Esa Saario (born 22 November 1931) is a Finnish actor. He started studying in

Helsinki Theatre Academy The Theatre Academy (, ) is one of the three academies of the University of the Arts Helsinki and offers education in theatre and dance. It is Finland's largest education provider in its field and, with the exception of acting, the only one in th ...

in 1956. The headmaster of the academy, Wilho Ilmari, and other teachers allowed Saario to skip one year of school due to Saario's giftedness. Saario ended up graduating in only two years.

Career

Saario worked as an actor for the

Finnish National Theatre The Finnish National Theatre (), established in 1872, is a theatre located in central Helsinki on the northern side of the Helsinki Central Railway Station Square. The Finnish National Theatre is the oldest Finnish speaking professional thea ...

from 1958 until his retirement in 1997. The first role he played was in 1954 and the last in 2001. Saario performed in over 200 different roles during his career. Some of his most memorable roles on stage were Orgon in ''

Tartuffe ''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; , ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy (or more specifically, a farce) by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical theat ...

'', Malcolm in ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'', actor/priest in ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' and Amiens in ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

''. Saario has also played in multiple radio dramas broadcast by the Finnish National broadcaster

Yleisradio Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

. His radio drama roles include Police officer Karhunen (Fin. Poliisi Karhunen) in ''Noita Nokinenä'', Marvin in ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a Science fiction comedy, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), radio sitcom broadcast over two series on BBC ...

'' and several roles in ''

The Men from the Ministry ''The Men from the Ministry'' is a British radio comedy series broadcast by the BBC between 1962 and 1977, starring Wilfrid Hyde-White, Richard Murdoch and, from 1966, when he replaced Hyde-White, Deryck Guyler. Written and produced by Edward ...

''. Some of Saario's most famous cinema roles are politician Janne Kivivuori in the movies ''

Here, Beneath the North Star ''Here, Beneath the North Star'' () is a 1968 Finnish drama film directed by Edvin Laine. It was entered into the 6th Moscow International Film Festival. The film is based on the first two volumes of Väinö Linna's novel trilogy '' Under the ...

'' and ''

Akseli and Elina ''Akseli and Elina'' () is a 1970 Finnish drama film directed by Edvin Laine. It was entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival. The film is based on the third and final volume of Väinö Linna's novel trilogy '' Under the North S ...

''. Saario's first roles on screen were seen in the movies ''

Sven Tuuva the Hero ''Sven Tuuva the Hero'' (, ) is a 1958 Finnish war film written and directed by Edvin Laine, who also stars as one of the lead actors. The cast also includes the director's brother Aarne Laine and the director's wife Mirjam Novero. The film wa ...

'' and ''Kankkulan Kaivolla''. In the beginning of 1960s Saario recorded many children's songs, such as "'' Hottentottilaulu''", together with actress Maikki Länsiö. ''Hottentottilaulu'' is originally a Norwegian children's song called ''Visen om vesle Hoa''. It was translated into Finnish by Jukka Virtanen. Saario has also been a member of the Finnish Actor Union (Finnish: ''Suomen Näyttelijäliitto'', Swedish: ''Finlands Skådespelarförbund''), the Board of the Actors of the Finnish National Theatre and the Board of the Finnish National Theatre. Honorary membership of Nummi-Seura Ry, the local Heritage association in Nummi, was given to Saario on the 9th of June 2020. The board of Nummi-Seura recognised Saario's significant and long lasting work for Nummi-Seura and for preserving the local heritage in Nummi for future generations.

Theatre

Filmography

Film

Books

Saario has written two books about the dialect of Nummi. In addition to telling about the Nummi dialect, the first book also tells about the poets and songwriters of the past in Nummi. The first book is called ''Nummilaist kiälentampaamist''. Saario's second book, ''Sana on jalkava -se menee pian ja pitkält'', is a dictionary between words that are only used in Nummi dialect and words in standard Finnish language. A short booklet has also been written by Saario to add more words to the second book. The booklet is called ''Ei lisä pahitteeks ol, paitti velas ja selkään saamises''. The books are published by Esa Saario and Nummi-Seura, the Association of Nummi Local Area.

Voice acting

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saario, Esa Finnish male actors 1931 births Living people