16 Facts About Lars Hjortsberg

Lars Hjortsberg belonged to the pioneer generation of elite actors of the Royal Dramatic Theatre and has, alongside Emilie Hogquist, been referred to as the most famous Swedish actor of the first half of the 19th-century.

Lars Hjortsberg was one of six children to the stonemason Laurentius Hjortsberg and the opera singer Maria Lovisa Schutzer: he was the brother of the ballerina Hedda Hjortsberg and the actor Magnus Hjortsberg.

Lars Hjortsberg married Sofia Katarina di Dosmo, daughter to an Italian employee of the royal stables, and became the father of actor Carl Edvard Hjortsberg and father-in-law of Fanny Westerdahl.

Lars Hjortsberg and his wife where widely known for their hospitality and their home was a center of the social life of the theater world.

Lars Hjortsberg was noticed by the theatrically interested King Gustav III of Sweden, who saw a great dramatic talent in him, and hired him at the royal court as a so-called garcon bleu, a common page boy, reader and librarian.

Lars Hjortsberg kept his position at the royal court until the assassination of the king in 1792, and accompanied the king to the Russo-Swedish War and to the Austrian Netherlands in 1791.

Lars Hjortsberg read to the king on his deathbed to amuse him.

Lars Hjortsberg made his debut at the Royal Swedish Opera at the age of six in 1778, when he played an angel with a couple of lines at the celebration of the birth of the Crown Prince in Athalie.

Lars Hjortsberg performed in a mute part as the brother of Cora in Cora och Alonzo by Naumann at the inauguration performance of the new Opera house in 1782.

Lars Hjortsberg was a member of its pioneer generation of actors and counted among its leading members until his retirement.

Lars Hjortsberg was very appreciated in comedies, and one of his most popular roles were as Polycarpus in Kronfogdarne.

Lars Hjortsberg discovered the fire, interrupted the play and informed the audience from the stage.

The building was with narrow passages and only one exit which could have led to many casualties if Hjortsberg had not directed the evacuation with such calmness and efficiency that no one was killed, which made him a hero in the eyes of the public, who greeted him with great applause at his next performance at the building at the Royal Swedish Opera, where the Royal Dramatic Theatre would now be located.

Lars Hjortsberg retired after the failed second strike of Ulrik Torsslow and Sara Torsslow in 1834, but he soon returned.

Lars Hjortsberg died in Nykoping and was buried at Vastra kyrkogarden.

Lars Hjortsberg is portrayed in a novel by Agneta Pleijel, Kungens komediant.