Inga Swenson is a highly accomplished and seasoned actress, renowned for her captivating portrayals of complex, often acidulous women on television. Her most iconic role, arguably, is that of Gretchen Wilomena Kraus, the German-born head housekeeper and later administrative assistant in the popular TV series Benson (1979). Inga's masterful performance earned her three Emmy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress, so convincing was she in her portrayal that audiences often assumed her to be German in real life, despite her Scandinavian ancestry.
Born to an attorney father, Axel Carl Richard Swenson, and his wife, Geneva Pauline Swenson (née Seeger),Inga grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. She attended high school there before enrolling at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, to study drama.
Inga made her screen debut in 1957, appearing in the feature films Advise & Consent (1962) and The Miracle Worker (1962),where she played a senator's wife and the mother of young Helen Keller, respectively. She then divided her career between theatre and television, with a notable performance as the evil housekeeper Ingrid Svenson in the sitcom Soap (1977) leading to her becoming a mainstay on the spin-off series Benson.
In addition to her television work, Inga has had a distinguished stage career, with her first starring turn coming in the historical play The First Gentleman in 1959. She has also headlined in the musical 110 in the Shade (1963),playing the role of Lizzie Currie, and won Tony Award nominations for her performances in Baker Street (1965) and 110 in the Shade. Other notable stage roles include Magnolia in Show Boat, Desdemona in Othello, and Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.
Inga retired from acting in 1998 and spent her later years married to Emmy Award-winning sound engineer Lowell Harris, whom she wed in 1953. Tragically, Inga passed away on July 23, 2023, at the age of 90, leaving behind a legacy of unforgettable performances on both stage and screen.
