Spede Pasanen

Pertti "Spede" Olavi Pasanen (Kuopio, April 10 1930 – September 7 2001 in Kirkkonummi) was a Finnish film director, humorist and practitioner of gags.

Related Topics:
Kuopio - April 10 - 1930 - September 7 - 2001 - Kirkkonummi - Finnish

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During his career he directed, wrote, produced or acted in about 50 movies and participated in numerous TV productions, including the comedy Spede Show and the game-show Speden Spelit. Spede Pasanen named Bob Hope as one his biggest comedy influences. Much of his more commercial work was in collaboration with Vesa-Matti Loiri (whose most popular character created by Pasanen was called Uuno Turhapuro; first in TV sketches and then in a long-lasting series of motion pictures) and Simo Salminen. Pasanen's films and TV shows, often made fast and inexpensively in a conveyor-belt mode, usually didn't gain much recognition from the critics but were extremely popular among Finnish audiences from the 1960s onwards. Spede Pasanen is considered emblematic of Savonian humor with a slick ironic pattern varying between the fullest extremes of understatement and hyperbole.

Related Topics:
Movie - Bob Hope - Vesa-Matti Loiri - Uuno Turhapuro - Simo Salminen - Critics - Savonia

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Noted for his intelligence, financial success and ability to draw in ladies, he is the idol of many who make attempt to break into the Finnish comedy scene. Despite his homely appearance, Pasanen was something of a womanizer and was almost married in 1990 to a Finnish model and Miss Finland candidate.

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Pasanen was also an inventor and jack-of-all-trades, and many of his films include Rube Goldberg-style gadgets. Besides gadgets involved with industrial production, his inventions include:

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• The Ski jumping sling
• A Boat ski (to alleviate *bumps* in aquaplaning boat)
• A self-extinguishing, one-size-fits-all candlestick.
 
Spede Pasanen: Filmography ►