Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman dies

STOCKHOLM, July 30 (Reuters) Legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman has died at the age of 89, an official at Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre said today.

The local news agency TT cited Bergman's daughter Eva Bergman as saying he had died peacefully today in his home on Faro Island in the Baltic Sea.

''I can confirm that he's dead,'' said Royal Dramatic Theatre spokeswoman Ulrika Nilsdotter Geiger.

Bergman, who turned 89 on July 14, was famous for films such as ''Wild Strawberries'', ''Scenes From a Marriage'' and ''Fanny and Alexander'', which gave Sweden a reputation for melancholy and elevated Bergman into one of the masters of modern cinema.

He won Academy Awards for best foreign language film in 1960, 1961 and 1983, and a collection of his work was last month added to the UNESCO store of history's greatest archives.

Bergman settled on Faro -- or ''sheep'' island -- in the southeast of Sweden after shooting seven movies there. Each summer the island hosts a celebration of his life and films.

REUTERS PD BD1543