Biography

Lars Hanson was born on July 26, 1886 in Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden. He was an actor, known for Captain Salvation (1927), The Saga of Gösta Berling (1924) and The Divine Woman (1928). He was married to Karin Molander. He died on April 8, 1965 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden.

One of the greatest actors in Swedish theatre, he was a master of disguise for his many roles, building his body with implants in his shoes and several layers of clothing, starving himself, bruising his face with a shoe brush, making himself incredibly tall or very small - sometimes to the point that fellow actors, with whom he had worked for years, didn't recognize him in the corridors backstage.

Joined the Stockholm Royal Dramatic Theatre in 1906.

At the request of Lillian Gish, Hanson arrived in Hollywood in 1926 to co-star with her in "The Scarlet Letter" directed by fellow Swede Victor Seastrom. He appeared with Greta Garbo in "The Flesh and the Devil" (1927) and "The Divine Woman" and again with Gish in "The Wind" (both in 1928). But with the advent of sound films, he returned to Sweden that same year.