Ingmar Bergman was a nine-time Academy Award-nominated Swedish film, stage, and opera director. He found bleakness and despair as well as comedy and hope in his explorations of the human condition. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of modern cinema. He directed 62 films, most of which he wrote, and directed over 170 plays. Some of his internationally known favorite actors were Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, and Max von Sydow. Most of his films were set in the landscape of his native Sweden. The themes were often bleak, dealing with illness, betrayal, and insanity. Bergman was active for more than 60 years and he died on July 30th 2007.