About

Known credits:
56
Birthday:
1945-03-12
Place of birth:
Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden
Website:
Click here

Leif G.W. Persson

Overview

Leif Gustav Willy Persson (born 12 March 1945), is a Swedish criminologist and writer, best known for his detective stories and appearances in television and newspapers.

In 1977, while working at the Swedish National Police Board, Persson was the whistleblower who worked with journalist Peter Bratt in the so-called Geijer Scandal when he confirmed a classified memo sent by then National Police Commissioner Carl Persson to Prime Minister Olof Palme about the alleged ties of the Minister of Justice, Lennart Geijer, to a prostitution ring in Stockholm. Following this affair he was fired from the National Police Board. The string of events almost drove Persson to suicide, but he soon returned as lecturer at Stockholm University. The prostitution ring affair inspired him to write his first novel, Grisfesten. He returned to the National Police Board as a professor in 1992.

Persson was a professor in criminology at the Swedish National Police Board from 1992 to 2012. He is well known in Sweden for his crime fiction novels and for his regular appearances as an expert commentator on notable crime cases on television and in newspapers.

In 1990, Persson together with Jan Guillou and Pär Lorentzon appeared in a SVT program Grabbarna på Fagerhult, indulging in hunting, fishing, and other traditionally male leisure activities. As the 1990s went on, Leif GW Persson emerged as one of Sweden's most acclaimed media personalities, and his popularity continued to grow through the 2000s.

Often referred to simply as "GW", he frequently appears on television, radio, and in other media as a commentator on crime and criminology. Among other things, he is a noted expert on the unsolved 1986 assassination of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme, and has been harshly critical of police and prosecutors. He also holds forth on other issues, including politics, literature, and wine, etc, and is well known for his great interest in hunting. He takes an irreverent attitude to authorities, regularly dismissing officials as incompetent or lazy. Persson's disheveled appearance, biting wit, and characteristic manner of speech, replete with mumbling and grunting, has made him a cult figure often lovingly parodied in the media. His extraordinary media stardom has in recent years been the theme of several journalistic investigations; at one point, Swedish public radio asked "How much Leif GW Persson can Sweden handle?".

Persson, who is overweight and has at times been very obese, has also struggled with his food intake. In the early 2000s, he was forced to abandon a habit of "food orgies" – regular bouts of extremely lavish, high-end gourmet dining and drinking – with his friend, the media mogul Jan Stenbeck, after his physician warned that his heart could not take another year of it. According to Persson, it was Stenbeck's refusal to cut back on the gourmandizing that led to his death in 2002.

Known for

Acting
2024 Veckan med Camilla och Leif GW Actor Self 69
Fair
2023 Leif GW och vargen Actor Self N/A
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2023 The Kings Inner Circle Actor Self N/A
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2023 Leif GW: Fallet Tove Actor Self N/A
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2022 Sven Melander - Ta hand om er och glöm inte att skratta Actor Self N/A
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2021 Den överlägsne journalisten Actor Self N/A
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2021 Palmemördaren Actor Self (archive footage) 58
Average
2020 Ulf Lundell - friheten och ensamheten Actor Self 67
Fair
2020 Mordet på Olof Palme Actor Self N/A
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2020 Leif GW about Actor Self N/A
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2020 Leif GW om: Blattarna som byggde Sverige Actor Self N/A
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2019 The Perfect Patient Actor Leif G.W. Persson (voice) 59
Average
2019 GW berättar - Göring i Sverige Actor Self N/A
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2018 Leif GW - nyhetsspecial om Madsen Actor Self N/A
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2018 Revolver-Harry - enligt Leif GW Persson Actor Self N/A
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2017 The Helicopter Robbery Actor Self N/A
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2016 Leif GW Persson om Mordutredningen Actor Self N/A
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2016 Sjöwall & Wahlöö - Berättelsen om ett brott Actor Self N/A
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2015 Leif GW Persson - Min klassresa Actor Self 70
Good
2014 Astrid Actor Self 58
Average
2014 Astrid Actor Self 71
Good
2014 På jakt med Lotta och Leif Actor Himself 69
Fair
2014 På jakt med Lotta och Leif Actor Self N/A
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2011 Sommarmord Actor Self N/A
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2010 Veckans brott Actor Himself 70
Good
2010 Inspector Späck Actor Leif G.W. Persson 58
Average
2009 Ebbe - The Movie: Mannen, Myten, Affären Actor Self 59
Average
2007 Makten Och Sanningen Actor Self 59
Average
2007 Bordellaffären Actor Self N/A
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2005 Helénmannen: Ulf Olsson Actor Self N/A
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2002 Thomas Quick Actor Self N/A
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1995 Thomas Quick: Seriemördare eller mytoman? Actor Self N/A
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1992 Kvällspressen Actor Kriminologen 69
Fair
1990 Grabbarna på Fagerhult Actor Self N/A
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1983 Profitörerna Actor Police investigator N/A
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1983 Profitörerna Actor Police investigator 58
Average
1982 Dubbelsvindlarna Actor Eliasson N/A
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Writing
2020 Bäckström Writing Novel 67
Fair
2020 Leif GW om: Blattarna som byggde Sverige Writing Idea N/A
N/A
2018 The Truth Will Out Writing Characters 71
Good
2018 The Dying Detective Writing Novel 70
Good
2015 Backstrom Writing Novel 68
Fair
2014 The Fourth Man Writing Novel 69
Fair
2013 Death of a Pilgrim Writing Novel 69
Fair
1994 Anna Holt - Den vite riddaren Writing Writer 69
Fair
1992 Kvällspressen Writing Writer 69
Fair
1991 Goltuppen Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1990 Grabbarna på Fagerhult Writing Writer N/A
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1986 In the Name of the Law Writing Novel 58
Average
1986 In the Name of the Law Writing Writer 58
Average
1984 The Man from Majorca Writing Novel 59
Average
1983 Profitörerna Writing Novel N/A
N/A
1983 Profitörerna Writing Novel 58
Average

Production
2020 Bäckström Production Executive Producer 67
Fair
2018 The Truth Will Out Production Executive Producer 71
Good

Crew
2023 30 sekunder: Skotten på Sveavägen Crew Thanks N/A
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