This dissertation explores the stardom of Viveca Lindfors by paying attention to its connection to film star cultures in Sweden and beyond. In so doing, it seeks to uncover neglected aspects of Swedish film history concerning representational and industrial practices. By contriving the concept of “performed self,” the dissertation offers a multi-faceted account of Lindfors’s stardom and thereby explains the connotations of her epithet “hot-blooded” (“blodfull”). The analysis focuses on representations of the star in films and other media, their historical and cultural contexts, her acting techniques, her business tactics, and the production and promotional strategies of her studios. As a result, this dissertation elucidates the gender and ethnic norms and the national identity embodied by Swedish stars, the star-making machinery in Sweden, and the career strategies of a film star active in both Europe and the U.S. More generally, it illuminates the cultural and societal significance of a female star as a professional actor and a public figure, as well as her agency in navigating the patriarchal structure of film as an industry and an institution. As a contribution to two research fields, i.e. Swedish film history and star studies, this study challenges the Hollywood-centric perspective that still dominates star studies. Furthermore, it connects the research on the histories of Swedish cinema and theatre by highlighting their interplay in the realm of star creation. Theoretically, it engages in a critical reassessment of the established framework for understanding stars as media construction to link different strands of research within star studies.

Chapter 1 elaborates the concept of “performed self” by drawing on the notions of “performance” and “performativity” as explained by Erving Goffman and Judith Butler, respectively, and details the methods and materials. Chapter 2 provides a historical overview of the Swedish film star system and culture from its beginning up to the 1940s to contextualise the case study of Lindfors. The three case study chapters centre on the themes of struggle, sex, and otherness. Chapter 3 investigates the process whereby Lindfors achieved, cultivated, and sustained her stardom by examining her career as well as marketing strategies employed by her Swedish and American studios. It also addresses the roles played by other parties involved in the process, e.g. the press, theatres, film/theatre directors, and talent agents. Chapter 4 investigates nonnormative femininity—particularly, active female sexuality—embodied by the characters in her Swedish films and the actress’s cinematic sex appeal as a part of her acting. The chapter also examines the criticism and ridicule that Lindfors as a sex symbol faced in the Swedish press and how her wife- and motherhood was marginalised in media discourses about her. Chapter 5 discusses the complex relationship between notions of otherness and “(un-)Swedishness” by analysing the characters in both her Swedish and American films and the representations of the star in printed media from both countries. It also compares her acting in these films with a focus on her voice and accent, which contribute to the expression of otherness.