His first film role was in the year 1950 in the film
Maija löytää sävelen (Finnish: Maija Finds a Tone). Kumpulainen became known for his role in the 1950s in the
Pekka ja Pätkä movies, (Finnish: Pekka and Pätkä), where he did minor roles. He also appeared in many soldier
farces in 1950s and 1960s. Juhani Kumpulainen was remembered best as a long-standing credit actor of
Spede Pasanen and
Ere Kokkonen. Kumpulainen appeared in separate films from 1960s until his death. In the
Uuno Turhapuro films he played the leader of garage and Uuno's neighbor Kotkala-Hammaslärvänen. Kumpulainen was one of the mostly performed minor roles in the 1950s, because he did a total of 45 film roles in the 1950s. ==Personal life==