Signe Hasso

Signe Eleonora Cecilia Hasso, born Larsson on 15 August 1915 in the Kungsholmen parish of Stockholm, Sweden, was a Swedish actress whose career spanned stage, film, and television across multiple decades. She died on 7 June 2002 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from pneumonia and cancer, at the age of 86.

Hasso grew up in modest circumstances in Stockholm. Her father and grandfather both died when she was four years old, leaving her mother, grandmother, two siblings, and herself sharing a single room. Her mother, who had once harbored acting ambitions of her own, supported the family by working as a waffle cook. Hasso attended Matteusskolan, Kungsholms elementarskola för flickor, and Norrmalms enskilda läroverk. Her entry into acting came about by chance at the age of 12, when her mother was asked whether she knew a young girl who could fill in for an ailing actress. Neither Hasso nor her sister wished to go, and the matter was settled by a coin flip that Hasso lost. Her audition for a Molière play proved successful, and she began earning money as a performer. She went on to appear in productions at the Royal Dramatic Theatre starting in 1927 and enrolled there as an acting student at 16, the youngest in the institution's history.

In 1933, Hasso made her Swedish film debut in Tystnadens hus, directed by German cinematographer and director Harry Hasso, whom she married that same year. The couple had a son before Hasso was 19, and they divorced in 1942. Tragically, their son was killed in a car accident in 1957. After establishing herself in Swedish stage and film work, Hasso was approached by Howard Hughes, who encouraged her to relocate to the United States. She signed a contract with RKO Pictures and was promoted as the next Greta Garbo. With limited roles materializing at RKO, she turned to the stage to sustain her career. In the mid-1940s she signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and her first notable film role came in Heaven Can Wait in 1943. She subsequently appeared in The Seventh Cross (1944), Johnny Angel (1945), The House on 92nd Street (1945), A Scandal in Paris (1946), and Where There's Life (1947). She identified her role as the ex-wife of an actor driven to madness, played by Ronald Colman, in A Double Life (1947) as her personal favorite. By the 1950s her Hollywood career had slowed, and she divided her time between Swedish film productions and stage work in New York City before returning to Hollywood in the 1960s. Her final film appearance was in One Hell of a Guy in 1998.

Hasso's Broadway career extended from 1941 to 1967, encompassing five productions. Her first appearance came in Golden Wings in 1941. She subsequently appeared in the comedy The Apple Cart, as well as in Glad Tidings and Edwina Black. She also starred in Cabaret. Alongside her stage and film work, Hasso maintained an active television presence, making guest appearances on numerous series including Route 66, Bonanza, The Outer Limits, The Green Hornet, Hawkins, Cannon, Starsky and Hutch, The Streets of San Francisco, Ellery Queen, Quincy M.E., Magnum P.I., Trapper John M.D., Hart to Hart, and The Fall Guy. She was also a recurring guest on Bob Hope's NBC prime-time television series.

Beyond performing, Hasso worked as a composer, lyricist, songwriter, and author. She translated Swedish folk songs into English and released the album Where the Sun Meets the Moon in 1979, comprising her own renditions of Swedish folk tunes. Her debut novel, Momo, published in 1977, drew on her childhood in interwar Stockholm. She went on to publish additional works, including Kom slott (1978), Inte än (1988), Om igen (1989), and Tidens vän (1990). In a 1995 interview she expressed that she wished to be remembered for her writing rather than her acting.

Hasso received recognition throughout her career on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1935 she was awarded the Theatre League's De Wahl-stipendium, and in 1939 she received the first Nordic Gösta Ekmanpriset. In 1972, King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden appointed her Member 1st Class of the Royal Order of Vasa, and in 1989 the Vasa Order of America named her Swedish-American of the Year. She holds a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard, honoring her contributions to motion pictures. In her later years she lived at Park La Brea in Los Angeles, where she remained until her death.