Spede Pasanen

Film actor career

In autumn 1953 Pasanen moved to Helsinki and started his studies at the Faculty of Government Sciences at the University of Helsinki. Instead of studying, he concentrated on student nation life at the Savonian Nation, where he acted as a general master of ceremonies and organiser of parties. Especially the initiation parties of new students organised by Pasanen gained fame throughout the university and other student nations. At the university he also met Jukka Virtanen and Matti Kuusla, both of which later became important business colleagues for him. In 1954 Kuusla, who had worked as a studio assistant at Fennada-Filmi, got Pasanen a role as a background extra in the film Laivan kannella, where he appeared as a member of a sailors' club.

Already at the Kuopio Lyceum Pasanen had assembled a band called Bluff Brothers, consisting of Pasanen himself as well as Pentti Nevaluoma and later also Matti Kuusla, who joined the band in Helsinki. In the band, Nevaluoma played the guitar, while Pasanen and Kuusla made various noises to mix in with the guitar playing. Bluff Brothers played in Pasanen's own shows and public events. The band split up in 1963 when Nevaluoma moved to Jyväskylä where he founded a restaurant.

In the 1950s, Pasanen got a steady job as an assistant at Fennada-Filmi. After working as a background extra, he got his first significant speaking role in the "Finland Western" film Villi Pohjola directed by Aarne Tarkas in 1955. At the same time, Pasanen was looking for a way to get roles at other film companies as well. During the 1950s he appeared in various background roles in comedies produced both by Fennada-Filmi and Suomen Filmiteollisuus, such as Tyttö lähtee kasarmiin (1956), Vääpelin kauhu (1957) and Asessorin naishuolet (1958). He also auditioned for the part of Antero Rokka in the 1955 film The Unknown Soldier, but the part went to Reino Tolvanen. Armand Lohikoski took Pasanen into minor roles in three Pekka ja Pätkä films: Pekka ja Pätkä ketjukolarissa (1957), Pekka ja Pätkä sammakkomiehinä (1957) and Pekka ja Pätkä Suezilla (1958).

In 1958 Pasanen got a unique role: he appeared in the main role at the Finnish National Ballet's version of the novel Don Quijote by Miguel de Cervantes. The National Ballet was not looking for a ballet dancer as such for the main role, but instead for an actor who was familiar with pantomime and physical comedy, and Pasanen had made an impression on the choreographer George Gé at the audition. The ballet Don Quijote became a great success for the Finnish National Opera and Ballet in 1958. The production also visited Germany during the same year, which also became Pasanen's first trip abroad in his life.

Mikko Niskanen's film Hopeaa rajan takaa (1963) was an important point in Pasanen's career: his first and only main role in a serious film, and his final role in a film produced by someone else. Despite the seriousness of the film, Pasanen played the part of Toivo Paukku, the most comical role in the film, always singing and longing after women. Since the late 1950s Pasanen started a career at the radio and television.

Film director career

Spede Pasanen and Jaakko Pakkasvirta met each other at the shooting of the film Hopeaa rajan takaa. Pakkasvirta and Risto Jarva, two young filmmakers, were part of the key personnel at the film production company Filminor owned by the student body of the Helsinki University of Technology. Their debut film Yö ja päivä (1962) had caused a great loss for the company. Jarva and Pakkasvirta made a contract with Pasanen about a new comedy film which could be a great success. According to the contract, Filminor would handle the technical aspects of the film, while Pasanen would get the financing, create the content and personally act in the main role. This resulted in the comedy X-Paroni (1964) which was the most successful film in Finland in the year of its debut.

The film's success encouraged Pasanen to go into business for himself and thus he founded a company called Filmituotanto Spede Pasanen. He chose his old friend Jukka Virtanen and the young director Ere Kokkonen from Mainostelevisio as his business partners. The trio Pasanen-Virtanen-Kokkonen soon started producing a series of successful comedies including Millipilleri (1966), the parodical film celebrating the 50th anniversary of Finland's independence Pähkähullu Suomi (1967), the Finnish version of Robin Hood About Seven Brothers (1968) and the television satire Näköradiomiehen ihmeelliset siekailut (1969). Millipilleri also introduced moviegoers to Simo Salminen who became a fixture of Spede's acting troupe, often playing the side-kick to Spede's own characters. It was also the first movie Spede co-directed with Jukka Virtanen and Ere Kokkonen who would alternate directing Spede's future motion pictures, while Spede focused more on writing and producing. With his films in the 1960s Pasanen established himself as the most popular comedian in Finland.

The 1967 period-comedy About Seven Brothers was a parody of Robin Hood which Spede had worked on since the 1950s and introduced Vesa-Matti Loiri as an adult actor (having made his on-screen debut years earlier as a child actor in Pojat). The success of these movies led to Spede producing and releasing three movies in 1969, Näköradiomiehen ihmeelliset siekailut, Leikkikalugangsteri as well as his first colour feature Pohjan Tähteet. Näköradiomies performed well despite being a more serious movie but it and Pohjan Tähteet underperformed in comparison to the more typically comical Leikkikalugangsteri.

Pohjan Tähteet made a loss and was expensive to produce. Pasanen was in no hurry to switch to colour film, as he wanted his films to make as much money as possible. He kept making black-and-white films up to 1978.

Despite Pohjan Tähteet winning a shared Jussi Award for Kari Sohlberg in the category of best cinematography (with Spede's own Leikkikalugangsteri and Jörn Donner's Sixtynine 69), Pasanen did not produce another colour feature until the late 1970s.

Jukka Virtanen left the company after Näköradiomies but Ere Kokkonen became Pasanen's closest business partner for the whole of his film career. At the same time Pasanen also found two men who became his trusted actors in both film and television: Simo Salminen who had already played a part in X-Paroni and Vesa-Matti Loiri whose debut was in About Seven Brothers.

Spede continued to experience success with Speedy Gonzales – noin 7 veljeksen poika and the tragic comedy Jussi Pussi both released in 1970. Speedy Gonzales performed well, despite Vesa-Matti Loiri being absent due to a leg injury just prior to shooting (he instead received a writing credit). Spede had to finance most of his films during this period due to his poor relations with the Finnish Film Foundation. Jussi Pussi was written and directed by Kokkonen, while Pasanen was responsible for the production but did not appear in the film and was not interested in the plot. The film is completely unlike Pasanen's previous films, as it is more romantic and melancholic than Pasanen's earlier screwball comedies. The film is about the great love between two penniless students during the political and sexual student radicalism of its time. The film gathered about 167 thousand viewers, which was enough to cover the production costs.

Speedy Gonzales was based on the themes of the American Old West, which had been a favourite of Pasanen already in his childhood. Pasanen found suitable shooting scenes at the sand pits in Hyrylä and on the sandy beaches of Yyteri. Pasanen himself played the role of the lead character Speedy Gonzales, the fastest gun in the west. One day the producers were shooting a scene where the sheriff played by Leo Jokela sneaks up behind Speedy Gonzales, sticks a gun on his back and the hero lifts his arms up. Then another villain points his revolver at the sheriff, and some other person points his at the villain. This results in a queue where about twenty men each point their gun at the man in front of him. Virtanen commented to Pasanen that they can't make such a scene as the Marx Brothers had already done such a scene in their 1940 classic film Go West. Pasanen had never heard of this film. According to Virtanen, Pasanen did not need inspiration, as his ideas were entirely his own. The film was a financial success and made a profit of 45 thousand markka. Pasanen's company managed to pay off its earlier losses, but at the same time, Pasanen and Kokkonen got into arguments for many years.

In 1971, Spede released three motion-pictures, Kahdeksas Veljes (his debut as a solo director) and Hirttämättömät (the sequel to Speedy Gonzales) both starring himself as well as Saatanan Radikaalit, which was co-directed by its four starring actors Paavo Piironen, Heikki Nousiainen, Timo Nissi and Heikki Huopainen, all fresh from the Helsinki Theatre Academy. Spede only produced this film which was intended to give its four stars a chance to complete a motion-picture on their own. All three films under-performed, with Saatanan Radikaalit being the financial all-time low of Pasanen's career so far. This led to Spede taking a two-year hiatus from film-making during which he focused exclusively on his TV work. Regardless, Spede won the 1971 Producers' Jussi Award for all three films. Pasanen started planning a new colour film and to his surprise, he got a loan of 75 thousand markka from the Finnish Film Foundation. In the end, this film was left unfilmed, and another film that Pasanen had in mind was also left at planning stage. Pasanen ended up using the loan to cover the losses caused by Hirttämättömät.

In 1973, Spede released the first Uuno Turhapuro movie based on the popular skit-character by the same name. To save costs, Spede filmed and edited the movie entirely on video and had it transferred to film for theatrical distribution. Uuno became a hit and a further four Uuno films were finished during the 1970s. Spede resumed filming small budget comedies with 1974's Viu-Hah-Hah-Taja, directed by Ere Kokkonen and mostly starring Spede's TV actors. Spede only appeared in a cameo and went uncredited as the film's writer. In 1979, he released Koeputkiaikuinen ja Simon enkelit, his first colour feature since Pohjantähteet. The movie was a surprise hit and led to a sequel Tup Akka Lakko being released the following year.

In the 1980s, the Uuno series peaked in popularity with 1984's Uuno Turhapuro armeijan leivissä breaking the record of the most popular Finnish domestic film. Spede cranked out movies on an annual basis, using his stock actors and frequently utilizing the popular skit characters for movies such as Kliffaa Hei, Pikkupojat, Fakta Homma and Onks Viljoo Näkyny. The last of these skit-comedy films is considered to be 1990s Rampe & Naukkis - Kaikkien aikojen superpari, which was lampooned on the popular characters created by Pirkka-Pekka Petelius and Aake Kalliala for the TV show Pulttibois.

During the 1990s, Spede focused almost exclusively on producing rather than writing or directing films with TV work taking more and more of his time. By this point his relationship with the Finnish Film Foundation had improved and he received grants for most of his films. The final movie directed by Pasanen was Naisen Logiikka, released in 1999 though production of it began in 1992. The film was hastily completed for release to prevent Pasanen from having to pay back his grant for the movie.

In his films, Pasanen never made fun of religion, his fatherland or politicians. He thought it was a matter of honour to make films for the whole family, and the films never showed any nudity or contained any profanity.

TV career

Pasanen's television career started from visits in commercials for lottery tickets and beer, which brought out his talents as a comedian. However, the director of the advertisement studio that had filmed the commercials featuring him announced he could not stand the "Spede style", so Pasanen made a suggestion to Mainostelevisio to make a program all of his own.

Starting from 1964, Pasanen began making live 15-minute sketch programming for Yleisradio produced by Mainos-TV, in addition to his film career. The first of these shows was called Spede Show (1964), followed by Speden Saluuna (1965), Spedevisio (1965 to 1970) and 50 pientä minuuttia (1967 to 1971). Only parts of these early Pasanen shows have survived, because MTV3 could not afford many expensive picture tapes and thus had to record new shows on top of old ones.

The show which alternated between the titles Spedevisio, Speden Saluuna as well as Spede Show established many of the tropes and core actors whom Spede would use in his films. Most of the early skit work is now lost due to live broadcasts not being routinely recorded. Spede appeared on TV continuously until 1976 when he started to focus primarily on film work.

Starting from 1981, Spede once again put priority on TV work. First airing surviving black and white skits on YLE. He began making new skits in 1984 with Spede, Simo Salminen and Vesa-Matti Loiri. Hannele Lauri also joined as a regular cast-member. Mainos-TV also moved Spede's programming to the newly formed Kolmoskanava channel. The new Spede Show continued to air until 1987 when Spede and Loiri had a mock-feud which led to the launch of Vesa-Matti Loiri's own TV sketch show, Vesku Show. Throughout the 1980s, Spede also produced other programs such as the comedy program Fakta Homma and the competition show Kymppitonni with host Riitta Väisänen.

Pasanen wanted a trustworthy long-time partner for his sketches to perform comedy with. This actor had to be the opposite of the tall and sturdy Pasanen. Of the available short male actors, Pasanen contemplated Matti Kuusla, but he was already running his own entertainment company along with Jukka Virtanen and Aarre Elo. Leo Jokela had a tendency towards alcohol abuse which Pasanen despised. Pasanen ended up pairing himself with Simo Salminen, who was already a famous show jumper in the 1960s. Their cooperation started from the television and continued well up to the 1990s.

By the 1990s, Spede was himself tired of sketch-work but produced Aake Kalliala's and Pirkka-Pekka Petelius's Pulttibois and Tsa Tsa Tsaa as well as the sporty competition show Speden Spelit. Pasanen also produced more drama-programming such as Hynttyyt Yhteen, Blondi tuli taloon (The Blonde That Came to the House), and Ihmeiden tekijät (as well as its follow-up, Parhaat Vuodet). Many of these shows became stables of MTV3 with many of them airing for several seasons. Spede also approved the production of the dramedy-series Kuumia Aaltoja, which aired in 2003 (two years after his death).

Television brought a new dimension to Pasanen's comedy, because he no longer had to make do with the aural acrobatics of the radio. Pasanen had a principle of defining the limits of good taste himself. The sketch shows were always made with the content first and without any definite overall view, and Pasanen seldom paid attention to the filming or other artistic viewpoints. Spede Show remained on television up to 1974.

1970s

Since the latter half of the 1960s Spede Pasanen made comedy films he had written himself under his own production company almost every year; often he would make two or three films during the same year. In front of the camera he took a minor role and made Vesa-Matti Loiri the star of the Uuno Turhapuro films. Only male actors performed comedy in Pasanen's films. According to Marjatta Raita who played Uuno's wife, Pasanen had the opinion that women were not allowed to be funny. Because of this, Pasanen thought of women either as beautiful decorations or as formidable battle-axes.

1980s

The film is my medium. I enjoy making films, if I feel they are needed.- Spede Pasanen in Helsingin Sanomat in 1990

In 1981 Pasanen publicly expressed his frustration at the Finnish Film Foundation not granting financial support for his films despite his applications. As a concrete proof of this he threatened to destroy all the film negatives of his first three films. He even went as far as to invite a newspaper photographer to witness the fulfilment of his threat. Ilta-Sanomat wrote prominently a

Other private life

In the 1960s Spede Pasanen got in a car accident, where he was unscathed except a bad-looking scar in his chin. To cover it he grew a beard, which became a permanent trademark for him. In summertime, Pasanen did not want to leave Finland, but since the late 1970s he started spending wintertime in Florida, where he acquired two apartments for his free time. In Florida Pasanen became interested in golf, which he became so enthusiastic about that it replaced many of his other hobbies at the time.

According to Spede Pasanen's close friends, the mirror side of his jolly nature was his aggression towards journalists, who published stories and pictures of Pasanen or his friends without his permission. In these cases, Pasanen got more angry about his friends than about himself. One of the targets of his aggression was Isto Lysmä, the editor of Nyrkkiposti, who published a fake story about a relationship between Pasanen's trusted actor Ville-Veikko Salminen and 1968 Miss Finland Leena Brusiin. Pasanen demanded that Lysmä write a correction, threatening him with the revenge of the group "Musta käsi" (Finnish for "Black Hand") that he had founded. The name is a reference to the secret society of the same name active in Serbia in the 1910s, whose member Gavrilo Princip had shot the archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in June 1914 and thus indirectly caused the outbreak of World War I. The outcome of the case was that neither Pasanen or any of his close friends were ever mentioned again in Nyrkkiposti. Pasanen made a similar threat to Urpo Lahtinen, at which point the temperamental Lahtinen drew a puukko knife from his pocket and struck its point into the table in front of Pasanen.

Pasanen got into a scandal in autumn 1986 when the police suspected that about two hundred Finns had taken Finnish currency abroad to the United States illegally in order to buy an apartment or to engage in business. When buying free time apartments in Florida in 1979 Pasanen had taken 12 thousand US dollars and 4 thousand Finnish markka to the United States. According to him, he was arrested for eight days because of the case. The case went into court in spring 1987. For most of the accused, including Pasanen, the charges were dropped, because the suspected crime had expired and at the point of time of the investigation, the suspected act was no longer illegal in the first place.

One of Pasanen's hobbies was backgammon which he did well at on an international level. He became the Finnish champion in backgammon in 1979. In 1976 he got elected as the director of the Finnish Backgammon Society. Pasanen also took part in international backgammon tournaments in West Germany, Spain and the United States. Pasanen was also a member of Mensa International. In 1998 Mensa International awarded its annual prize to Pasanen.

Pasanen has been described as having been very different in his private life than the Spede known publicly. He was quick to get angry and calm down, preferred to keep to himself and was social only with people he knew closely. Pasanen felt disgust towards alcoholic beverages and drunken people. In his youth he was a teetotaller, but later started consuming alcohol in moderation. He had a lifetime habit of smoking, which he started in 1958 when he got a role in the ballet Don Quijote.