Lars Gunnar Ã
berg (born 5 May 1940), better known as Lasse Ã
berg, is a Swedish actor, musician, film director and artist. He was born in the small town Hofors, but grew up in Stockholm. In between 1960 and 1964 he studied at Konstfack's department of graphic design. Ã
berg has produced some of the most successful films in Sweden, depicting "typical" Swedish life and customs in a usually humorous way. Ã
bergs character can be described as an inept outsider with a large heart, constantly pushed aside without noticing. One may say who he resembles the typical Chevy Chase or Mr. Bean character, likewise he shares the same tall and skinny physical characteristics. His films have generated over 300 million Swedish kronor (~43 million USD) in Sweden alone; no large scale international distribution has ever been attempted. As an artist, he is famous for making various lithographs; one of his stocks in trade are sketchy Mickey Mouse drawings. He is a member of Svenska Serieakademien. He also re-designed the seat textiles for the Stockholm Metro subway in the 1990s. As a musician, he played in the nationally successful band Electric Banana Band. Ã
berg is also the creator of Trazan och Banarne, one of the most beloved Swedish kids shows ever. It was shown on Swedish television in the late 70s/early 80s. The characters of the show, Trazan Apansson (Ã
berg) and Banarne (Klasse Möllberg) are also members of the Electric Banana Band.
~Wikipedia.org