Lasse Pöysti

Early life and career Pöysti grew up in a bilingual family in Sortavala in Finnish Karelia, with a Finnish-speaking father, the department head Eino Tauno Pöysti, and a Swedish-speaking mother, Signe Maria Köhler. During the Winter War the family was evacuated and eventually settled in Helsinki. As a child he was convinced he would one day become a famous film star. In the summer of 1940 he responded to a newspaper advertisement in which the film company Suomen Filmiteollisuus was looking for young actors. Receiving no reply, he went directly to the company's managing director Toivo Särkkä and performed his own version of Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He was given an immediate screen test and was selected from among 250 applicants for the role of Olli Suominen in the Suominen family film series. The first of the Suominen family films was Suomisen perhe (1941), when Pöysti was 14 years old. Pöysti matriculated in 1945 at the Helsinki Normal Lyceum. After matriculating, he studied at the University of Helsinki. He was an actor at the Finnish National Theatre from 1944 to 1952, where he received praise for his roles in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (1949) and Max Frisch's The Chinese Wall (1949). In 1949 he also directed his first production, a Finnish-language version of Federico García Lorca's ''The Shoemaker's Prodigious Wife'', which he had translated himself and which was well received by critics. Theatre career and breakthrough In 1955 Pöysti joined the Lilla Teatern in Helsinki, where he performed in Swedish alongside actress Birgitta Ulfsson, whom he had married in 1952. The theatre's season was typically divided in two: the autumn programme challenged audiences with more demanding repertoire, while the spring season featured revues with political satire and topical material written by the theatre's resident author Benedict Zilliacus. Pöysti died in Helsinki in April 2019, aged 92. His and Ulffson's son Erik Pöysti and their granddaughter Alma Pöysti are both actors in Helsinki. ==Selected filmography==

• 1941: Suomisen perhe - Olli Suominen • 1941: Täysosuma - Skier (uncredited) • 1941: Onnellinen ministeri - Errand Boy (uncredited) • 1942: Suomisen Ollin tempaus - Olli Suominen • 1943: Suomisen taiteilijat - Olli Suominen • 1944: Suomisen Olli rakastuu - Olli Suominen • 1945: Suomisen Olli yllättää - Olli Suominen • 1948: Haaviston Leeni - (uncredited) • 1948: Kilroy sen teki - Pete • 1948: Hormoonit valloillaan - Pena • 1949: Ruma Elsa - Usko Aamunen • 1949: Katupeilin takana - Arvid • 1949: Sinut minä tahdon - Seppo Vesa • 1949: Professori Masa - Pentti Simola • 1950: Isäpappa ja keltanokka - Aimo Tammela • 1950: Rakkaus on nopeampi Piiroisen pässiäkin - Heikki Piiparinen • 1951: Vain laulajapoikia - Dr. Syrjä • 1951: Radio tekee murron - Radio reporter • 1951: ''The General's Fiancée'' - Korpraali Jukka Oksapää • 1951: A Night in Rio - Lasse • 1951: Tukkijoella - Pölhö-Kustaa • 1951: Vihaan sinua - rakas - Tauno Karnala • 1952: Kaikkien naisten monni - Alokas Nieminen • 1953: Two Funny Guys - Säveltäjä Jussi Mäki • 1953: The Millionaire Recruit - Vihuri • 1954: Kovanaama - Reporter Esko Pekuri • 1954: Laivaston monnit maissa - Maisteri Segerstråhle • 1954: Putkinotko - Malakias • 1955: Näkemiin Helena - Lennu • 1955: Sankarialokas - Alokas Esko Sirola / legioonal. T. Smith / matr T. MacDonald • 1955: Miss Eurooppaa metsästämässä - Antero W. Lintunen • 1955: Villi Pohjola - Kapakkapianisti • 1957: Vääpelin kauhu - Jaska • 1957: Syntipukki - Frans Koikkalainen • 1958: Asessorin naishuolet - Veikko Pajukivi • 1958: Sotapojan heilat - Alokas Esko Puustinen • 1959: Taas tapaamme Suomisen perheen - Olli Suominen • 1960: Justus järjestää kaiken - Justus • 1964: Bröllopsbesvär - Peddler • 1966: Syskonbädd 1782 - Guest at the tavern • 1968: Punahilkka - Matti - airline pilot • 1969: Mumintrollet (TV Series) - Moomintroll • 1976: Pyhä perhe - Paavo Mäkinen • 1977: Pikku Kakkonen (TV Series) - Himself - the host • 1978: The Adventures of Picasso - Sirkka's Father (uncredited) • 1979: Linus eller Tegelhusets hemlighet - Antique Dealer • 1979: Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti - Johannes Puntila • 1980: Barna från Blåsjöfjället - Lasso-Lassi • 1980: Det blir jul på Möllegården (TV Series) - Pixie • 1982: Flight of the Eagle - Photographer • 1984: The Clan – Tale of the Frogs - Siilipää • 1984: Dirty Story - Private detective • 1986: Flucht in den Norden • 1986: Kuningas lähtee Ranskaan - The Stablemaster • 1986: På liv och död - Sångare i tunnelbanan • 1986: Näkemiin, hyvästi - Lauri Valve, Tuulan isä • 1987: Lain ulkopuolella - Chairman of the Court • 1988: The Glory and Misery of Human Life - Martti Hongisto • 1989: Dårfinkar och dönickar (TV Mini-Series) - Morfar • 1989: Tjurens år (TV Movie) - Onkel Jegor • 1992: Mestari - Kalevi Suomalainen • 1993: Macklean (TV Series) - Carl August Ehrensvärd • 1993: Rosenbaum (TV Series) - Erik 'Lunkan' Lundkvist • 1995: Vita lögner - Lindqvist • 1995: Petri tårar - The Cripple • 1999: Lapin kullan kimallus - Konrad Planting • 2008: Thomas - Thomas ==References==