Stefán Karl Stefánsson

Stefan Karl Stefansson was an Icelandic actor who enjoyed a prolific career as a character actor on stage, and in film and TV, before landing the role of a lifetime on a super popular children's television program, only to be cut down by a deadly disease in the prime of his life. Born in Hafnarfjordur, Iceland, Stefansson began studying acting as a teenager, but chafed against what he saw as the rigid, self-serious tenants of his alma matter, the Drama Academy of Iceland. In response to this, he began his professional career at the age of 19, working as a puppeteer for television. He made his film debut in the comedy "Aramotaskaup" (1994), while first appearing on TV in the short lived series "Baking Trouble" (Channel 1, 1998). Aside from these notable successes, Stefansson mostly took on small supporting roles in film and television in his native Iceland, while also appearing in small stage productions, until he met the gymnast Magnus Scheving. According to Stefansson, Scheving was concerned that kids in Iceland were not being encouraged to exercise and be active, so he came up with "LazyTown" (Nickelodeon, 2004-2014), in which Scheving would star as Sportacus, a superhero who teaches a town about proper exercise. He offered Stefansson the part of his nemesis, Robbie Rotten, a grumpy couch potato who just wants to stay inside all day. They pitched the idea to Nickelodeon, who ordered a one-off musical, to be broadcast worldwide. When that musical proved to be a big success, the network commissioned a series, and even funded the construction of a TV studio in Iceland. "LazyTown" would be Stefansson's bread and butter for the next decade, and made him one of Iceland's most popular actors, but sadly, it was also his swan song. In 2016, two years after "LazyTown" ended, Stefansson was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma. The actor, who had been living in Los Angeles with his wife and four children, returned to Iceland in order to receive treatment. A GoFundMe campaign was started by "LazyTown's" head writer Mark Valenti in order to help pay for Stefansson's medical bills and costs of living, which lead to Robbie Rotten becoming something of an internet meme, thanks to YouTubers parodying the songs "We Are Number One" and "The Mine Song." In 2017, Stefansson underwent surgery, which successfully removed the metastases. Unfortunately, the cholangiocarcinoma returned in 2018, but this time it was inoperable. Stefansson underwent a month of chemotherapy before deciding to discontinue any further treatments, and shut down all of his social media accounts. On August 21, 2018, Stefan Karl Stefansson died. He was 43 years old. Shortly before he died, Stefansson was awarded the Order of the Falcon, one of Iceland's highest honors. According to his wife, in lieu of a funeral, his ashes were "scattered in secrecy in a distant ocean."