Nils Poppe

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. Biography Background Poppe's mother was unmarried and forced to place him with a Danish foster mother in Malmö, Sweden, who put him on a diet of bread dipped in beer. After two years he was rescued from her by Anders and Amanda Jönsson at Möllevången in Malmö, who became his foster parents. His theatrical dreams began to blossom early, and at school he showed off his comic talent. On 1 August 1926, Poppe enlisted in the navy and trained as a torpedoman at the 1st Professional Company in Karlskrona as No. 427 Jönsson. However, the four-year enlistment period had to be prematurely terminated on 16 March 1928, likely due to a heart condition, which had shortly before resulted in 30 days of treatment at the Navy Hospital. Thereafter, he was not called up for military service, but he enlisted with number 936-2/1928. Nils Poppe attended in Svalöv from 1929 to 1930.