Tage Danielsson


Tage Danielsson was a Swedish author, actor, poet and film director. He is best known for his collaboration with Hans Alfredson in the comedy duo Hasse & Tage.

Career

After graduation from Katedralskolan in Linköping, Danielsson matriculated at the University of Uppsala in 1949. There he got involved in student theatre of Östgöta Nation and became a member of the Juvenalorden, as well as serving as vice president of the Uppsala Student Union.
After graduation, Tage Danielsson found work at Sveriges Radio in 1955. From 1959 to 1962 he was the manager for its entertainment department. At his work he came in contact with Hans Alfredson. They started the entertainment production company AB Svenska Ord together in 1961.
In 1972 at the 8th Guldbagge Awards he won the Best Director award for the film The Apple War. At the 12th Guldbagge Awards his film Release the Prisoners to Spring won the award for Best Film. At the 14th Guldbagge Awards his film The Adventures of Picasso won the award for Best Film.
Svenska Ord in general, and Danielsson in particular, excelled in making scorching comments on current events in an illusorily naive and outward-lookingly friendly way that often succeeded to endear even political opponents to his particular brand of humorist humanism. He was also a constant campaigner behind the scene for causes ranging from Anti-Apartheid to Anti-Nuclear to social solidarity, he was also a regular contributor to the anarcho-syndicalist newspaper Arbetaren.
In 1980 he received an honorary doctorate at Linköping University. His death in 1985 was from skin cancer. A statue of him can be seen just outside the grounds of his old school. In 1985 his 1984 film Ronia, the Robber's Daughter, based on Astrid Lindgren's 1981 book Ronia the Robber's Daughter, was entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival.

Selected filmography

Film