Like her blonde counterparts Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin and Liv Ullmann, the dark-haired Harriet Andersson stood for a while for a certain idea of "Nordic" eroticism through her films with Ingmar Bergman. An accomplished actress, also like them she started in the theatre and worked in Bergman's Malmö company. Bergman's Sommaren med Monika / Summer with Monika (1953), the story of a rebellious young woman which was written for her, brought her to international attention. Her long collaboration with Bergman, which also includes Gycklarnas afton / Sawdust and Tinsel (1953) and Sommarnattens leende / Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), extends to his later films such as Viskningar och rop / Cries and Whispers (1973), in which she harrowingly plays the sick heroine, and Fanny och Alexander / Fanny and Alexander (1982). She also acted in a number of films directed by Jörn Donner, including Att älska / To Love (1964), for which she was awarded a best actress award at the Venice film festival. The image of sensuality (for Robin Wood the "keynote" of her screen personality) as well as rebellion still attaches to her, for instance in her part as the sympathetic teacher in Hoyere enn himmelen / Beyond the Sky (1993, Norway), directed by Berit Nesheim.