The legendary serial "Pippi Langstrumpf" (1969), written by Astrid Lindgren, owes its popularity to the talented acting of Inger Nilsson as Pippi (her full name is Pippilotta Viktoradria Rullgardina Krysmynta Efraimsdotter Långstrump) and to the affectionate production of the episodes.

By the end of the 60's Inger Nilsson was the absolute darling of the public.
When she took on the job at the age of nine no one could foresee the enormous success of the serial and the two movies. The serial was shot between 1968 and 1969, the last movie was produced in 1973.

Who supposes that Inger Nilsson became rich through her success is wrong. Inger Nilsson was like many others a "simple" child actress. She had neither any rights to the films nor any rights to her own character as Pippi Langstrumpf.
The only thing her film work brought her was wonderful memories and great popularity. But for that very reason it was very difficult for Inger Nilsson to lead a normal life.
All the people around her behaved towards her as if she really was Pippi Langstrumpf and they expected of her the constantly bright character of a Pippi. The people continued to treat her as you would do a ten-year-old girl in those days. 

Inger Nilsson finished school with the intention of not to becoming an actress. She learned and practised the profession of a secretary, however later went into acting afterall.
Since 1987 she has worked for small theaters in the province of Sweden and has played very varying roles.

These days Inger Nilsson is an actress with more or fewer engagements. Depending on the use of amount of work it can happen that she has financial difficulties like most freelance actors/actresses.

Her wishes for the future are modest: to get interesting offers for the theater and, perhaps, to have her own children; and that the people don't treat and look upon her any longer as a child.

When you speak to Inger Nilsson of the author Astrid Lindgren she thinks among other things that Astrid Lindgren would be the only person who could call her Pippi. But Astrid Lindgren never did because she knew Inger Nilsson wouldn't like it.

She found herself in the limelight once again when in 1997 a 26-part animation serial was launched in Sweden. 

To her latest cinematical works belong "Gripsholm" (00) and some episodes of the serial "Der Kommissar und das Meer" (07).

The American film industry released a picture about Pippi Longstocking but this movie was made without love and bears no comparison to the unique serial in the 60's.

Serie "Pippi Långstrump" (1969)
Pippi on the Run (1970)
Pippi in the South Seas (1970)
Pippi Goes On Board (1973)
 
 
 

Pär Sundberg got the role of Tommy by pure chance. Because the castings for these roles were not crowned with success he was spotted during a ballet performance at a theater where he took part as a dancer. 

Like Maria Persson he also became very popular overnight with his performance in "Pippi Langstrumpf" and he had to struggle with the attention of the public which was connected with it.

The shooting for Pippi is best reminded and especially the ape, Mr. Nilsson. The ape had to be tied to the shoulders of the children, otherwise he run away. The ape took his revenge for the unpleasant situation with slaps and pulling at the hair which didn't go down well.

That the ape also did his "small business" on the shoulders of the children has not to be mentioned especially.
The school education was not neglected because a teacher was organised for the children who gave lessons.

Pär Sundberg also has positive memories to Astrid Lindgren he personally met during the shooting. She was a warm-hearted and sensitive person. 

Pär Sundberg, in contrast to Maria Persson and Inger Nilsson didn't have the intention to become an actor after the time of Pippi. He carries on a middle-class profession. Today he is the head of a Instore marketing company in Malmö.
 

The actress Maria Persson was chosen from more than 8'000 candidates for the role of Annika and Pippi which was organised with a huge casting search in Sweden.
It soon turned out that she did not have a problem with acting and played spontaneous because she loved it to be in the limelight.

After the first success followed other movies around Pippi and finally a TV serial which made her and the other children very popular in Sweden as well as in whole Europe.

Maria Persson has positive memories to the shootings despite the restricted private atmosphere which came with the success.

After the time of Pippi she cherished to become an actress as an adult and she joined the acting school in Malmö in 1977.
But the aim at the career failed to come, to much was her person connected with the role of Annika.

Finally she went to school for nursing. Sie earned her nurse practitioner degree before online degrees became popular and made her living as a nurse.

An important period of her life followed in 1980 she she fell in love with a Spaniard and followed him to Mallorca. After the end of the relationship she did not return to Sweden but opened a bar in Palmy with her new partner. After the separation she had to sell the bar.
Since then she works there as a geriatric nurse.

The only thing which disturbes Maria Persson a little bit is the common opinion that she became rich because of her role in Pippi Langstrumpf. In fact the three child actors only got a pocket money,only the film company made a lot of money.
Even today with the numerous repeats on TV the children do not see a krona.

In return her memory to the writer Astrid Lindgren are very positive because she came up with the common imagination of her and she radiated huge sympathy.

The director Olle Hellbom had an essential part in the success of the Astrid-Lindgren filmings and  he nearly realised all early movies based on Astrid Lindgren.
No less than 21 filmings were directed by him, to these productions belong the books "Kalle Blomquist", "Saltkrokan", "Michel aus Lönneberga", "Die Brüder Löwenherz", "Die Kinder aus Bullerbü" and of course "Pippi Langstrumpf". On that occasion he demonstrated an incomporable talent to worked together with children. He was able to receive impressive performances without loosing the naturalness of the children.

He also demonstrated an unspoilt certainty in search of the child actors. It is due Olle Hellbom that Inger Nilsson as Pippi, Maria Johansson as chubby Tjorven and Jan Ohlsson as Michel aroused enthusiasm for a multimillion audience.

He began his film career as a promotional film director, it followed short movies and different awards, among other things in Cannes 1952. 

He achieved a great success with his first feature film "Mästerdetektiven lever farligt - Kalle Blomquist - Sein schwerster Fall" (57) and a great friendship with Astrid Lindgren came into being. With this movie he launched the leading position of Sweden in the field of child movies to which only Czechoslovakia was equal in later years.

After the movie "Raggare!" (59) followed the second Lindgren filming with "Alla vi barn i Bullerbyn - Wir Kinder von Bullerbü" (60).
It followed movies like "Kann du läxan" (61), "Tjorven, Batsman och Moses" (64), "Skrallan, Rusprick och Knorrhane" (67) and finally "Pippi Langstrumpf" (69).
The success was so huge that Olle Hellbom realised three more motion pictures as well as a TV serial which are still very popular.

In the 70's followed other Lindgren filmings with "Emil i Lönneberga - Immer dieser Michel" (71), "Världens bästa Karlsson - Karlsson auf dem Dach" (74), the serial "Sa gar det till pa Saltkrakan" (77), "Bröderna Lejonhjärta - Die Brüder Löwenherz" (77) and "Rasmus pa luffen" (81).

Briefly before the beginning of the shooting for the serial "Ronja Räubertochter" he died unexpected at the age of 57 years.

The writer Astrid Lindgren is probably the most successful children's book author. She became not only famous with her books but also as a result of numerous filmings of her books which made her very popular.
One is often astonished what multitude of well-known figures she created.

To her books belong together with Pippi Longstocking also Kalle Blomquist, The Children from Bullerbü, Mio my Son, Vacations on Saltkrokan, Madita, Karlson on the Roof, Emil from Lönneberga, The Brothers Lionheart and Ronia the Robbers Daughter.

She began her professional career with a job for the newspaper Vimmerby Tidning for which she was active in the fields investigation and writing brief reports beside her normal article writing and was able to collect great experiences.

When she became pregnant at the age of 18 she decided not to marry the father but to be responsible for her son alone. The first three years had her son to spent by a foster-parents. Only in 1929 she was able to look after him when she met Sture Lindgren.

Astrind Lindgren only came to the book writing in 1941 when she was confined to her bed after an injury on her ankle. She made Pippi Langstrumpf up and read it to hoer daughter.

this was the beginning of an incomporable literary career which made her unforgettable till today and although for future generations.
Till to the publication of her book Pippi Longstocking is lastest some more years, only in 1945 became her book published for the first time, four years later also in Germany.

Afterwards followed many other successful books like "Detective Kalle Blomquist" (1946), "The Children from Bullerbü" (1947), "Kati" (1950), "Mio, my Son" (54), "Karlson on the Roof" (55), "Nils Karlsson-Däumling" (56), "Rasmus and the Tramp" (56), "Happy

Especially her book "The Brothers Lionheart" (73) differs from her other books to the effect that she deals with adult topics and where death plays a central role. 

Astrid Lindgren was honored with numerous awards in her last years and when she died at the age of 94 in 2002 there were several hundred thousand people at her funeral.