Isa Quensel

Biography

Swedish actress and opera singer Isa Quensel was born in Gothenburg on the 21st of September 1905, as daughter of Robert Ferdinand Schulz and the British born Anna 'Annie' Mathilda Philip. Young Anna Lisa (Isa) attended the New Elementary School for girls in Gothenburg 1913-24 and already in early age showed her talent as fine singer in school. Quensel possessed a magnificent soprano voice and was for many years one of Sweden's leading opera singers - long before she became a highly acclaimed character actress on stage and in films. She performed at the Royal Opera in Sweden (1939-56) as well as on opera stages around the world. She was trained in the art of music by the great Bernardi in Paris 1926-28. Among her opera credits includes classic parts such as the title role of Carmen in Bizet's famous opera "Carmen", Despina in Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte", Rosina in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" and Susanna in "The Marriage of Figaro". She is considered as one of Sweden's very best national singers of the 20th Century, working alongside legendary Swedish opera names such as Jussi Björling, Ingvar Wixell, Gösta Winbergh, Nicolai Gedda, Kerstin Meyer, Kjerstin Dellert, Elisabeth Söderström and Birgit Nilsson. From 1955 Isa Quensel was also an appreciated tutor at Kungliga Musikhögskolan (The Royal Academy of Music) in Stockholm, training new young talents in to the world of opera, and she was also from 1970 until her death director at the Royal Opera, where she staged several new versions of many of the old classic operettas (this time with new modern text translations and revisions by herself). Still, it is for her acting work that she is listed here at the IMDb: After the opera career (in the 50s), Isa Quensel turned to the theatre and the performing arts of the dramatic stage. Even during the hectic years at the Royal Opera, she had managed to keep up a sporadic career as an actress parallel to her singing. In fact, she already made her film debut in Kärlek måste vi ha (1931), and later rendered popularity with her humorous character of Maria in _Raggen - det är jag det (1937)_. But it wasn't until in the 1950s that her acting work escalated and she became one of Sweden's finest character actresses with diverse supporting roles in many memorable films. Isa Quensel had excellent dramatic skills and could easily swift between playing light comedy to very serious, psychological drama. She had, in fact, been tutored in the performing arts by legendary Swedish actress and singer Naima Wifstrand (who can be spotted in many Ingmar Bergman films). Among Isa Quensel's most appreciated and loved film is her portrayal of mrs Louise Günther in the very successful (and internationally successful) Swedish film _Änglar finns dom? (1961)_ (aka Love Mates). Other memorable film credits include her mysterious mother-in-law in the sophisticated thriller _Moln over Hellesta (1956)_, Cecilia von Schilden in Arne Mattsson's cult thriller Damen i svart (1958) (aka The Lady in Black), the fortuneteller Grave-Karna in Yngsjömordet (1966), Gertrude in _Pärlemor (1961)_, _Att älska (1964)_, _Kattorna (1965)_ and _Bröllopsbesvär (1964)_. For some reason she came to specialize in playing these odd, dark and rather mysterious women on film. Her distinctive and utter voice - at the same time deep, tonal and slightly hoarse - also contributed to make her characters memorable to viewers and also gave a further dimension to the characters she played. Even though her film parts at times could be very small, she had this magnificently silent - and yet energetic - way of acting, and combined with that voice of hers it created a lasting tension in the air. She was for years also a regular member of Swedish Television's Theatre ensemble (TV-teatern) where she appeared frequently in various plays between 1959-67. Memorable are her roles as Pernelle in Molière's "Tartuffe", Grace Winslow in Terence Rattigan's "The Winslow Boy", title role in Noël Coward's "The Marchioness", friherinnan in "Drottningens juvelsmycke", Mrs Parpelaid in Jules Romains' "Doktor Knock" and Mrs Åvik in Birger Sjöberg's "Kvartetten som sprängdes" (The Quartet That Broke Up). Her voice also led her to explore many other areas in the entertainment business. She magnificently gave voice to Madame Mim in the Swedish dubbing of the Disney-classic _Sword of the Stone, The (1963)_, the voice of Aunt Tilda in the Scandinavian children's cartoon Agaton Sax och Byköpings gästabud (1976) as well as the additional voice dubbing credit for German actress Carsta Löck in Emil of Lonneberga (1971); the extremely beloved film/tv-adaption of Astrid Lindgren s children books about young Emil, in which the Swedish audience - most people without ever knowing it - over the years of TV re-runs have grown familiar to her distinct voice of "Krösa-Maja". In the 1970s she was also a TV presenter for the music show "Allsköns musik" together with Carl Anton Axelsson in Swedish television, SVT. Isa Quensel past away in 1981, at the age of 76.