The Most Famous

ACTORS from Finland

This page contains a list of the greatest Finnish Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 13,578 Actors, 16 of which were born in Finland. This makes Finland the birth place of the 43rd most number of Actors behind Serbia, and Croatia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Finnish Actors of all time. This list of famous Finnish Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Finnish Actors.

1. George Gaynes (1917 - 2016)

With an HPI of 62.83, George Gaynes is the most famous Finnish Actor. His biography has been translated into 36 different languages on wikipedia.

George Gaynes (born George Jongejans; May 16, 1917 – February 15, 2016) was a Dutch-American singer, actor, and voice artist. Born to Dutch and Russian-Finnish parents in the Grand Duchy of Finland of the Russian Empire, he served in the Royal Netherlands Navy during World War II, and subsequently emigrated to the United States, where he became a citizen and began his acting career on Broadway. Gaynes' most recognized roles in cinema were that of Commandant Eric Lassard in the Police Academy series and as John Van Horn in the 1982 comedy film Tootsie. He appeared as the curmudgeonly but lovable foster parent Henry Warnimont on the NBC series Punky Brewster; as high-powered theatrical producer Arthur Feldman on The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd; as Senator Strobe Smithers in the hit TV show Hearts Afire; and as Frank Smith, the mob boss brought down by Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) and Laura Spencer (Genie Francis) on the soap opera General Hospital.

2. Matti Pellonpää (1951 - 1995)

With an HPI of 54.18, Matti Pellonpää is the 2nd most famous Finnish Actor. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Matti Pellonpää (28 March 1951 in Helsinki – 13 July 1995 in Vaasa) was a Finnish actor and a musician. He rose to international fame with his roles in both Aki Kaurismäki's and Mika Kaurismäki's films; particularly being a regular in Aki's films, appearing in 18 of them.

3. Kati Outinen (b. 1961)

With an HPI of 53.28, Kati Outinen is the 3rd most famous Finnish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Anna Katriina "Kati" Outinen (born 17 August 1961) is a Finnish actress who has often played leading female roles in Aki Kaurismäki's films. Outinen was born in Helsinki. Having studied under Jouko Turkka during his "reign" of drama studies in Finland, she nevertheless has never been associated with the "turkkalaisuus" school of acting methodology. Her breakthrough role was as a tough girl in the generational classic youth film Täältä tullaan elämä (1980) by Tapio Suominen. In 1984, she appeared in Aikalainen. Besides a strong domestic reputation gained through a widely varied list of roles in theatre and television drama, film director Aki Kaurismäki's films have brought Outinen international attention and even adulation, particularly in Germany and France. Her first work together with Kaurismäki was Shadows in Paradise in 1986. At the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, Outinen won the award for Best Actress for the Kaurismäki film The Man Without a Past. The most recent time that Outinen and Kaurismäki worked together was in the film The Other Side of Hope (2017). She has also contributed to the screenplay of the Finnish soap opera Salatut elämät. Outinen portrayed the central character of a Swedish bank manager in the Estonian series The Bank (2018). She has appeared as a voice actress in the animation series Babar. She has also given her voice to Ritva Tuomivaara on the video game Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (2017). In 2016, Outinen played with Jim Carrey in the film Dark Crimes. Outinen worked as a professor in acting at the Theatre Academy Helsinki from 2002 to 2013.

4. Gustaf Molander (1888 - 1973)

With an HPI of 51.49, Gustaf Molander is the 4th most famous Finnish Actor. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Gustaf Harald August Molander (18 November 1888 – 19 June 1973) was a Swedish actor and film director. His parents were director Harald Molander, Sr. (1858–1900) and singer and actress Lydia Molander, née Wessler, and his brother was the director Olof Molander (1892–1966). He was the father of director and producer Harald Molander from his first marriage, from 1910-1918, with actress Karin Molander and father to actor Jan Molander from his second marriage to Elsa Fahlberg (1892–1977). Gustaf Molander was born in Helsingfors (now Helsinki) in the Grand Duchy of Finland (in the Russian Empire), where his father was working at the Swedish Theatre. He studied in the school of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm 1907–1909, acted at the Swedish theatre in Helsingfors 1909–1913, and then at the Royal Dramatic Theatre from 1913 to 1926. The last years there he headed the school; his students included Greta Garbo. Molander wrote several screenplays for Victor Sjöström and Mauritz Stiller, and was helped by the latter to get employment as a director for Svensk Filmindustri, where he worked 1923–1956. All in all, he directed 62 films. He often worked with Gösta Ekman, and his films include Intermezzo (1936), which became Ingrid Bergman's breakthrough and paved her way to America, where she starred in the 1939 Hollywood remake of the film. In 1943 he directed Ordet, the first film version of the play of the same name written by the Protestant pastor Kaj Munk, not to be confused with the second and more famous version of the film brought to the big screen by Carl Theodor Dreyer. The Danish master's film was shot twelve years later and won the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival. In 1948 Molander made what should have been his last film, Eva, but almost twenty years later, in 1967, he agreed to participate as a director of an episode in the collective film Stimulantia only to return to work with Ingrid Bergman 30 years later.

5. Tapio Rautavaara (1915 - 1979)

With an HPI of 51.05, Tapio Rautavaara is the 5th most famous Finnish Actor. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Kaj Tapio Rautavaara (8 March 1915 – 25 September 1979) was a Finnish singer (bass-baritone), athlete and film actor.

6. Vesa-Matti Loiri (1945 - 2022)

With an HPI of 49.66, Vesa-Matti Loiri is the 6th most famous Finnish Actor. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Vesa-Matti "Vesku" Loiri (4 January 1945 – 10 August 2022) was a Finnish actor, musician and comedian, best known for his role as Uuno Turhapuro, whom he portrayed in a total of 20 movies between the years 1973 and 2004. According to Yle News, ″Loiri was one of Finland's most beloved cultural figures over six decades, playing comic and tragic roles on screen and stage, alongside a musical career″.

7. Siri von Essen (1850 - 1912)

With an HPI of 49.44, Siri von Essen is the 7th most famous Finnish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Sigrid "Siri" Sofia Matilda Elisabet von Essen (17 August 1850 – 21 April 1912) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish noblewoman and actress. Her acting career spanned about 15 years, during which time she appeared in a number of plays that the Swedish dramatist and writer August Strindberg wrote specifically for her.

8. Peter Franzén (b. 1971)

With an HPI of 49.00, Peter Franzén is the 8th most famous Finnish Actor. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Peter Vilhelm Franzén (born 14 August 1971) is a Finnish actor, author, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for his role as King Harald Finehair in Vikings (2016–2020).

9. Stina Ekblad (b. 1954)

With an HPI of 48.65, Stina Ekblad is the 9th most famous Finnish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Stina Åsa Maria Ekblad (born 26 February 1954) is a Swedish-speaking Finnish actress. Living in Stockholm, she has appeared mostly in Swedish productions. She received a Guldbagge Award for Best Actress in 1987 for her performances in Amorosa and Ormens väg på hälleberget (The Serpent's Way) and was nominated again in 1996 for her performance in Pensionat Oskar. Ekblad was born in the Ostrobothnian village of Solf in 1954. The village is nowadays part of the municipality of Korsholm.

10. Taina Elg (b. 1930)

With an HPI of 48.56, Taina Elg is the 10th most famous Finnish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Taina Elisabeth Elg (born 9 March 1930) is a Finnish-American actress and dancer. She has appeared on stage, television, and in film.

People

Pantheon has 19 people classified as Finnish actors born between 1850 and 1986. Of these 19, 12 (63.16%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Finnish actors include Kati Outinen, Peter Franzén, and Stina Ekblad. The most famous deceased Finnish actors include George Gaynes, Matti Pellonpää, and Gustaf Molander. As of April 2024, 3 new Finnish actors have been added to Pantheon including Siri von Essen, Jouko Ahola, and Anna Easteden.