Bibi Andersson, the Swedish actress who starred in classic films by compatriot Ingmar Bergman, including "The Seventh Seal" and "Persona," has died. She was 83.
Andersson died on Sunday, said Martin Frostberg, spokesman for the Swedish Film Institute said.
The state-funded institute said Monday Andersson was the only person to have been named best actress four times in its annual awards.
In 1958, Andersson also shared the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Bergman's "Brink of Life." Five years later, she won Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival for her performance in Vilgot Sjoman's "The Mistress."
"Her achievements in Swedish cinema cannot be overrated," the Swedish Film Institute's CEO, Anna Serner, said in a statement.
Andersson "will be forever remembered as one of Sweden's truly great actors," she added.
Born in Stockholm on Nov. 11, 1935, as Berit Elisabet Andersson, she appeared in more than 90 films, 13 of them directed by Bergman.
They first met in 1951 when Bergman directed a series of soap commercials featuring Andersson, according to the institute.
Andersson's career expanded into major productions overseas in the 1970s. She appeared in movies by directors such as John Huston and Robert Altman and starred alongside actors including Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier and Steve McQueen.
She then turned to directing plays in Stockholm before suffering a stroke in 2009 and disappearing from the limelight.
She is survived by her daughter, Jenny, and her third husband, Gabriel Mora Baeza. Funeral arrangements were not announced.
Civil rights groups call on major corporations to stick with DEI programs
A broad group of civil rights organizations called on the CEOs and board members of major companies Thursday to maintain their commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that have come under attack online and in lawsuits.
An open letter signed by 19 organizations and directed at the leaders of Fortune 1000 companies said companies that abandon their DEI programs are shirking their fiduciary responsibility to employees, consumers and shareholders.
The civil rights groups included the NAACP, the National Organization for Women, the League of United Latin American Citizens, Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
"Diversity, equity and inclusion programs, policies, and practices make business-sense and they're broadly popular among the public, consumers, and employees," their statement read. "But a small, well-funded, and extreme group of right-wing activists is attempting to pressure companies into abandoning their DEI programs."
Companies such as Ford, Lowes, John Deere, Molson Coors and Harley-Davidson recently announced they would pull back on their diversity, equity and inclusion policies after facing pressure from conservative activists who were emboldened by recent victories in the courtroom.
Many major corporations have been examining their diversity programs in the wake of a Supreme Court decision last year that declared race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions unconstitutional. Dozens of cases have been filed making similar arguments about employers. Critics of DEI programs say the initiatives provide benefits to people of one race or sexual orientation while excluding others.
In their letter, the civil rights organizations, which also included... Read More