Actor, director Gunnar Hellstrom had successful careers in both Sweden and the USA. His breakthrough in Sweden came in 1955 with the intense drama Simon Syndaren which he both directed and played the lead in. He very rarely was in front of the camera in the USA (the feature Return to Peyton Place is one of the few exceptions), but instead became a TV director of such popular series as Bonanza, How the West Was Won and Dallas.