Göran Gentele(1917-1972)

Göran Gentele (1917-1972) was a Swedish actor, screenwriter, stage and screen director, and opera manager. He studied at The Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school in Stockholm 1944-46, acted on stage and screen, assisted film director Rune Carlsten, and made his feature film debut as director with "Ballongen/The Balloon" (1946). Producer Lorens Marmstedt first recruited Gentele to Terrafilm, Stockholm, for "Crime in the Sun" (1947), a crime drama directed by a comedy/music Theatre director. Later Gentele arrived at Europa Film to make a series of comedies. In 1963 Göran Gentele became the artistic and managing director of the Royal Opera House in Stockholm. He introduced a modern b'view and feel of the opera genre and connected with the Swedish National Television who recorded some of his many productions. In 1971 Gentele was elected artistic and managing director of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. During a vacation trip with his family to Sardinia in July 1972 he was killed in car accident when he collided with a truck driving on the wrong side of a serpentine road.