Many of us remember Ida, Emil i Lönneberga’s younger sister, who was hanged from the flagpole at home on the farm in Katthult. A role that Lena Wisborg took on at the age of five. She did it well and left her mark on people’s hearts. After nine years in the industry, she decided to leave the limelight and focus on working with different crafts.
Short facts about Lena Wisborg Candinger
| Full name | Lena Elisabeth Wisborg Candinger |
| Occupation in the past | Child actor 1971- 1979 |
| Profession later – today | Worked as a hairdresser, make-up artist and with other crafts |
| Breakthrough | Emil’s sister Ida in Emil in Lönneberga |
| Born | 24 September 1965 Huddinge Stockholm |
| Make | Mats Inge Candinger |
Lena Wisborg’s film roles in Astrid Lindgren productions
- 1971 Emil inönneberga – Ida
- 1972 New shenanigans by Emil in Lönneberga – Ida
- 1973 Emil and the pig knuckle – Ida
Lena Wisborg and Björn Gustafsson
Together with Björn Gustavsson and others, Lena Wisborg made three films. He as the kindly boy Alfred in Katthult and she as Emil’s sister Ida. Together they did many pranks.
The films are based on Astrid Lindgren’s famous books about the mischievous blond boy Emil in Katthult, who was always up to mischief. Although it’s been a while, many remember the scenes when Emil was relegated to a carpenter’s booth where he carved his wooden figurines while contemplating his sins.
Or who still doesn’t get images in their head of little sister Ida at the top of the flagpole where Emil helped her so she could see all the way to Katthult. Or the time he got his head stuck in the nice soup bowl.
1975 – 1976 Emil in Lönneberga was shown as a TV series. It ran for one season and contained 13 episodes based on the three Emil i Lönneberga films. Lena Wisborg and the other main characters were also included in this edition.
Along with Lena and Björn there were several big names on the cast list
- Allan Edwall – Anton Svensson (Emil and Ida’s father)
- Emy Storm – Alma Svensson (Emil and Ida’s mother)
- Björn Gustafson – Alfred the Drang
- Maud Hansson – Pigan Lina
- Carsta Löck – Krösa-Maja
In the films, Lena Wisborg’s character Ida sang some songs that have become classics. The most famous is Ida’s summer song, which many people have fond summer memories of. The lyricist was Astrid Lindgren and the composer was Georg Riedel (Emil and the Piglet 1973).
Then, of course, there’s the song Lille katt, also sung by her with the same lyricist and composer (Nya hyss av Emil i Lönneberga 1972).
It wasn’t just Ida singing. Emil had a song about the place he spent most of his time, Du käre lille snickerbo (New shenanigans by Emil i Lönneberga 1972).
Last role as an orphan in Katitzi
On 2 December 1979, the series Katitzi, based on Katarina Taikon’s books, began on SVT2. The series was about an orphanage and life there. The location was not specified but could be anywhere in Sweden. Lena Wisborg played Gullan, one of Katitzi’s best friends. The series was in 6 parts and ran for one season.
What happened to Jan Ohlsson and Lena Wisborg?
The characters from Katthult were continued in a Soviet TV film in 1985 and also in an animated family film in 2013. The person who played Emil, that is Jan Ohlsson, now Jan Torsten Olsson, was an active actor until 1984. It is said that Astrid herself saw Jan sitting on her brother’s lap and had the idea for another great film, The Brothers Lionheart.
Like Lena Wisborg Candinger, he has now put acting on the shelf. While Lena is engaged in various crafts, our mischievous Emil has become a computer technician and is also said to be a flight analyst and flight expert.
Their characters will remain part of our cultural heritage for many years to come, just like the author of the books Emil i Lönneberga and many other wonderful and instructive stories, Astrid Lindgren.
