Nils Poppe, Swedish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
Nils Poppe (31 May 1908 – 28 June 2000) was a Swedish actor, comedian, director, screenwriter and theatre manager. He is internationally most famous for his part in Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, but in Sweden he was much loved and participated in over 50 films on cinema and TV.
He started as a serious stage actor in 1930, but quickly realised that he was better suited for comedy, revue, operetta and musical, especially as he also was a good dancer and singer. In 1937 he moved into film and became Sweden's leading film comedian during the 1940s. Consequently, Ingmar Bergman's decision to cast him in The Seventh Seal surprised many, but with that role Poppe showed that he could also convey much warmth and compassion. He would later participate in yet another Bergman film, The Devil's Eye (1960).
After some time of inactivity in the early 1960s, he took over the running of an open-air theatre in Helsingborg in 1966 and returned to the stage. Through a deal with Swedish Television, he managed to make the theatre known throughout the country and also revitalised his own career. He retired from the stage at the age of 85, still able to dance, but a few years later he suffered from several strokes, which left him both blind, speechless and immobile. He died at the age of 92.
2000Jun, 28
Nils Poppe
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Events on 2000
- 14Jan
Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina
A United Nations tribunal sentences five Bosnian Croats to up to 25 years in prison for the 1993 killing of more than 100 Bosnian Muslims. - 3Apr
United States antitrust law
United States v. Microsoft Corp.: Microsoft is ruled to have violated United States antitrust law by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on its competitors. - 2May
Global Positioning System
President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military. - 22May
Sri Lankan Tamil people
In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna. - 26Nov
United States presidential election, 2000
George W. Bush is certified the winner of Florida's electoral votes by Katherine Harris, going on to win the United States presidential election, despite losing in the national popular vote.