Birgitta Andersson, the Swedish actress and comedian celebrated for children’s television and family entertainment, died February 22, 2026. She was 92. Her son Matti Bye said she died after a short illness, with her children and grandchildren present.
Andersson’s breakthrough came as ‘Teskedsgumman’ in SVT’s Christmas calendar Gumman som blev liten som en tesked (1967), a role that made her a familiar face to generations of viewers. She later played Hedvig Hök in Från A till Ö – en resa orden runt in the 1970s, and appeared as the troll Tova in the 1979 Christmas calendar Trolltider.
Born in Mariestad in 1933, Andersson began her theatre work in Gothenburg in the early 1950s while still in upper secondary school and taking classes at Pickwickklubbens teaterskola. After not being admitted to Göteborgs stadsteaters elevskola, she co-founded Atelierteatern in 1951 and was later recruited to Alléteatern in Stockholm, building a career that moved between stage, film, and television comedy.
In film, she also reached wide audiences as Doris, Dynamit-Harry’s love interest, in the Jönssonligan movies. Her lasting impact remains tied to SVT’s family programming, where her performances in Gumman som blev liten som en tesked, Från A till Ö – en resa orden runt, and Trolltider helped define Swedish children’s TV across multiple decades.