- Born
- Died
- Birth nameWinifred Inga Swenson
- Height5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
- An accomplished and seasoned actress of stage and screen, Inga Swenson became best known for her portrayals of formidable, often acidulous women on TV. Arguably her most popular role was that of snarky Gretchen Wilomena Kraus, the German-born head housekeeper and later administrative assistant in Benson (1979). Inga was so convincing in her role (which earned her three Emmy Award nominations as Best Supporting Actress) that audiences assumed her to be German in real life, whereas she was actually of Scandinavian ancestry, the daughter of an attorney (Axel Carl Richard Swenson) and his wife (Geneva Pauline Swenson, née Seeger). After graduating from high school in Omaha, she attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, to study drama.
Inga made her screen debut in 1957. In her first feature films, the political drama Advise & Consent (1962) and in the biopic The Miracle Worker (1962), she played, respectively, a senator's wife and the mother of young Helen Keller. Thereafter, she divided her career between theatre and television. In the latter medium, she was mostly cast as supporting characters until a strong performance (as the evil housekeeper Ingrid Svenson) in the sitcom Soap (1977) led to her becoming a mainstay on the spin-off series Benson. A later role of note was that of Maude, matriarch of the Hazzard family in the sprawling North & South sagas, based on the novels by John Jakes.
On stage from 1949, Inga's first starring turn was ten years later in the historical play The First Gentleman, set during the Regency Period. Her diversity as a powerful lyric soprano subsequently came to the fore in the musical 110 in the Shade (1963), in which Inga headlined as Lizzie Currie, a role made famous by Katharine Hepburn in the dramatised film version The Rainmaker (1956). This, and her role as Irene Adler in Baker Street (1965), both won her Tony Award nominations. Other stage roles included Magnolia in Show Boat, Desdemona in Othello and Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.
Inga retired from acting in 1998. From 1953, until her passing on July 23 2023 at the age of 90, she was married to Emmy Award-winning sound engineer Lowell Harris.
- IMDb mini biography by: I.S.Mowis
- SpouseLowell Harris(February 21, 1953 - July 23, 2023) (her death, 2 children)
- ChildrenJames Harris
- RelativesLily Harris(Grandchild)
- Is perhaps best-known to a later generation in the atypical role of tart-tongued, German-accented executive housekeeper Gretchen Kraus on the popular 1980s TV series Benson (1979) (ABC: 1979-1986). The thick accent required of the character led many fans at the time to mistakenly believe Swenson was actually German, when in real life she speaks perfect English.
- Was retired from acting and living in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California (June 2000).
- After training at Northwestern's famed Drama Department, Swenson made a splash on Broadway in "The First Gentleman" (1959), earning strong reviews and being lured to Hollywood, where she had strong featured roles in Advise & Consent (1962) and The Miracle Worker (1962). She later returned to Broadway, where she earned Tony nominations as Best Actress in a Musical for her work in "110 In The Shade" (1964) and "Baker Street" (1965).
- Played Ben Cartwright's second wife, Inger in two episodes on Bonanza in 1962 and 1963. Her character is also the mother of Hoss Cartwright.
- Was a lyric soprano.
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