Bjørn Sundquist

The Hedda committee gave the following reason for Honorary Hedda to Bjørn Sundquist:

"To give out The Hedda Committee's honorary award is not to be taken lightly. It is highly rated, it is not given out every year - and in the statutes, it is stated that the committee should have a particularly good reason. We have.

The award goes to an artist who has, for 40 years plus, made his clear mark in Norwegian and Nordic theatre and film, and who has already received prestigious awards for his efforts.

Because of this, The Hedda Committee wants to, in addition to drawing light to one of our foremost actors, underline an aspect of his artistic work that has been particularly important to the artist in person, and for the art of acting in a country where language is such a significant sign of identity. In a country where not even the media has thrown off the forced language, there are very good reasons that just the theatre does it. In this, the role of the award winner has been significant.

The award winner has in his multifaceted work with widely different characters, but also in writing and speech, clarified the difference between "being natural and being real". He characterises it as a definitive turning point and breakthrough in his career, when he first used his own language in the production Bonanza Superskip* (Bonanza Super Ship) at The Norwegian Theatre in 1979.

The award winner has been and is a role model for actors searching for their footing onstage.

Honorary Hedda goes to Bjørn Sundquist."

Bjørn Sundquist was educated as an actor at The National Academy of Theatre in Oslo from 1969 to 1973, was steadily employed by The Norwegian Theatre from 1973 to 1989 and by The National Theatre from 1989 to 1996. From 1996 he has been a freelance actor.

Among the parts he has played for the theatre are Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (The Norwegian Theatre 1985), Brand in Brand (The National Theatre 1990), Hjalmar Ekdal in The Wild Duck (The National Theatre 1991), Hamlet in Hamlet (The Norwegian Theatre 1987), Pastor Manders in Ghosts (The National Theatre 2006), Iago in Othello (The Norwegian Theatre 1996) and the title role of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya (The Norwegian Theatre 1997), Richard III in Richard III (The Norwegian Theatre 2007) and James Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey into Night opposite Liv Ullmann (The Norwegian Touring Theatre 2010).

In the movies he has played in Over grensen (literally: Across the border, 1987), for which he won his first Amanda Award, The Telegraphist (1993), Dreamplay (1994), Cross My Heart and Hope to Die (1994), Pan (1995), Zero Kelvin (1995), Oscar nominated The Other Side of Sunday (1996), for which he was also awarded Amanda, Thrane’s Method (1998) and You Really Got Me (2001), among others. His third and fourth Amanda Award he got in 2000, the actor’s award for his role as Sejer plus the Honorary Amanda for his whole career.

Among his awards are the theatre critics’ award in 1987 for his part in Michel de Ghelderode’s Pantagleize, the honourable Amanda in 2000, the TV award Gullruten 2000 in the category of best TV actor for his series Sejer, the culture prize of Finnmark County in 2003 and the Gammleng award in the category of actor in 2005. The same year Sundquist was chosen as the best male movie actor of the century.

On his mother’s side of the family, Bjørn Sundquist is of Sami origin.

SOURCES:

Norwegian Wikipedia, http://no.wikipedia.org, 02.09.2010, http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjørn_Sundquist

Store Norske Leksikon 07.09.2010, http://www.snl.no/.nbl http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Bj%C3%B8rn_Sundquist/utdypning

Internet Movie Database 07.09.2010, www.imdb.com, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0839209/

The performance archive of The National Theatre 07.09.2010, Bjørn Sundquists side, http://nt.xmodus.no/S%c3%b8k/tabid/57/ctl/ViewPerson/mid/374/personId/a3f9d993-8dfa-4675-9d43-12f287340667/Default.aspx

The performance archive of The Norwegian Theatre, 07.09.2010, Bjørn Sundquists side, http://www.detnorsketeatret.no/ActorDetails/tabid/134/EmployeeID/155/Default.aspx

The Hedda Award, heddaprisen.no, 19.06.2017, https://www.heddaprisen.no/vinnere/2017

*Not yet translated into the English. The title within parentheses is the Norwegian title's literal meaning.

The National Academy of Theatre, Oslo 1969-73

• The Hedda Award 2017 - Honorary Hedda
• Gammleng–prisen 2005 - Skuespiller
• Norwegian Critics' Award 1986/87 - Teaterkritikerprisen