Egon Olsen (born 12 March 1925 (DK), 13 March 1923 (NO)) is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

in the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

'' Olsenbanden'' film series as well as in the Norwegian remake. He is portrayed by

Ove Sprogøe Ove Wendelboe Sprogøe Petersen (21 December 1919 – 14 September 2004) was a Danish actor. Life Born in Odense, his parents were Arthur and Inger Sprogøe Petersen. He married Eva Rasmussen in 1945, with whom he had three children. O ...

in the Danish version and by

Arve Opsahl Arve Opsahl (14 May 1921 – 29 April 2007) was a Norwegian movie and stage actor, singer and stand-up comedian. Opsahl began his career as a comedian in 1942, and played numerous roles both on stage and in more than forty movies. He was then chos ...

in the Norwegian. In the Swedish version of the series, ''

Jönssonligan ''Jönssonligan'', literally the ''Jönsson Gang'', is a Swedish comedy film series, originally based on the Danish series of films about the Olsen-banden, but later with unique scripts. The Jönsson gang consists of the leader and criminal geniu ...

'', his part was taken by the character ''Charles Ingvar "Sickan" Jönsson'', played by

Gösta Ekman Hans Gösta Gustaf Ekman (; 28 July 1939 – 1 April 2017) was a Swedish actor, comedian, and director. Career Ekman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and was the son of the director Hasse Ekman and Agneta (née Wrangel). Ekman represented ...

(and in the later films by other characters, played by different actors).

Egon Olsen in the Danish series

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 Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

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.

Reception and influence

The role of Egon Olsen was

'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 East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, 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 "skidegodt, Egon!" - in English literally "shit-good, Egon", or "bloody good, Egon!"). Critics hypothesise that Egon's talent for improvisation impressed East Germans living under a socialist economy of scarcity, more than

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

did, fighting his enemies with the newest technological gimmicks. The gaolers of the Vridsløselille prison in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, where Egon Olsen went at the end of each film, initiated a renaming of the street right in front of the prison into "Egon Olsens Vej" () in 2004. According to gaolers and the prison warden, "Egon Olsen has always been a very nice criminal who deserves to be honoured", and "Egon has done much for the facility. Up until today, many tourists from Eastern Germany go on a pilgrimage to the prison gate to take pictures".

In the Norwegian series

In the Norwegian series, Egon is quite similar to his Danish counterpart, with the same costumes and mannerisms. He is shown to be quite smart, laying ingenious plans to achieve fortune, and have them ruined by either his companions, poor timing or bad luck, very much like the Danish version where Yvonne is often the cause of his downfall. In the Norwegian series, Egon was originally set to be portrayed by Carsten Byhring, with

in the role as Kjell Jensen, his companion. During rehearsal, however, Opsahl disagreed with the casting, and suggested that he and Byhring switch roles, to which Byhring and the directors fully agreed. Opsahl brought a lot of his comic talents to the role, in particular his doubletakes and long (and at the time profane) rants and outbursts, which Opsahl was known for on stage. He played the role in all fourteen films, including the final film in which he did half his scenes with a prosthetic foot, after having it amputated due to diabetes half-way through production.

Egon Olsen in the Danish series

Reception and influence

In the Norwegian series

References

Further reading