Ingrid Thulin, the pensive blonde beauty who achieved fame as one of Ingmar Bergman's leading actresses for several of his movies, died on December 7th of cancer in a Stockholm hospital. She was 77.

Born on January 27, 1926, in Sollefteaa, a small town northern Sweden, Thulin trained as a ballet dancer and later attended the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. She made several ingenue appearances in Swedish cinema in the '50s, and was even cast along Richard Mitchum in Foreign Intrigue (1956), her first American film. But it would be her work for Ingmar Bergman that Thulin would offer her greatest performances.

Her first film with the legendary director was Wild Strawberries (1957), in which she played the troubled daughter-in-law, Maryanne. Thulin thrilled critics and audiences alike with her unique display of depth and cool sensuality, and carried the momentum for Bergman with two more films: Brink of Life (1958), which earned her the Best Actress award in Cannes, and one of Bergman's more underrated films The Magician (1959).

After her success in these films, Thulin was invited to Hollywood to try her hand at leading lady status when she was cast in the opulent (but empty) MGM spectacle, The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse (1962), yet frustratingly, the producers felt her Swedish accent was too thick and she had her voice dubbed by Angela Lansbury. The experience was rightfully dubbed humiliating by Thulin, and her Hollywood career promptly ended after the film.

Back in Sweden, she made two more films for Bergman that continued to display her icy sexuality and brooding demeanor: Winter Light and The Silence (both 1963). She also found some strong roles for other leading European directors of the time including Alain Resnais' The War is Over (1967) and Luchino Visconti's The Damned (1968). She also put her quiet intensity to good use for Bergman's only horror film Hour of the Wolf (1969); and critics believe she saved her finest hour for Bergman again as Karin, the grieving sister in the haunting Cries and Whispers (1972) opposite Liv Ullmann.

Thulin would make one more major motion picture - The Cassandra Crossing (1976), before moving into semi-retirement, making occasional appearance in Swedish theater and television. She is survived by her husband of 45 years, Claes Sylwander, founder of the Swedish Film Institute.

by Michael T. Toole