Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström (; born 2 June 1946) is a Swedish film director. He first became known for directing almost all the music videos by the pop group ABBA, and subsequently became a feature film director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for My Life as a Dog (Mitt liv som hund) (1985) and later for The Cider House Rules (1999). His other celebrated directorial works include What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) and Chocolat (2000). Early life Hallström was born in Stockholm, Sweden. His father Nils Hallström was a dentist and his mother was the writer Karin Lyberg (1907–2000). His maternal grandfather, Ernst Lyberg, was the minister of finance in the first cabinet of Carl Gustaf Ekman (1926–1928) and leader of the Liberal Party of Sweden (1930–1933). His father was also enthusiastic about film and made a film called Sommarstad in 1939. Career Hallström attended Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm. He made his directorial debut in 1973, directing the comedy series "Pappas pojkar" for Swedish TV. He frequently collaborated with comic actors Magnus Härenstam and Brasse Brännström during his Swedish period. Between 1974 and 1982, Hallström worked with the Swedish group ABBA on many of their promotional videos and also directed their 1977 film ABBA: The Movie. After the international success of My Life as a Dog (1985), for which he was nominated for Academy Awards for writing and directing, Hallström has since worked in Hollywood. His first English-language film was Once Around, but his first notable English-language success was What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), starring Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio's performance as a mentally impaired youth earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and he won that award at the National Board of Review Awards. Hallström's ability to elicit award-winning performances from the cast in a variety of stories adapted from novels was further solidified in his films over the next two decades. In 1999, Hallström was nominated for an Academy Award for best director for The Cider House Rules (1999). The film earned six additional Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, with Michael Caine winning the Best Supporting Actor award and John Irving winning Best Adapted Screenplay. He followed that success the following year by directing Chocolat (2000), starring Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche and Judi Dench. The film was a critical and box-office success, earning Golden