Spede Pasanen

Spede Pasanen
Spede Pasanen, 1990.
Born
Pertti Olavi Pasanen

(1930-04-10)10 April 1930
Kuopio, Finland
Died7 September 2001(2001-09-07) (aged 71)
Kirkkonummi, Finland
Occupations
  • Film director
  • film and TV producer
  • screenwriter
  • entrepreneur
  • radio comedian
  • inventor
SpousePirjo Vainimäki
ChildrenPirre Alanen
RelativesVeijo Pasanen (seventh cousin)
Kaija Koo (cousin's daughter)
AwardsJussi award for best producer 1971
Venla award 1982 and 1985
Concrete Jussi award for life's work 1985
"Eskon puumerkki" award of the Aleksis Kivi Society 1987
Telvis award 1994

Pertti Olavi "Spede" Pasanen (10 April 1930 7 September 2001) was a Finnish film director and producer, comedian, and inventor, who has been called an "all-around entertainer". 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. Much of his more commercial work was in collaboration with Vesa-Matti Loiri (whose most popular character created by Pasanen was 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 quickly and on a low budget, usually received little critical recognition but were popular among Finnish audiences from the 1960s onwards. He was the owner of his own film production company, Filmituotanto Spede Pasanen Ky. Pasanen was ranked 17th at the Suuret suomalaiset competition show broadcast by Yleisradio.