Per Ragnar

Per‑Erik Ragnar, better known as Per Ragnar, was born on 29 May 1941 in the historic port city of Kalmar, Sweden, the son of district manager Hans Ragnar and postal clerk Karin Pettersson. After completing his formal training at the Royal Dramatic Training Academy between 1962 and 1965, he quickly entered the professional world as a director’s assistant to the legendary Ingmar Bergman, observing the master’s meticulous approach to acting and stagecraft on the production of Peter Weiss’s The Investigation. This apprenticeship proved pivotal, laying the foundation for Ragnar’s own artistic philosophy. His breakthrough came in 1968 when he delivered a critically acclaimed performance in Arnold Wesker’s Swedish trilogy—Hönssoppa med korngryn, Rötter, and Jag talar om Jerusalem—while simultaneously achieving his first major film role as a young doctor in Jan Haldoff’s socially charged Korridoren. Throughout the 1970s, collaborations with TV director Bengt Lagerkvist cemented his reputation on the small screen, notably as Arvid Falk in the adaptation of Strindberg’s Röda rummet and as fänrik Ancker in the wartime drama Någonstans i Sverige. The 1990s brought widespread recognition when he portrayed the unsettling religious fanatic Sten Frisk in the long‑running series Tre Kronor, a role that typecast him as a compelling antagonist in later works, including the nuanced horror‑drama Låt den rätte komma in (2008) and the quirky sci‑fi adventure Kenny Begins (2009). Beyond acting, Ragnar has showcased his versatility as a television presenter for Gomorron Sverige!, authored numerous books on topics ranging from Hitler to Martin Luther, and become a respected public speaker on topics of death, vegetarianism, and pacifism, reflecting his deep‑seated commitment to non‑violence and personal introspection.