Jonas Gardell

Last updated
Jonas Gardell
Melodifestivalen 2018, Jonas Gardell.jpg
Gardell in 2018
Born
Lars Jonas Holger Gardell

(1963-11-02) 2 November 1963 (age 61)
Täby, Sweden
Occupation(s)Author, playwright, comedian, artist
Years active1979–present
Spouse Mark Levengood
(m. 2011;div. 2023)
Children1
Relatives Mattias Gardell (brother)

Lars Jonas Holger Gardell (born 2 November 1963) is a Swedish novelist, playwright, screenwriter and comedian. He is the brother of religion scholar Mattias Gardell. He is well known for his books and plays in all of Scandinavia and his books have been translated to around 25 languages. [1]

Contents

Early life

Lars Jonas Holger Gardell was born 2 November 1963 in Täby, the third of four children born to Bertil Gardell and Ingegärd Rasmussen. [2] [3] [4] Both his parents were psychologists. [3]

His brother, Mattias Gardell is a religious historian and his sister Stina Gardell  [ sv ] is a documentary filmmaker. [4]

Career

Jonas Gardell (right) with husband Mark Levengood at Stockholm Pride parade 2006 Jonas Gardell 2006-08-08.jpg
Jonas Gardell (right) with husband Mark Levengood at Stockholm Pride parade 2006

Gardell's first novel, Passionsspelet (The Passion Play), was published in 1985. Since then, he has written some ten novels, including En komikers uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up), which became a TV series. He has also written several other books, nine plays and two screenplays that were made into movies, including Livet är en schlager (Life is a Schlager). His novels are not yet available in English. He wrote and performed himself the song "Aldrig ska jag sluta älska dig", which was performed by Bergström in the film.

Gardell performed his own play Tillfällig gäst i ditt liv (Temporary guest in your life) (2007) at the Scala Theater in Stockholm.

In 2013, Gardell was elected "Homo Bi Trans Person of the Year" at the Swedish Gaygalan Awards, notably for the book Torka aldrig tårar utan handskar (Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves). [5] His prize was presented to him by the Swedish Crown Princess Victoria, whom Gardell thanked with the words: "Victoria, you are our Crown Princess, but tonight I think that I'm our little queen" - this went down well with the Crown Princess, whom Gardell knows well. His husband Levengood hosted the immensely popular "Victoria Day" for several years at the Swedish island of Öland, when the Swedes celebrate Crown Princess Victoria's birthday on 14 July.

He participated in Melodifestivalen 2018.

Personal life

Well known to be openly gay, Gardell was married to the Finnish-Swedish-American writer and TV presenter Mark Levengood. He has one child by a female friend.

In January 2023, Gardell and Levengood announced their separation after having been in a relationship for 37 years. [6] The couple divorced the following June. [7]

Bibliography

Singles

TitleYearPeak chart positionsAlbum
SWE
"Aldrig ska jag sluta älska dig"2000Non-album singles
"Det finns en väg"2018

References

  1. "Jonas Gardell". www.norstedts.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  2. Bohlin, Rebecka (2018-09-28). "Jonas Gardell: "Det här är ett feministiskt kvinnoporträtt"". Dagens ETC  [ sv ] (in Swedish). Retrieved 2025-08-26.
  3. 1 2 Nyhuus-Wirén, UllaMi (2015-05-30). "Alltid med kärleken i fokus". Hallands Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2025-08-26.
  4. 1 2 Lindqvist, Inga-Lina (2018-09-14). "Konstnärligt haveri som ändå berör". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2025-08-26.
  5. "The Crown Princess attends the QX Gay Gala". Swedish Royal Court. Archived from the original on 2021-10-07. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  6. Thorén, Matilda (2023-01-20). "Jonas och Mark separerar – "sorg och stark overklighetskänsla"". qx.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  7. "Mark Levengood och Jonas Gardell skiljer sig". Expressen (in Swedish). 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-09-03.