Actor
- *The Main Attraction* (1962), as Gina
- *Only Two Can Play* (1962), as Liz
- *Lords of Little Egypt: Mai Zetterling Among the Gypsies* (1961), Director
- *Offbeat* (1961), as Ruth Lombard
- *Faces in the Dark* (1960), as Christiane Hammond
- *Danger Man* (1960), series, as Nadia
- *Piccadilly Third Stop* (1960), as Christine Preedy
- *The Third Man* (1959), series, Actor
- *Jet Storm* (1959), as Carol Tilley
- *Interpol Calling* (1959), series, as Carol
- *The Traitor* (1959), as Frau Caypor
- *Playing on the Rainbow* (1958), Actor
- *The Master Builder* (1958), as Hilda Wangel
- *The Truth About Women* (1957), as Julie Eaton
- *Seven Waves Away* (1957), as Nurse Julie White
- *Armchair Theatre* (1956), series, as Miss Julie, Louise Josse
- *Ett dockhem* (1956), as Gurli Pall
- *A Prize of Gold* (1955), as Maria
- *Dance Little Lady* (1954), as Nina Gordon
- *Knock on Wood* (1954), as Ilse Nordstrom
- *Desperate Moment* (1953), as Anna DeBurg
- *The Ringer* (1952), as Lisa
- *Tall Headlines* (1952), as Doris Rickardson
- *Hell Is Sold Out* (1951), as Valerie Martin
- *Blackmailed* (1951), as Mrs. Carol Edwards
- *The Romantic Age* (1949), as Arlette Tessereau
- *The Lost People* (1949), as Lily
- *The Bad Lord Byron* (1949), as Teresa Guiccioli
- *Portrait from Life* (1948), as Lidia
- *Studio One* (1948), series, as Gabrielle
- *Quartet* (1948), as Jeanne (segment "The Facts of Life")
- *Life Starts Now* (1948), as Vera Ullman
- *Music in Darkness* (1948), as Ingrid Olofsson
- *Frieda* (1947), as Frieda
- *Sunshine Follows Rain* (1946), as Marit Germundsdotter
- *Iris and the Lieutenant* (1946), as Iris Mattson
- *Prince Gustaf* (1944), as Anna Maria Wastenius
- *Torment* (1944), as Bertha Olsson
- *Jag dräpte* (1943), as Miss Peters
- *Lasse-Maja* (1941), as Fanny
- *The Polite Invasion*, Director

## Gallery

- ![Mai Zetterling, promotional postcard for the 1948 movie Quartet.](https://film.one/media/person/5556697/gallery-700ead6be1dc.jpg) Mai Zetterling, promotional postcard for the 1948 movie Quartet. — Sydney Box production, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Mai_Zetterling.jpeg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Red carpet movie (1954)](https://film.one/media/person/5556697/gallery-5213438d2bbc.jpg) Red carpet movie (1954) — Library of Congress, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Danny_Kaye_and_Yma_Sumac_%281954%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- !["Hets", Alf Kjellin och Mai Zetterling. (1944)](https://film.one/media/person/5556697/gallery-2b98039339b1.jpg) "Hets", Alf Kjellin och Mai Zetterling. (1944) — Unknown photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Alf-Kjellin-and-Mai-Zetterling-in-a-scene-from-the-film-Hets-142443157937.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Mai Zetterling, Danny Kaye e Yma Súmac en un evento de Hollywood (1950)](https://film.one/media/person/5556697/gallery-43f2549b86fb.jpg) Mai Zetterling, Danny Kaye e Yma Súmac en un evento de Hollywood (1950) — Library of Congress, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Mai_Zetterling%2C_Danny_Kaye_and_Yma_Sumac.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Mai Zetterling](https://film.one/media/person/5556697/gallery-e21a1aaff7dd.jpg) Mai Zetterling — Image via TMDB
- ![Mai Zetterling](https://film.one/media/person/5556697/gallery-f77f38fad730.jpg) Mai Zetterling — Image via TMDB
- ![Mai Zetterling](https://film.one/media/person/5556697/gallery-3faf318a75b3.jpg) Mai Zetterling — Image via TMDB
- ![Al XXVIII Festival Cinematografico di VeneziaNella foto: Ingrid Thulin e Mai Zetterling, protagonista e regista del film più discusso del Festival ”Giochi di no (1966)](https://film.one/media/person/5556697/gallery-1c07357de533.jpg) Al XXVIII Festival Cinematografico di VeneziaNella foto: Ingrid Thulin e Mai Zetterling, protagonista e regista del film più discusso del Festival ”Giochi di no (1966) — Unknown photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Ingrid-Thulin-with-Mai-Zetterling-1966-142348307524.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Mai Zetterling](https://film.one/media/person/5556697/gallery-ab87469a4402.jpg) Mai Zetterling — Image via TMDB
- ![Mai Zetterling](https://film.one/media/person/5556697/gallery-09b8ba60a0fa.jpg) Mai Zetterling — Image via TMDB
- ![Mai Zetterling](https://film.one/media/person/5556697/gallery-afc2ab5be9a4.jpg) Mai Zetterling — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/mai-zetterling