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Björn Andrésen

Björn Andrésen

Acting

Biography

Björn Johan Andrésen (26 January 1955 – 25 October 2025) was a Swedish actor and musician. He was best known for playing the fourteen-year-old Tadzio in Luchino Visconti's 1971 film adaptation of the Thomas Mann novella Death in Venice. Andrésen had only appeared in one film, En kärlekshistoria (1970) at the time he was cast in Death in Venice, which gained him international recognition. While the film performed relatively poorly at the box office, Andrésen was noted for his performance as Tadzio, the beautiful young Polish boy with whom the film's older protagonist Gustav von Aschenbach becomes obsessed. Film historian Lawrence J. Quirk commented in his study The Great Romantic Films (1974) that some shots of Andrésen "could be extracted from the frame and hung on the walls of the Louvre or the Vatican". Rumors circulated in America at the time of the film's release as to whether or not Andrésen was homosexual (as the role demanded that he appear to exchange romantic glances with the protagonist, and on another occasion, be kissed and caressed by another teenage boy). Andrésen emphatically denied these, and later recounted his discomfort at being forced by director Luchino Visconti during filming to visit a gay bar, where he attracted the attention of a number of older men.  Eager to dispel the rumors regarding his sexuality and to shed his "pretty boy" image, Andrésen thereafter avoided homosexual roles and parts which he felt would play off of his good looks, and was angry when feminist writer Germaine Greer used a photograph of him on the cover of her book The Beautiful Boy (2003) without first obtaining his personal permission. Although Greer did consult photographer David Bailey (who owned the copyright for the image) before publishing the book, Andrésen maintained that it is common practice when a party uses an image of a person which has been copyrighted by a different individual to inform the individual and that he would not have given his consent for Greer to use his picture if she had informed him of her plans. Andrésen has also appeared in several other films. These include Pelikaanimies (2004),  Kojan (1992) and Smugglarkungen (1985).

Known For

Wallander
6.9

Wallander is a Swedish television series adapted from Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander novels and starring Krister Henriksson in the title role. The 1st series of 13 films was produced in 2005 and 2006, with one taken directly from a novel and the remainder with new storylines suggested by Mankell. The 2nd series of 13 films was shown between 2009 and 2010. The stories are set in Ystad near the southern tip of Sweden. The three films Before the Frost, Mastermind, and The Secret were premiered in cinemas, with the rest first released as direct-to-DVD movies. The first episode of the second series, Hämnden, was released in Swedish cinemas in January 2009; the rest of the series was made for television. The BBC aired all 26 episodes of the Swedish television versions on BBC Four. A third and final season, containing six 90 minute episodes, will air in 2013 with Charlotta Jonsson as Linda Wallander. The first episode, adapted from the novel The Troubled Man, was released in cinemas in January 2013.

Wallander

2005
Midsommar
7.2

Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.

Midsommar

2019
Springfloden
7.1

A homeless former detective and an aspiring police officer join forces to solve a cold case in which a pregnant woman was buried alive on a beach on North Koster Island.

Springfloden

2016
Death in Venice
7.2

Composer Gustav von Aschenbach travels to Venice for health reasons. There, he becomes obsessed with the stunning beauty of an adolescent Polish boy named Tadzio who is staying with his family at the same Grand Hôtel des Bains on the Lido as Aschenbach.

Death in Venice

1971
Shelley
5.5

Louise and Kasper want to become parents, but Louise cannot have children. She seals a pact with her Romanian maid, Elena, to bear her child, but things don't turn out quite as planned...

Shelley

2016
Agatha Christie's Hjerson
5.9

Swedish murder investigator Sven Hjerson forms an unexpected detective duo with stubborn TV producer Klara after several years of isolation. Will she also manage to recruit him for her new TV show?

Agatha Christie's Hjerson

2021
The Most Beautiful Boy in the World
7.4

In 1971, due to the world premiere of Death in Venice, Italian director Lucino Visconti proclaimed his Tadzio as the world’s most beautiful boy. A shadow that today, 50 years later, weighs Björn Andrésen’s life.

The Most Beautiful Boy in the World

2021
A Swedish Love Story
7.0

The puppy love of two teenagers is set against a backdrop of adults struggling with their own lives. As a couple in love, they don't care about anything but themselves and seem totally unaware about everything that surrounds them.

A Swedish Love Story

1970
Visconti's Venice
4.0

A behind-the-scenes documentary produced during the original release of the film. The promotional piece features interviews with director Luchino Visconti and actor Dirk Bogarde as they discuss the filmmaking process involved in bringing Death in Venice to life.

Visconti's Venice

1970
Two Sisters
5.5

Sisters Alicia and Vanessa are best friends, but they begin to distance themselves in search of their identity in the adult world. Based on the triology of Amanda Schulman and Hannah Widell.

Two Sisters

2021
1939
4.9

When the war breaks out, Annika lives with her parents in Värmland, close to the border to Norway. Her cousin Harald is a dealer in the black market but has to escape from the police to Norway. Annika moves to Stockholm and gets a job as a waitress. She meets the happy-go-lucky Berit and together they have a wonderful time. She also meets a young man, Bengt, whom she marries. But almost immediately she discovers that her husband is different from the man who was courting her. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.

1939

1989
Gentlemen
6.5

Beaten up, bruised, and scared, a young writer hides in a Stockholm apartment, writing the story of its disappeared inhabitants: the flamboyant and charismatic Morgan brothers.

Gentlemen

2014
Lysande landning
N/A

On a hot August day, Harry Friberg gets an urgent assignment: to photograph United Air's shining new floatplane at the Lindarängen air harbor in Stockholm. The evening's crayfish party to celebrate the acquisition turns out uniquely unpleasant - and when the manger totals his car, and the chief pilot crashes into the sea after take-off, Harry realizes that a horrible crime has been committed, and it's time to call police commissioner Vesper Johnson.

Lysande landning

1987
Searching for Tadzio
6.6

An account of Italian film director Luchino Visconti's travels in search for a young actor to portray the role of Tadzio in his 1971 adaptation of Thomas Mann's novella Death in Venice (1912).

Searching for Tadzio

1970
The Simple-Minded Murderer
7.0

The feeble-minded Sven's mother dies and he gets work as a farm-hand at the rich, affluent Höglund's farm. He has to work without pay and sleeps together with the cows. He meets the disabled Anna who is the first one to treat him as an adult. One day he has had enough of Höglund's maltreatment and moves in with Anna's family. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.

The Simple-Minded Murderer

1982
One-Week Bachelors
4.8

Gary's wife goes away for a week and Gary expects a week of hard work at the office. After having left her at the airport, he misses the bus. But the car mechanic Lasse gives him a ride. Although they are unlike each other, they get to know each other. Gary makes a mess of everything and can't avoid Lasse.

One-Week Bachelors

1982
The Hotel
N/A

The Hotel is the last part of a trilogy about travelling. The first two were The Atlantic (Atlanten, 1995) and The Lighthouse (Fyren, 2000). The hotel is a different kind of home. It can be a refuge, cul-de-sac, castle, nightmare, creative space...The first hotel was created as protection against the elements. Weary travellers could find shelter and rest. But it was also a place for legends and anecdotes.

The Hotel

2016
Lysande landning
7.3

Harry Friberg receives a photo assignment at Lindarängen's airport in Stockholm. The assignment turns into a nightmare when the photographer is invited to a crayfish party by the company's director.

Lysande landning

1987
Wallander: The Heritage
4.6

When Manfred Stjarne is stabbed to death outside the Brada cider factory his wife Claire has inherited - suspicion falls on Polish worker Jan Kowalski, with whose wife Manfred was having an affair, but Jan is found hanged - later evidence suggesting foul play. Benjamin Wilkes, an ex-psychologist who helped Manfred select redundancy candidates, is killed in the same way as Manfred, putting disgruntled ex-Brada employees in the frame, but a third slaying implicates a former patient of Wilkes, who has connections to the Stjarne family. A newly loved-up Isabelle and Pontius start to fool around whilst on surveillance, taking their eye off the ball and allowing this suspect to confront Claire.

Wallander: The Heritage

2010
Pelicanman
5.9

Wanting to know the ways of people, a pelican turns into a gawky young man who soon learns to speak, thanks to his outstanding talent in imitation. He befriends Emil and Elsa, two children who--unlike adults--see that their new neighbor "Mr Berd" is not human but a big bird wearing a suit. The Pelican Man lands a job at the opera and falls in love with a pretty ballerina, looking so much like a bird herself. Troubles start when adults too find out about "Mr Berd's" ornithological origin.

Pelicanman

2004