Born in Newark, New York, US, Henning was trained at the Royal Dramatic Theatre's acting school (1938–40) in Sweden and made her film debut the same year in Ragnar Arvedson's Gentleman att hyra.

The big breakthrough came in Åke Ohberg's Elvira Madigan (1943).

[2] She is most famous for her leading roles in many of husband Hasse Ekman's films in the 1940s and 50s.

She had one daughter from her second husband: children's author and illustrator Fam Ekman.

[3] Henning died on 18 April 2016 in Oslo, Norway.