Bengt Ekerot
Nils Bengt Folke Ekerot was a Swedish actor and stage director best known for portraying Death in The Seventh Seal directed by Ingmar Bergman. In 1956, he directed the world premiere of Long Day's Journey into Night, considered the magnum opus of American playwright Eugene O'Neill.
Early life
Ekerot was born in Stockholm.
Career
He had several roles in Swedish films, but in Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal he portrayed Death as a white-faced man in a black cloak. The decision to perform the role in this way was a joint decision between the actor and director. Bergman wrote in his autobiography Images: My Life in Film that the two men "agreed that Death should wear a clown mask, a white clown’s mask. A fusion of a clown mask and a skull."
He also appeared in Bergman's 1958 film, The Magician as Johan Spegel, an ailing vaudevillian.
Death
A man with a self-destructive personality, health issues from smoking and excessive drinking affected Ekerot's later career resulting in him losing potential roles. He died from lung cancer in 1971.
Partial filmography
They Staked Their Lives - Freedom FighterHanna in Society - Fred HummerbergThe Talk of the Town - Sven TörringSnapphanar - Lille-JonasLågor i dunklet - Åke Kronström, Student We House Slaves - Linus TallhagenNothing Is Forgotten - Student at art school Night in Port - JohnNär ungdomen vaknar - LennartSonja - BengtGentleman with a Briefcase - StigTre söner gick till flyget - ErikThe Rose of Tistelön - Anton, hennes brorFram för lilla Märta eller På livets ödesvägar - Radio Speaker Crime and Punishment - Studenten13 stolar - Clerk Brita in the Merchant's House - 'Paniken'Interlude - TjuvenDynamite - Allan AxelsonMarianne - Companion Hamlet - Hamlet, prins av DanmarkStage Entrance - Johan ErikssonThe Seventh Seal - DeathThe Jazz Boy - Erik JonssonThe Magician - Johan SpegelOn a Bench in a Park - Sam PerssonMyten - Policeman / Social Worker / Guard / DoctorHere Is Your Life - BybergLife's Just Great - The NeighbourOla & Julia - MaxWho Saw Him Die? - ErikssonKorridoren - Birger Olsson