Åke Lindman

Åke Leonard Lindman (born Åke Leonard Järvinen; 11 January 1928 – 3 March 2009) was a Finnish director and actor.

Career In his youth Lindman was a football player, playing as a defender for the Finland national team during the Olympics in Helsinki 1952. He represented the football club HIFK in the Finnish league where he played 81 games and scored 9 goals, he also played in second division for 8 seasons. In the 1960s, the British English Football League club Swindon Town F.C. wanted to sign him, but he turned them down to focus on his acting career.

Lindman began his movie career as an errand boy for Warner Bros. His first larger role as an actor was in Teuvo Tulio's Hornankoski, but his breakthrough as an actor came with his role as the stubborn soldier Lehto in the Edvin Laine film The Unknown Soldier in 1955 for which he received his first Jussi award. He was also the director or assistant director for several movies, starting with the 1957 film 1918 and continuing to the 2004 movie Beyond the Front Line and the 2007 movie Tali-Ihantala 1944. In addition to cinema, Lindman was active in television, both as an actor and a director of, amongst others, the television series Stormskärs Maja.

Awards

Lindman received various awards during his career. These include the Finnish State Movie Award in 1968, the Pro Finlandia medal in 1982, the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture's in 1995 and the Swedish Order of the Polar Star 1st class in 2007. He also received three Jussi awards: the first for his role in The Unknown Soldier, the second for directing Den förtrollade vägen in 1988, and the last as recognition of his lifetime works.

Personal life Lindman was born in Helsinki and grew up in a working class Vallila neighbourhood. His father was a truck driver. His brother Tor, who also became a footballer, was born in 1930. In 1932, his father Väinö Järvinen died from pneumonia, and some years later his mother Edit remarried to Gösta Lindman. Lindman was already an adult when he was legally adopted and changed his surname to his step-father's.

Lindman was granted an honorary title of Professor in 2000, and received an honorary doctorate in political science from Åbo Akademi in 2005.

Filmography (selection) Åke Lindman (left) with Pirkko Mannola, Palmer Thompson, Mrs. Laihanen and Veikko Laihanen in 1964, when Thompson arrived in Finland to shoot Make Like a Thief.

Actor

1949: Hornankoski – Artturi Yli-Koskela 1950: Tanssi yli hautojen – Suomalainen upseeri 1950: Hallin Janne – Vallankumoukseen yllyttävä vanki Siperiassa 1952: Suomalaistyttöjä Tukholmassa – Erik 1952: The White Reindeer – forest ranger 1952: Yö on pitkä – Åke Strandberg 1953: Varsovan laulu – Captain 1953: Pekka Puupää – Petteri, the criminal (uncredited) 1953: We Come During Spring – Kymppi, lumberjack boss 1954: Kovanaama – Prisoner #2 1954: Niskavuoren Aarne – Steward 1954: Pekka ja Pätkä lumimiehen jäljillä – Riku Sundman 1955: Kiinni on ja pysyy – Arpi 1955: Kukonlaulusta kukonlauluun – Eino Kustaala 1955: Rakkaus kahleissa – Pertti Kuusi 1955: Viettelysten tie – Martti 1955: The Unknown Soldier – Lehto 1956: Silja – nuorena nukkunut – Valkoisten komppanianpäällikkö 1956: Olet mennyt minun vereeni – Erkki, captain 1957: Risti ja liekki – Inkvisiittori 1957: 1918 – Samuel Bro 1957: Herra Sotaministeri – German ambassador (uncredited) 1957: Vihdoinkin hääyö... – Teemu Järvinen 1957: No Tomorrow – Förrymd fånge 1958: The Lady in Black – David Frohm 1959: Ei ruumiita makuuhuoneeseen – Mike 1959: Moonwolf – Lumberjack 1959: Kohtalo tekee siirron – Mauri Petäjämaa 1960: Lumisten metsien tyttö – Jukka 1960: Isaskar Keturin ihmeelliset seikkailut – Anselmi Körmy 1961: Pojken i trädet – Sten Sundberg 1961: Kuu on vaarallinen – Nimismies 1961: Kertokaa se hänelle... – Ambulanceman 1961: Me – Urpo 1962: Älä nuolase... – Muuttomies (uncredited) 1962: Hän varasti elämän – Detective Oke Järvinen 1962: Naiset, jotka minulle annoit 1963: Villin Pohjolan kulta – Joel Vorna 1963: Teerenpeliä – Technical Manager (uncredited) 1963: Villin Pohjolan salattu laakso – Joel Vorna 1964: Make Like a Thief – Arvo Mäki 1965: Laukaus Kyproksessa – Vääpeli Onni Lintula 1967: Billion Dollar Brain – Minor Role (uncredited) 1968: The Shoes of the Fisherman – Soldier Releasing Lakota (uncredited) 1972: The Day the Clown Cried – Stout Prisoner 1977: Telefon – Lieutenant Alexandrov 1978: Tuntematon ystävä – Olavi Susikoski 1978: Bomsalva – Rurik Lindgren 1981: Reds – Scandinavian Escort 1982: Jousiampuja – Eino 1982: Klippet – Lagerförmannen 1982: The Archer 1983: Kalabaliken i Bender 1984: Dirty Story – Erik Järnstedt 1987: (TV Movie) – David Dreyer 1987: Lain ulkopuolella – Principal 1988: Kråsnålen (TV Mini-Series) – Ågren the Smith 1990: Ameriikan raitti – Otto 1991: Riktiga män bär alltid slips – Stålhane 1993: Harjunpää ja kiusantekijät – Emergency response center (voice, uncredited) 1995: Mannen utan ansikte – President (voice) 1996: The Hunters – The Boss 1996: Yöjuna – Kalevi Wallin 1999: En liten julsaga – Pekka 2003: Kohtalon kirja – Galagf (final film role)

Director 1964: Make Like a Thief (co-director with Richard Long and Palmer Thompson) 1999: Lapin kullan kimallus 2004: Framom främsta linjen 2007: Tali-Ihantala 1944