Markku Juhani ”Mato” Valtonen (born 21 February 1955 in

Loimaa Loimaa (; historical ) is a cities of Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland regions of Finland, region. Th ...

) is a Finnish actor, musician and entrepreneur. Valtonen has been a member of the Finnish band

Sleepy Sleepers Sleepy Sleepers (commonly known as Sliipparit in Finland) is a Finnish pop/rock/punk/comedy band founded in 1974 by its two front-men Sakke Järvenpää and Mato Valtonen in Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pä ...

since 1975 and the

Leningrad Cowboys The Leningrad Cowboys were a Finnish rock band who perform rock and roll covers of other songs. They had exaggerated pompadour hairstyles and wore long, pointy shoes. They often worked with the Russian military band the Alexandrov Ensemble. ...

since 1989.Junkkari, Marko
Valtonen denies Wapit bankruptcy
, ''

Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...

'', April 27, 2001. Accessed October 2, 2008. He was the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of WAPit telecommunications company from its inception in 1998 until it declared bankruptcy in 2001. As an actor, Valtonen is best known for starring in

Aki Kaurismäki Aki Olavi Kaurismäki (; born 4 April 1957) is a Finnish film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the award-winning '' Drifting Clouds'' (1996), '' The Man Without a Past'' (2002), ''Le Havre'' (2011), '' The Other Side of Hope'' (201 ...

's films starting with 1985's ''

Calamari Union ''Calamari Union'' is a 1985 Finnish surreal comedy film, the second full-length film by the director Aki Kaurismäki. The film's cast includes well-known Finnish actors and rock musicians. Plot Fifteen desperate men named Frank band together to ...

''. In fact, all of Valtonen's film roles have been in films directed, written, and produced either by Kaurismäki or his older brother

Mika Mika is a given name, a nickname, and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footba ...

. In addition to acting in them, Valtonen also wrote the storylines for ''

Leningrad Cowboys Go America ''Leningrad Cowboys Go America'' is a 1989 road movie by Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki about the adventures of the Leningrad Cowboys, an eccentric band that travels to the United States to become successful, and combines their brand of ...

'' and '' Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses''. In 2000 the Finnish Markku Union chose Valtonen as "Markku of the Year", the fourth person to hold the title. Valtonen's nickname "Mato" means "

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateria, bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limb (anatomy), limbs, and usually no eyes. Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine ...

" in Finnish. Valtonen got the nickname at age 14 when he was at a cold summer cabin and crawled around on the floor wrapped in a

sleeping bag A sleeping bag is an insulated covering for a person, essentially a lightweight quilt that can be closed with a zipper or similar means to form a tube, which functions as lightweight, portable bedding in situations where a person is sleeping o ...

, resembling a worm.Martelius, Katja
Missä hän on nyt , Mato Valtonen kertoo, mistä hän sai nimensä ja kuinka hän lopetti kylmän sodan
''

'' 3 December 2022. Accessed on 14 December 2022.

Partial filmography

* ''

'' (1985) * ''

'' (1989) * '' The Last Border'' (1993) * ''

Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana ''Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatiana'' (), also translated as ''Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana'', is a 1994 Finnish/German film directed, produced and co-written by Aki Kaurismäki. The film tells the story of two shy and unaccomplished middle- ...

'' (1994) * '' Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses'' (1994) * '' Drifting Clouds'' (1996) * ''

L.A. Without a Map ''L.A. Without a Map'' (also known as ''Los Angeles Without a Map'' and ''I Love L.A''.) is a 1998 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mika Kaurismäki, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Richard Rayner, based on Rayner's 1988 semi-autobiogra ...

'' (1998)

References

External links

* Finnish male actors People from Loimaa Living people 1955 births {{Finland-actor-stub