Örjan Ramberg, a longtime member of Dramaten, Sweden’s Royal Dramatic Theatre, died on Aug. 14, 2026, at 78, his daughter Tilde Fröling announced his death on Instagram, according to Aftonbladet.
Ramberg took leading roles in Swedish productions of Hair in 1971 and Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972. He then studied acting at Malmö stage school from 1974 to 1977.
After completing that training, Ramberg joined Dramaten’s acting company in 1977. At the theater, he played Teseus and Oberon in En midsommarnattsdröm and Malvolio in Trettondagsafton. Alongside his stage work, he made his film breakthrough in Ulf Lundell’s film Jack and later appeared in the television series Wallander and Solsidan. Dramaten awarded him the Eugene O’Neill scholarship in 2001, and he remained associated with the theater until 2019.
In 2019, Ramberg completed his Dramaten stage run in a new version of Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, after more than two decades and more than 20 productions at the theater.
According to Svensk Damtidning, a documentary by Swedish public broadcaster SVT about singer Josefin Nilsson and her past relationship with Ramberg prompted renewed criticism in 2019. Dramaten ended its association with him after the criticism. Ramberg said he did not justify his past conduct but objected to the documentary being interpreted as portraying him as having caused Nilsson’s death.
