Adolphson grew up in Norrköping, where his father was smith. To his
father's disapproval, he began acting in small parts in the local
theaters, particularly Arbis, the worker's theater. He started an
education to become an engineer in Västerås, but the theater was the
only thing he was interested in and eventually left school. In 1913 he
joined a traveling theater company and traveled all around Sweden. He
debuted in Stockholm in 1918 and during the the 1920s he played with
the big names in the Swedish theatre:
Harriet Bosse (whom he later married),
Ernst Rolf,
Katie Rolfsen,
Tollie Zellman,
Erik 'Bullen' Berglund and
Gösta Ekman among others. In 1923 he
got his first major role in a movie,
Friaren från landsvägen (1923).
In 1929 he directed
Säg det i toner (1929), one of
the first Swedish sound pictures. This led to an offer from Paramount
to direct movies in Paris, France which he accepted. During the 1930s
and 1940s he worked very hard with movies and theater, not only because
he loved his work, but also to support an increasing number of ex-wives
and children. He directed
Ingrid Bergman in her first
movie, Munkbrogreven (1935). Other
memorable appearances are
Kungliga patrasket (1945),
När kärleken kom till byn (1950),
Sie tanzte nur einen Sommer (1951),
Vägen till Klockrike (1953)
and Hemsöborna (1955). He ended his
career with a marvelous performance in
Markurells i Wadköping (1968).
He was struck by blindness the last years of his life and had to quit
acting.
