Pernilla Wahlgren
Encyclopedia
Pernilla Nina Elisabeth Wahlgren (born 24 December 1967 in Gustavsberg, Värmdö Municipality
, Stockholm County
, Sweden
) is a Swedish singer, actress and presenter. In 2004, she received the Ulla Billquist award.
and Hans Wahlgren, and the sister of artists/actors Niclas
and Linus Wahlgren. A third brother, Peter Wahlgren, works in a bank. She was married to Emilio Ingrosso 1993–1996. They have three children together; Oliver Salvatore Gustavo (born 1989), Bianca Melina Elisabeth (born 1994) and Benjamin Daniele (born 1997). Benjamin Daniele goes to Torsvik Skola on Lidingö, Sweden.
Both Benjamin and Bianca have already chosen to be involved in music at such a young age. Pernilla has also a son, Theodore (born March 21, 2007)
at Folkan
in Stockholm. After a small role in Lilla prinsen (The Little Prince) at Saltsjöbaden's theatre and an equally small part in Ingmar Bergman
's film Fanny and Alexander
, in 1982 she joined the cast of the Swedish production of The Sound of Music
, in which she played the daughter Louise. At Folklan she also had parts in Karlsson på taket, Mio, min Mio, Snövit
(Snow White) and Ringens hemlighet.
After having played Annika in the musical version of Pippi Longstocking
at Folket in Stockholm, in 1983 she received very good reviews when she replaced Siw Malmkvist in the role of Pippi for the two final performances, and got to take part in an episode of Nygammalt in 1983, and an episode of Razzel in October 1984, where she performed her debut single, Nu har det tänt.
She has also acted in film and TV productions such as Bo Widerberg's 1986 production of Ormens väg på hälleberget
in 1986, and Snoken in 1995.
Pernilla has also performed in a number of comedies at various private theatres in Stockholm, such as Parneviks cirkusparty, Spanska flugan and Bubbel trubbel. She has twice been nominated for the theatre-award Guldmasken
—first for her role in Charleys tant at the Intiman theatre, and secondly for her part in "Kärlek & lavemang" at Fredriksdalsteatern in Helsingborg
. She has had even more musical roles in Annie Get Your Gun
, Grease
, The Wizard of Oz
, Cats
and Nils Karlsson Pyssling. She has portrayed Pippi Longstocking several times, also as an adult.
On 29 September 2007, The Sound of Music
premièred at the Göta Lejon
theatre in Stockholm, where Pernilla played alongside a cast including Tommy Nilsson
. It ran for nine months, including a month-long tour across Sweden
. The last performance ran in Örebro
the 16th of May 2008.
. Her song, Piccadilly Circus
, became a public favourite, even though she only achieved fourth place in the competition. In the performance, she wore a piece of jewellery which was likened to the Prussian bravery medal, the Iron Cross
, which lead to accusations of Nazism
in the tabloid press, and the TV-programme Svar direkt—an accusation which was false. In the middle of the 1980s she performed at several successful summer tours. The shows, which she did together with the brothers Emilio and Vito Ingrosso, were showered with praise from the press.
In the second half of the 1980s came a pop career with several summer tours and studio albums. Pernilla was one of Sweden's hottest talents, with hits including Svindlande affärer, I Need Your Love, Every Time When We're Together and Running for Cover. She even discussed recording a single with Stock, Aitken & Waterman
, but the project never took place as Pernilla became pregnant.
After having devoted her time to musicals, theatre and TV for many years, Pernilla once again took part in Melodifestivalen in 2003, this time with Jan Johansen. They achieved a respectable second places with the song Let Your Spirit Fly. In August 2006, she released the album Beautiful Day, the first single from which, Talking to an Angel achieved gold sales status, and the track Come Inside My World became the theme tune to TV4's entertainment programme Förkväll.
Pernilla has performed in several Christmas shows over the years. In the summer of 2006, she performed on the Diggiloo tour along with many other famous artists.
Pernilla has even taken part in shows at Swedish tourist destinations, for example, the Canary Islands
.
In 2009, Pernilla announced that she recorded a demo that was submitted for the following year's Melodifestivalen
. The song "Jag vill om du vågar" ended up being shortlisted as part of the competition and Pernilla was confirmed to be performing the entry. On February 27, 2010, Pernilla performed the song in the fourth semi-final of the competition, taking place at the Malmö Arena in Malmö
. She advanced to the "Second Chance" round in Örebro
and on March 6, 2010 advanced to the final at Globen.
Värmdö Municipality
Värmdö Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Gustavsberg, with a population of 9,682 , situated on the main island at an elevation of 37 m....
, Stockholm County
Stockholm County
Stockholm County is a county or län on the Baltic sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Stockholm County is divided by the historic provinces of Uppland and Södermanland...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
) is a Swedish singer, actress and presenter. In 2004, she received the Ulla Billquist award.
Family
She is the daughter of actors Christina SchollinChristina Schollin
Christina Schollin is a Swedish actress known to international audiences mainly through her appearances in motion pictures, such as Dear John, Song of Norway and Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander....
and Hans Wahlgren, and the sister of artists/actors Niclas
Niclas Wahlgren
Niclas Hans Ivar Wahlgren is a Swedish artist and actor born on 8 July 1965 in Gustavsberg, Värmdö, Stockholm County, Sweden. His sister is Pernilla Wahlgren. He participated in Melodifestivalen 2006 with "En droppe regn", and was knocked out in the second chance round. On 6 March 2010, he married...
and Linus Wahlgren. A third brother, Peter Wahlgren, works in a bank. She was married to Emilio Ingrosso 1993–1996. They have three children together; Oliver Salvatore Gustavo (born 1989), Bianca Melina Elisabeth (born 1994) and Benjamin Daniele (born 1997). Benjamin Daniele goes to Torsvik Skola on Lidingö, Sweden.
Both Benjamin and Bianca have already chosen to be involved in music at such a young age. Pernilla has also a son, Theodore (born March 21, 2007)
Acting career
Pernilla's first big break was at the age of four, when she acted alongside her mother in the TV-play Den längsta dagen (The Longest Day). She attended the famous Adolf Fredrik's music school and was also part of the Saltsjöbaden theatre. She also took dancing lessons with Lasse Kühler. In the face of stiff competition she got the title role in the musical AnnieAnnie (musical)
Annie is a Broadway musical based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan. The original Broadway production opened in 1977 and ran for nearly six years with a blonde Annie as the poster...
at Folkan
Folkan
Folkan was a famous theater located at Östermalmstorg in Stockholm, Sweden. It was built in 1856 and demolished in 2008 because of problems with the foundation. The theater was called Ladugårdslandsteatern when it was built, but was renamed to Bijou-teatern in 1877. It got the name Folkan in 1887....
in Stockholm. After a small role in Lilla prinsen (The Little Prince) at Saltsjöbaden's theatre and an equally small part in Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
's film Fanny and Alexander
Fanny and Alexander
Fanny and Alexander is a 1982 Swedish fantasy drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was originally conceived as a four-part TV movie and cut in that version, spanning 312 minutes. A 188-minute version was created later for cinematic release, although this version was in fact the...
, in 1982 she joined the cast of the Swedish production of The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
, in which she played the daughter Louise. At Folklan she also had parts in Karlsson på taket, Mio, min Mio, Snövit
Snow White
"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
(Snow White) and Ringens hemlighet.
After having played Annika in the musical version of Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking is a fictional character in a series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, and adapted into multiple films and television series...
at Folket in Stockholm, in 1983 she received very good reviews when she replaced Siw Malmkvist in the role of Pippi for the two final performances, and got to take part in an episode of Nygammalt in 1983, and an episode of Razzel in October 1984, where she performed her debut single, Nu har det tänt.
She has also acted in film and TV productions such as Bo Widerberg's 1986 production of Ormens väg på hälleberget
The Serpent's Way
The Serpent's Way is a 1986 Swedish drama film directed by Bo Widerberg. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Stina Ekblad - Tea Alexisdotter* Stellan Skarsgård - Karl Orsa Markström...
in 1986, and Snoken in 1995.
Pernilla has also performed in a number of comedies at various private theatres in Stockholm, such as Parneviks cirkusparty, Spanska flugan and Bubbel trubbel. She has twice been nominated for the theatre-award Guldmasken
Guldmasken
Guldmasken , or Guldmasken Awards, is the Swedish equivalent of the Tony Awards, established in 1987.The theatre award is annually handed out for private theatre productions in Swedish theatres.-Categories:...
—first for her role in Charleys tant at the Intiman theatre, and secondly for her part in "Kärlek & lavemang" at Fredriksdalsteatern in Helsingborg
Helsingborg
Helsingborg is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city...
. She has had even more musical roles in Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun (musical)
Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music written by Irving Berlin and a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley , who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband, Frank Butler.The 1946 Broadway production...
, Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
, The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, which has been adapted into several different works, the most famous being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland...
, Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
and Nils Karlsson Pyssling. She has portrayed Pippi Longstocking several times, also as an adult.
On 29 September 2007, The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
premièred at the Göta Lejon
Göta Lejon
Göta Lejon is a theatre in Stockholm, Sweden, located in Södermalm.It is especially popular for musical productions.The current plays are: High School Musical and Buddy - The Buddy Holly Musical....
theatre in Stockholm, where Pernilla played alongside a cast including Tommy Nilsson
Tommy Nilsson
Erik Tommy Nilsson is a Swedish rock singer and composer. Swedish critics state that he has one of the best voices of Sweden....
. It ran for nine months, including a month-long tour across Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. The last performance ran in Örebro
Örebro
-Sites of interest:Örebro's old town Wadköping is located on the banks of Svartån . It contains many 18th and 19th century wooden houses, along with museums and exhibitions....
the 16th of May 2008.
Music career
Her musical breakthrough came when she partook in the 1985 edition of MelodifestivalenMelodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959...
. Her song, Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...
, became a public favourite, even though she only achieved fourth place in the competition. In the performance, she wore a piece of jewellery which was likened to the Prussian bravery medal, the Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
, which lead to accusations of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
in the tabloid press, and the TV-programme Svar direkt—an accusation which was false. In the middle of the 1980s she performed at several successful summer tours. The shows, which she did together with the brothers Emilio and Vito Ingrosso, were showered with praise from the press.
In the second half of the 1980s came a pop career with several summer tours and studio albums. Pernilla was one of Sweden's hottest talents, with hits including Svindlande affärer, I Need Your Love, Every Time When We're Together and Running for Cover. She even discussed recording a single with Stock, Aitken & Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman, sometimes known as SAW, were a UK songwriting and record producing trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. They had great success during the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s...
, but the project never took place as Pernilla became pregnant.
After having devoted her time to musicals, theatre and TV for many years, Pernilla once again took part in Melodifestivalen in 2003, this time with Jan Johansen. They achieved a respectable second places with the song Let Your Spirit Fly. In August 2006, she released the album Beautiful Day, the first single from which, Talking to an Angel achieved gold sales status, and the track Come Inside My World became the theme tune to TV4's entertainment programme Förkväll.
Pernilla has performed in several Christmas shows over the years. In the summer of 2006, she performed on the Diggiloo tour along with many other famous artists.
Pernilla has even taken part in shows at Swedish tourist destinations, for example, the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
.
In 2009, Pernilla announced that she recorded a demo that was submitted for the following year's Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen 2010
Melodifestivalen 2010 was a Swedish song contest held between February and March 2010. It was the selection for the 50th song to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, and was the 49th edition of Melodifestivalen...
. The song "Jag vill om du vågar" ended up being shortlisted as part of the competition and Pernilla was confirmed to be performing the entry. On February 27, 2010, Pernilla performed the song in the fourth semi-final of the competition, taking place at the Malmö Arena in Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
. She advanced to the "Second Chance" round in Örebro
Örebro
-Sites of interest:Örebro's old town Wadköping is located on the banks of Svartån . It contains many 18th and 19th century wooden houses, along with museums and exhibitions....
and on March 6, 2010 advanced to the final at Globen.
Media appearances
- Pernilla was the presenter of a Christmas TV-programme called Morgonstjärnan (The Morning Star) in 1985, and worked on the popular children's programme Solstollarna in 1987. She has also presented Scenen är din, Söndagsöppet, Småstjärnorna and Babyboom. She achieved much success with the series Nicke & Nille, together with her brother Niclas. This collaboration resulted in several seasons of the programme on TV4, two gold-selling albums, concerts and theatre dates.
- Pernilla Wahlgren has done adverts for, among others, the hair-colourant Garnier Nutrisse, Placker's Dental Floss and the clothing store Sisters
- To date, she has appeared twice in the Magazine Café. The second time, in 2002, it was to commemorate that she had been voted Sweden's Sexiest Woman.
- In June 2007, Pernilla took part for the first time in the popular TV-programme Allsång på skansen, where she performed a much-applauded showtune with her son Benjamin.
- On the 11 August, Pernilla débuted as a presenter on Sveriges RadioSveriges RadioSveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with...
. - Pernilla's voice can be heard in the Swedish versions of several animated films and TV-series.
Discography
- Pernilla Wahlgren (1985)
- Attractive (1986)
- Pure Dynamite (1987)
- Flashback (1989)
- I Myself and MeI Myself and MeI Myself and Me is a 1992 studio album released by Swedish singer Pernilla Wahlgren. "C'est Demon!", "Fallen Angel", "All of Me" and "Are You Ready" were released as singles.- Track listing :# Starshine# C'est démon!...
(1992) - Flashback Number Four (1995) (Best of)
- Pernilla Wahlgren (1995) (Re-issue)
- Beautiful Day (2006)