After a long time in the United States, Dolph Lundgren (66) can now call himself a US citizen. As People reported, the Swedish native was naturalized in Los Angeles on Monday. The magazine featured images of the action star holding a US flag and official documents. In another photo, Lundgren raises his right hand to swear an oath to the American Constitution. “It was about time,” said the “Rocky” star.
“I’ve lived in this country off and on for over 40 years now,” People quoted Dolph Lundgren as saying. “I love America and the wonderful opportunities this country has given me,” said the actor. And further: “I am proud to finally become a US citizen and officially make this my home.”
Lundgren’s wife Emma Krokdal also became a US citizen on Monday. She does not come from Sweden, but from the neighboring country Norway. The two Scandinavians in exile met in Los Angeles in 2019. They married in 2023.
Dolph Lundgren was born Hans Lundgren in Stockholm in 1957. In the Swedish capital he studied at the Royal Institute of Technology, where he graduated as a chemical engineer. Lundgren was often in the USA in the 1970s while he was studying. He received scholarships to universities in Washington, South Carolina and the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
After studying, the karate master Lundgren worked as a bouncer in a New York club. There he met Grace Jones (75). The singer hired him as a bodyguard and the two later became a couple. When Lundgren visited Jones on the set of the Bond film “A View to a Kill” in 1985, the director spontaneously offered him a small role as a KGB agent.
Also in 1985, Dolph Lundgren landed the role that would make him famous. In “Rocky IV” he also played a Russian, the Soviet boxer Ivan Drago, who gets into the ring against Sylvester Stallone’s (77) Rocky Balboa. Lundgren later turned his back on Hollywood for a while. He lived with his ex-wife Anette Qviberg in Marbella, Spain, for several years. Their two daughters were born in Stockholm.
