Jonas Gardell
Jonas Gardell, born 2 November 1963 in Enebyberg, Stockholm County, is a Swedish novelist, playwright, screenwriter and comedian. He is the brother of religion scholar Mattias Gardell. He is well known for his books and plays in all of Scandinavia and also published in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Poland.
Early career
Gardell's first novel, Passionsspelet (The Passion Play), was published in 1985. Since then, he has written some ten novels, including En Komikers Uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up), which became a TV series. He has also written several other books, nine plays and two screenplays that were made into movies, including Livet är en schlager (Life Is A Schlager). His novels are not yet available in English.
Later years
In 2006, more than 20 years after his first novel was published, Gardell is one of Sweden's most famous stand-up comedians and probably the country's most well-known openly gay man. His husband is the Finnish-Swedish-American writer and TV presenter Mark Levengood, with whom he has two children by female friends. Gardell performed his own play Tillfällig gäst i ditt liv (Temporary guest in your life) (2007) at the Scala Theater in Stockholm.