Egon Olsen
| Egon Olsen | |
|---|---|
| First appearance |
Olsenbanden (1968, dk) Olsenbanden Operasjon Egon (1969, no) |
| Last appearance |
Olsen-bandens sidste stik (1998, dk) Olsenbandens siste stikk (1999, no) |
| Created by | Erik Balling |
| Portrayed by |
Ove Sprogøe (dk) Arve Opsahl (no) |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Criminal mastermind |
Egon Olsen (born 12 March 1925 (DK), 13 March 1923 (NO)) is a fictional character in the Danish film series Olsenbanden and the Norwegian remake. He is portrayed by Ove Sprogøe in the Danish version and by Arve Opsahl in the Norwegian. In the Swedish version of the series, Jönssonligan, his part was taken by the character Charles Ingvar "Sickan" Jönsson, played by Gösta Ekman (and in the later films by other characters, played by different actors).
In the Danish original, Egon Olsen is the small and wiry boss of the Olsen Gang. His two sidekicks are the merry Benny and the timid, pudgy Kjeld. Kjeld's wife, Yvonne, is the only one who Egon has to fight, as she tends to interfere with his plans. Egon Olsen's hallmark is his bowler hat, pinstripe suit, and an extinguished cigar end in his mouth, even when he is gagged. Egon Olsen is one of the typical antiheroes of film history, an eternal loser who wobbles but does not fall over. Some observers have pointed out that "Egon Olsen projects the image of an anarchist, an outcast from the world of established capitalism as well as from the secure world of the middle and upper classes."
Egon's involvement in each film follows a similar pattern. Egon constantly develops new and "genius" plans during his stays in prison. His catchphrase is "I have a plan", which he says to his accomplices in all fourteen films after being released from prison. The plan succeeds through the most intricate machinations (Egon's specialty is the cracking of safes with merely a stethoscope and fine feeling) but Egon always loses his object of desire due to some freak accident at the end of the movie, usually caused by the incompetence of his accomplices. Almost every film, except the fifth, the sixth and the fourteenth, ends with Egon's arrest.
The role of Egon Olsen was Ove Sprogøe's most successful and also last film role. Sprogøe was honoured with a Bodil in 1975 for Olsen-Bandens sidste bedrifter. The role had a legendary renown in former East Germany, and while many West Germans are unable to associate the name of the franchise with the Danish films, nearly all Eastern Germans can at least cite Benny's catchphrase "mächtig gewaltig, Egon" (Danish "Skide godt, Egon!" - in English literally "shit-good", but "Bloody good, Egon!" will catch the spirit better). Critics hypothesise that Egon's talent for improvisation impressed East Germans living under a socialist economy of scarcity, more than James Bond did, fighting his enemies with the newest technological gimmicks.
...
Wikipedia