Egon Olsen

Infobox character
colour =
name = Egon Olsen


caption = Scene from the fourteenth and last Olsen Gang film (1998). From left to right: Egon Olsen, Kjell, and Benny.
first = Olsenbanden (dk)
Olsenbanen Operasjon Egon (no)
last = Olsen-bandens sidste stik (dk)
Olsenbandens siste stikk (no)
cause =
gender = Male
age =
born =
death =
occupation = Criminal
family =
spouse = None
children = None
relatives =
episode =
portrayer = Ove Sprogøe (dk)
Arve Opsahl (no)
creator = Erik Balling

Egon Olsen is a fictional character in the Danish film series "The Olsen Gang" and the Norwegian film series "Olsenbanden". He is portrayed by Ove Sprogøe in the Danish movies and by Arve Opsahl in the Norwegian versions. In the Swedish version of the series, "Jönssonligan", his part was taken by the character "Charles Ingvar "Sickan" Jönsson", played by Gösta Ekman (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 epynomous boss of the Olsen Gang. His two sidekicks are the merry Benny and the timid and podgy Kjeld. Kjeld's wife, Yvonne, is the only one who Egon has to fight, as she tends to interfer with his plans.cite web |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-5533736_ITM |title="I have a plan!" the Olsen Gang captures Denmark and Norway: negotiating the popular culture gap |publisher=Velvet Light Trap |date=22 September 1994 |accessdate=2008-10-05] 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 antiheros of film history, an eternal loser who wobbles but does not fall over.cite web |url=http://www.mdr.de/tv/5544167.html |title=Der (voraussichtlich) letzte Streich der Olsenbande |publisher=mdr.de (Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk) |language=German |date=1 June 2008 |accessdate=2008-10-06] Some observers have pointed out that "Egon Olsen projects the image of an anarchist, an outcast from the world of established capitalism as well as from the secure world of the petite bourgeoisie." [Steen Sauerberg and Kjetil Kvale Sorenssen, "Olsenbanden pa dansk og norsk." Paper presented at the XI. Nordic Conference of Mass Communication Research, Trondheim, 1993.]

Egon's involvement in each film follows a similar pattern. Egon constantly develops new and "genius" plans during his stays in prison.cite web |url=http://www.mdr.de/tv/2714583.html |title=Die "Olsenbande" lebt! |publisher=mdr.de (Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk) |language=German |date=9 April 2006 |accessdate=2008-10-06] 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. Each film ends with Egon's arrest.

Reception and influence

The role of Egon Olsen was Ove Sprogøe's most successful and also last film role.cite web |url=http://www.n-tv.de/317388.html |title=Der wirklich letzte Streich – "Egon Olsen" ist tot |publisher=n-tv.de |language=German |date=14 September 2004 |accessdate=2008-10-06] Sprogøe was honoured with a Bodil in 1975 for "Olsen-Bandens sidste bedrifter". [cite web |url=http://www.olsen-bande.com/egon.html |title=Egon Olsen |publisher=olsen-bande.com |language=German |accessdate=2008-10-06] The role had a legendary renown in former East Germany, 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 "Skide godt", in English approximately "shit-good"). Critics hypothesise that Egon's talent for improvisation impressed East Germans living under a socialist economy of scarcity, more than James Bond did, fighting his enemies with the newest technological gimmicks. [cite web |last=Roy |first=Martin |url=http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/kino/0,1518,52872,00.html |title=DDR-KULTFIGUREN – Die Olsenbande ist wieder da |publisher=spiegel.de (Der Spiegel) |language=German |date=18 November 1999 |accessdate=2008-10-06]

The gaolers of the Vridsløselille prison in Copenhagen, 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" (coord|55|39|40|N|12|20|53|E|region:DK_type:landmark|display=inline) in 2004. According to goalers 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".cite web |url=http://www.n-tv.de/316922.html |title=Ehrung für "Olsen-Bande" – "Egon-Olsens-Allé" am Knast |publisher=n-tv.de |language=German |date=17 September 2004 |accessdate=2008-10-06]

References

Further reading

*

External links

*