born July 14, 1918, Uppsala, Swed.
Swedish film writer-director.
The rebellious son of a Lutheran pastor, he worked in the theatre before directing his first film, Crisis (1945). He won international acclaim for his films The Seventh Seal (1956) and Wild Strawberries (1957). He assembled a group of actors, including Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann , and a cinematographer, Sven Nykvist , with whom he made powerful films often marked by bleak depictions of human loneliness, including Through a Glass Darkly (1961), Cries and Whispers (1972), Autumn Sonata (1978), and Fanny and Alexander (1982). He later wrote screenplays for The Best Intentions (1992) and Private Confessions (1996). Throughout his career Bergman continued to direct stage productions, usually at Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theatre.