Göran Graffman

Eric Göran Graffman (12 February 1931 – November 2014) was a Swedish actor and film director born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He was the son of court of appeal lawyer Gösta Graffman and Gunhild Josephson, and became the father of actor Per Graffman, director Emil Graffman, and Mats Graffman.

Graffman completed his secondary education in Sigtuna in 1950 and subsequently trained at the Gothenburg City Theatre's student school from 1951 to 1954. His acting career at the Gothenburg City Theatre began in the early 1950s, and he later expanded his work to include the Stockholm City Theatre, the TV Theater, and the Radio Theater. In 1967 he joined the Royal Dramatic Theatre, where he remained a central figure for many years. Among his notable productions there were the experimental work Pelikanenx2, presented on both radio and stage in 1968 under the direction of Per Verner-Carlsson, the role of Gustav III in Kastrater in 1977, and a production of Seneca's Death in 1982, the latter two written by Sven Delblanc. He also took the lead role in the world premiere of Erland Josephson's A Talking Silence in 1984. His collaborators as an actor included directors Ingmar Bergman, Alf Sjöberg, and Canadian director Robert Lepage.

Graffman appeared on Broadway in 1966 in Threepenny Opera. In 1981 he returned to New York as a director, staging August Strindberg's The Father at the Circle in the Square theater, a production that involved a number of prominent Swedish actors.

From the 1970s onward, Graffman pursued a parallel career as a director in theater and television. His stage directing credits include Lars Norén's Night is the Mother of the Day in 1983, the Swedish premiere of Bernard-Marie Koltès's The Negro and the Dog's Fight in 1986, P.O. Enquist's I lodjurets timma in 1988, Hjalmar Bergman's Swedenhielms in 1990, and Döden och flickan in 1992. For television he directed Sławomir Mrożek's Tango in 1972, the family series Den vita stenen in 1973, Strindberg's Storm in 1988, and the film Long Weekend in 1992. His film directing work includes three productions based on Astrid Lindgren's Madicken, made between 1979 and 1980, in which his wife Monica Nordquist appeared in the recurring role of the mother. His filmography as an actor includes All These Women in 1964 and Rasmus på luffen in 1981.