Hans Alfredson

Hans Folke "Hasse" Alfredson (28 June 1931 – 10 September 2017) was a Swedish actor, film director, writer, and comedian. Born in Malmö, Sweden, he is known for his collaboration with Tage Danielsson as the duo Hasse & Tage and their production company AB Svenska Ord ("Swedish Words Ltd"). His most celebrated contribution to their brand of humorist humanism was his ability to extemporize wildly absurd comic situations, for example in the Lindeman dialogues.

Towards the end of his life, Alfredson made it clear that he preferred his real name, Hans, over the commonly used nickname "Hasse".

He was the father of directors Daniel and Tomas Alfredson.

Through his collaboration with Danielsson, with whom he produced several revue shows and films, Alfredson became one of Sweden's best-known comedians and a major, enduringly popular celebrity. Already in 1970, however, he performed a less sympathetic role in Grisjakten. Later in his life, Alfredson would more or less completely turn around to become an author and director of serious, non-comedic works. In 1982 he directed and starred as the antagonist in the film The Simple-Minded Murderer, based on his novel En ond man (An evil man). With just a brief return to revue comedy in 1984, he rarely revisited the genre after the 1985 death of Tage Danielsson. In addition to shows and movies, he authored numerous books, including Monty Python-style comedies as well as tragic and melancholy works.

Between 1992 and 1994, Alfredson was head of the open-air museum Skansen in Stockholm.

In the mid-00s, Alfredson participated in the Danish TV series The Eagle. His last cinematic work was the 2009 adaption of Stieg Larsson's novel The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, directed by his son Daniel Alfredson.

His work, alone and with Danielsson, won several awards. At the 11th Guldbagge Awards, he won the Best Director award for his 1975 film Egg! Egg! A Hardboiled Story. His 1981 film The Simple-Minded Murderer won three awards at the 18th Guldbagge Awards and was entered into the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival. His 1985 film False as Water won the award for Best Director at the 21st Guldbagge Awards.

• 1975: Egg! Egg! A Hardboiled Story
• 1982: The Simple-Minded Murderer
• 1983: P & B
• 1985: False as Water
• 1987: Jim & Piraterna Blom
• 1988: Vargens tid