Matti Pellonpää


Matti Pellonpää was a Finnish actor and a musician. He rose to international fame with his roles in both Aki Kaurismäki's and Mika Kaurismäki's films; particularly being a regular in Aki's films, appearing in 18 of them.

Career

He started his career in 1962 as a radio actor at the Finnish state-owned broadcasting company YLE. He performed as an actor during the 1970s in many amateur theatres, at the same time that he studied at the Finnish Theatre Academy, where he completed his studies in the year 1977.
He was nominated Best Actor by European Film Academy for his role as Rodolfo in La Vie de Boheme and won the Felix at the European Film Awards in 1992. He also starred in Jim Jarmusch's 1991 film Night on Earth.
His private life melded seamlessly with his acting work. He was considered a natural bohemian, and a genuine everyman without ego. He frequently used his own life as a basis for his acting, eschewing wardrobe provided, acting in his own clothes. He had a tattoo of Snoopy on his left bicep.
Pellonpää was the frontman for the band Peltsix. Peltsix gained cult following with its tragic, and at the same time, comic songs. Peltsix's songs were composed by Pale Saarinen, Kari Makkonen and Jukka Haikonen.
Matti Pellonpää died of a heart attack on 13 July 1995 at the age of 44.
In 1996, Pellonpää was one of the people commemorating 100 years of Finnish Cinema on a stamp.
A Finnish documentary film Boheemi elää/Bohemian Eyes on Pellonpää's life was made in 2011.

Filmography