lit a candle 1h agoMy mom grew up in Stockholm before she moved here, and she had this one scratchy cassette of Pettson och Findus that she played for me on car rides through Massachusetts, long before I knew a word of Swedish. I didn't know the voice had a name until years later. Ninety nine years old, that's a whole life well lived.
Their story
Nils Ernst Gustaf Eklund (17 January 1927 to 4 August 2026) was a Swedish actor whose career stretched across more than seven decades of theatre, film, television, radio and voice work. Born in Bromma, Stockholm, into one of Sweden's best known theatre families, he was the son of the actor,…
Nils Ernst Gustaf Eklund (17 January 1927 to 4 August 2026) was a Swedish actor whose career stretched across more than seven decades of theatre, film, television, radio and voice work. Born in Bromma, Stockholm, into one of Sweden's best known theatre families, he was the son of the actor, director and theatre manager Ernst Eklund and the actor and director Alice Eklund (born Uddgren), and the younger brother of the museum man, art critic and writer Hans Eklund.
Eklund began working professionally on stage in the 1940s, appearing in productions directed by his father at Vasateatern and Blancheteatern. Around 1950 he joined Helsingborg City Theatre, where he played a long run of roles in comedies, thrillers and classics, from Somerset Maugham's Jane to Frederick Knott's Dial M for Murder. In 1953 he moved to Malmö City Theatre during Ingmar Bergman's celebrated period there, when the ensemble included Max von Sydow, Harriet Andersson and Bibi Andersson, and he acted in Bergman's productions of Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author and Kafka's The Castle. He later played Gooper in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in Malmö in 1956.
Over the following decades he worked at Stockholm City Theatre and at private stages such as Oscarsteatern, Maximteatern, Vasan, Intiman and Scalateatern, and he became part of the permanent ensemble of the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten), where he stayed until retirement. At Dramaten he appeared in productions including Mäster Olof, The Threepenny Opera and The Ghost Sonata. He tried almost every kind of theatre, from serious drama to musicals and revue.
His film debut came in 1952 with Flyg-Bom, and he went on to appear in more than 50 films and television productions. Among them were Doktor Glas (1968), Jerry Lewis's unreleased The Day the Clown Cried (1972), in which he played a bartender, Jack (1977), the hugely popular comedy Göta kanal eller Vem drog ur proppen? (1981), in which he played Rune, Amorosa (1986) and Freud Leaving Home (1991). On television he was the robber Josef Brandt in the SVT series Sinkadus (1980), appeared in Lösa förbindelser (1985), often described as Sweden's first soap opera, and Kråsnålen (1988), and played the lawyer Folke Högberg in Rederiet. Late in life he appeared in the SVT Christmas calendar Selmas saga (2016).
For many Swedes, Eklund was above all a voice. In 1981 and 1982 he played Pom-Pom, the stage manager and handyman of the Galateatern, in the children's series Svenska Sesam, and he sang on the Svenska Sesam record with Magnus Härenstam. He was the narrator of the television series Skymningssagor and read the early Pettson och Findus audiobooks by Sven Nordqvist, and he was delighted when children recognised his voice and asked if he was Pettson. He dubbed many animated films into Swedish, most famously the Sultan of Agrabah in Disney's Aladdin (1992) and its sequels and television series, and Charles F. Muntz in the Swedish version of Pixar's Up (2009). His voice credits also included Peter-No-Tail (1981), The Black Cauldron, The Great Mouse Detective, The Journey to Melonia (1989) and several Asterix films.
Eklund also has a unique place in Swedish legal history. In 1963 he, Lasse O'Månsson and Carl-Uno Sjöblom made a satirical sketch for Sveriges Radio joking about merging churches with petrol stations and handing out communion to customers. All three were fined for offending religious peace, and they became the last people in Sweden convicted of blasphemy before the offence was abolished in 1970. He spoke about the case on Sveriges Radio in 2023 at the age of 96.
In 2010 he was awarded the royal Litteris et Artibus medal for distinguished artistic achievement. He joked at the time that he had never been given the great roles such as King Lear or Hamlet, which made the honour all the more enjoyable. His last stage role came in 2019, when at 92 he appeared in Lars Norén's Andante at Dramaten.
Eklund was married to the actress Ann-Mari Adamsson from 1964 until her death in 2011. He remained alert and active until a few weeks before his death, and he died peacefully with his closest family around him on 4 August 2026 at the age of 99, in Ålsten, Bromma. His death was announced on 7 August 2026. The cause of death was not made public. He is buried with his wife at Bromma Cemetery. He would have turned 100 in January 2027.
Biography adapted from Swedish Wikipedia; TT via SVT, Aftonbladet and TV4 (7 Aug 2026); Fokus (31 Aug 2026); Sveriges Radio (20 Aug 2023); Dramaten rollbok; Svensk Filmdatabas. Wikipedia ↗
In their own words
“I have never been given any of the great roles like King Lear or Hamlet. That is why it was so enormously enjoyable.”
On receiving the Litteris et Artibus medal in 2010, as quoted by TT, SVT and Fokus (translated from Swedish)
“Jag har ju aldrig fått göra några av de stora rollerna som Kung Lear eller Hamlet. Därför var det oerhört roligt.”
Original Swedish wording of his 2010 Litteris et Artibus remark, quoted by TT and SVT
Photos
2Nils Eklund (with Marianne Stjernqvist) in Jane at Helsingborg City Theatre, c. 1950
by People Forever
Nils Eklund and Svea Dahlqvist in Eurydice (Jag vill kärleken) at Helsingborg City Theatre, 1952
by People Forever
that tape thing, so many of us had the same one