His father was a sea captain, but he refused to allow his son to became a sailor like him. But that could not scare the 14-year old Rydeberg, and at the age of 14, he was steward on a boat to Hull, UK, and the next year he was a sailor on a ship to Lagos, Africa. He got a job as an office clerk, where he met his fourth wife, 'Eugenie Trullemans' whom he married 25 years later. He didn't like the office work and began acting at the Lorensberg Theatre in Gothenburg, which led to acting at the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school. His teachers was far from impressed with his acting, in fact he almost had to leave the school. In 1931 he became an actor at the Blanche Theatre in Stockholm. In 1936 he got a contract with Svensk Filmindustri and made two movies with 'Gustaf Molander' .
Of his own movies, he is particularly proud of Doktor Glas .
His children are: Nina, Christer, Hans-Georg (died 1959) and Lena.
Never had a drivers license.
He was found dead in his apartment in Stockholm on 20th March 1983, but had probably been dead for almost a month.
Planned his own funeral in detail many years in advance.
In later years he became a recluse and had been dead for weeks when he was found.
