Anna Q Nilsson
DID YOU KNOW…
The sugar mill worker, foreman and later carpenter Per Nilsson (1858-1942) born in Nordviddinge Skåne Sweden and his wife Anna Jönsson (1860-1939) born in Linneröd Skåne Sweden had several children, among them the daughter Anna Quirentia Nilsson in Ystad in 1888. She would be the first really big movie star in Hollywood.
She had top grades at school and got a job after school as a shop assistant in Ystad. It was unusual for a young woman from the working class in the early 20th century. She dreamed of the great country in the west and purposefully saved for the trip. On April 14, 1905, Anna Q had the money and emigrated to the United States at the age of 17. She came to New York and there she got work as a maid.
The famous American portrait painter James Carroll Beckwith was captivated by Anna Q's beautiful features when he met her in the neighborhood store. It was the start of an absolutely incredible career as a model and movie star. Two years after her arrival, 19-year-old Anna Q was named America's most beautiful woman and became one of New York's, perhaps America's, highest paid photo models.
In 1911, the growing American film industry beckoned and Anna Q debuted in the film Molly Pitcher which was a war drama. The film was produced by the film company Kalem Company. The weekly salary was 40 dollars and between the years 1911 - 1913 she made a total of 27 films.
During the year 1913, Anna Q Nilsson came into her own and freelanced in, among other things, Universal Pictures' "Uncle Tom's Cabin". She earned her pilot's license in 1912 and became known as the "Hollywood Daredevil" because she did all the stunts herself. During the 1910s and 1920s, she continued to make films for Famous Players, Paramount, Metro, Goldwyn, Mayflower, First National, Fox and Warner Brothers. There were a total of 159 silent films.
When she made her first trip home to Sweden in 1921, she was engaged to play the lead role in the folk play The Värmlanders. It became Sweden's biggest box office success and her only role in Swedish film production.
In 1926, Anna Q was chosen as the world's most popular movie star.
In 1928, her career declined after, during a holiday trip in the Sierra Nevada mountains, she fell off her horse and broke her hip.
In 1960, Anna Q Nilsson, as the first Swede, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Now she devoted herself only to her interests, gardening and her dogs.
Anna Q Nilsson from Ystad Sweden passed away aged 85 in 1974 in Sun City California. A brilliant Swedish star that we pay far too little attention to. RIP Anna Q
ulf.guttman@sweroots.com
