Sad news arrives this week, as LazyTown actor Stefan Karl Stefansson has died of bile duct cancer at age 43.
The death of the Icelandic actor was confirmed by his wife, Steinunn Olina Thorsteinsdottir, in a Facebook post. It also confirmed that the actor requested not to have a funeral and that his ashes would be spread into the ocean:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155282157490834&set=a.50019950833&type=3&theater
Before he was in LazyTown, Stefansson worked as a puppeteer for TV. While he did so, he attended the Drama Academy of Iceland. However, the young Stefansson was unhappy with the Icelandic drama standards. His principal once said, “Acting is not about making faces and changing your face“. Stefansson disagreed with him.
The LazyTown Phenomenon
Later in his life, he was invited to star in a Lazy Town play by Magnus Scheving. Scheving, who played Sportacus in the play, created it because he was concerned about children‘s health and fitness.
Eventually, Nickelodeon picked up the show for 40 episodes. Scheving and Stefansson continued their roles as Sportacus and Robbie Rotten respectively.
Amazingly, despite knowing no English at the start of the show’s run, Stefansson was fluent by show’s end.
Lazy Town itself is adapted from a children’s book, Áfram Latibær! (which Scheving himself wrote). Each episode of the series cost $1 million USD, making it the most expensive children’s show in the world according to Scheving. It’s also noted as to being dubbed into thirty-two languages.
Do you have any memories of watching LazyTown? Let us know in the comments below.