Ernst-Hugo Järegård(1928-1998)

One of Swedish theater's most well known actors. Järegård is appreciated for his extrovert and at the same time controlled style of acting, of which he gladly characterized comic or morbid characters. He played the title role in Moliére's "Tartuffe" as well as Orgon (The Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1971) with great success, and before that he had earned very high critical acclaim for his portrayal of Estragon in Samuel Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" (The Royal Dramatic Theatre, 1966), which was later adapted for television in 1971. Among his foremost stage roles were also Hjalmar Ekdal in Ibsen's play "The Wild Duck" (The Royal Dramatic Theater, 1972) directed by Ingmar Bergman. Järegård also appeared in several popular TV-series such as "Skånska mord" (1986), Frida och hennes vän (1970) and De tre från Haparanda (1974), and no one can forget his creepy boss in the TV theater adaption of VD (1988).

Järegård's relatively few appearances on film show a great range from his debut in Ragnar Frisk's Swedish Punks (1962) and the singing prisoner Harald Hansson in Släpp fångarne loss - det är vår! (1975) to a supporting role in Lars von Trier's Europa (1991) and the leading part in von Trier's series The Kingdom (1994), which led to international attention. Since the late '60s Järegård has been very popular in Sweden. With his role as the Swedish doctor Stig-Helmer on "The Kingdom" he also gained popularity in Denmark, despite the fact that his character hates Danes. In Cheek to Cheek (1997), as the old and discarded drag queen Ragnar Rönn who falls in love with an undertaker, Järegård made his final TV appearance and said a grand farewell to the Swedish viewers: The TV-theater adaption of Jonas Gardell's celebrated black comedy/drama play aired in Swedish Television in the autumn of 1998, just after Järegård's passing.