Helena Salonius

Salonius was born into a musical family: her mother was the singer Helmi Frilander-Salonius, a close friend of the opera diva Aino Ackté, while her aunt was the opera singer Elsa Frilander. She never knew her father, who died only months after her birth.[1]

She went to school at Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu, which has a strong tradition of artistic and cultural education, and this is likely to have influenced her career choice.[1] After graduation, she continued in 1950 to drama school (now part of Helsinki Theatre Academy).[1]

Salonius married the actor Saulo Haarla, whom she had met at drama school, and together they had two children: their son Teuri Haarla (b. 1955) became an artist, and their daughter, Iro Haarla (b. 1956), a jazz musician.[1]

After working for some years as a stage and film actor, appearing in three feature-length films in the 1950s,[2] Salonius turned her hand in the early 1960s to singing, encouraged by the conductor Jorma Panula.[1] She trained in Finland under Aulikki Rautawaara, as well as making study trips to Austria and Italy.[1]

Salonius is notable for having performed over three decades from the early 1960s to the early 1990s, singing a remarkably wide variety of roles, both dramatic and comic.[1][3] She was known for her meticulous research into and preparation of her roles.[1]

• Helena Salonius at IMDb