Stefan Karl Stefansson: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

GettyStefan Karl (L) and Olina Karl attends the after-party for Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical at HWood on November 14, 2009 in Hollywood, California.

Stefan Karl Stefansson, 41, the actor behind the popular character of Robbie Rotten on LazyTown, has a rare form of cancer which has reached stage four. His wife, Actress and Writer Steinunn Olina Þorsteinsdóttir, said that his life expectancy has been significantly reduced.

Here’s everything you need to know:

1. Stefansson Is Best Known as the Actor Who Played Robbie Rotten in LazyTown

Stefansson was born on July 10, 1975 in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland, according to The Sun. He graduated from the Icelandic Academy of Arts in Reykjavik and worked as an actor with the National Theatre of Iceland.

He is best known for portraying the character of Robbie Rotten in LazyTown, which ran on Nickelodeon and other networks from 2004 to 2014. He was in the project since 1999 when it was a theatre production. Robbie Rotten was the show’s eccentric antagonist who tried to revert LazyTown to its old, lazy ways as hero Sportacus tries to shape up the town. The show has won and been nominated for many prestigious awards, including winning the BAFTA Children’s Award for Best International Show in 2006.

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On a Reddit AMA, he said that it took him two and a half hours every day for the make up of his character. He also said that his favorite song to perform on the show was “You Are a Pirate” and that a lot of the jokes that made it in the show were created during improvisation between takes. He also gave some acting advice:

There is no difference in preparing for Robbie Rotten or any classical serious role…. 😉 Every part you prepare for you have to be honest and truthful and wholly believe that the character exists – otherwise no one will accept your acting. Kids are a demanding audience and they KNOW when something is untruthful.

He and Þorsteinsdóttir married on December 29, 2002 and have four children together. They live in San Francisco, California. Þorsteinsdóttir is a US Citizen and Stefansson has a green card.

2. Stefansson Was Diagnosed Last Year

Stefansson was hospitalized and diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September 2016.

In May 2017, the cancer relapsed and Stefansson had two masses removed from his liver.

Then on June 21, 2017, he was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, bile-duct cancer, and it has reached stage four. Þorsteinsdóttir said in a Facebook post that cholangiocarcinoma has little research done on it, but they weren’t giving up.

Although the chances and statistics are not in our favor, and Stefán’s candle burns quickly, we will not be scared of fear.

People have taken to Facebook and Twitter to express their condolences:

Stefansson has expressed his gratitude to all of the condolences:

Below is the rough translation of the post above:

Well, you’re getting conscious of all these drugs and pain so it’s getting rid of the fog 🙂 I see that the sun is beginning to shine, which is a sign of a better time with flowers in the pasture. Look forward to getting out of the sunshine.
Have a good day and smile to each other, we’re so good and so deserved.

A GoFundMe page was set up in October 2016 to help raise funds for Stefansson after he became too ill to work. The page currently has over $142,400 donated by over 9,750 people.

3. He Has Embraced the “We Are Number One” Meme

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On October 3, 2014, LazyTown’s 107th episode called “Robbie’s Dream Team” aired in which Robbie Rotten orders three clones of himself to take down Sportacus together. However, the clones need to be taught how to become villains, so Robbie does so by singing the episode’s song We Are Number One.

After YouTuber SilvaGunner posted a video remixing the song as well as a follow up in September 2016, a wave of remixes of the music video flooded YouTube in what became known as the “We Are Number One” meme. While the meme was created before Stefansson’s cancer diagnosis, the videos have since been used to promote his GoFundMe page.

Here are some examples below:

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Stefansson acknowledged the meme in his Reddit AMA and subsequently created an event for a live Facebook video of him performing the song with the original cast in December 2016. He also thanked the community for the creative videos they made with the song and said he loved every single one of them. He also thanked those who donated to his GoFundMe page. He also introduced the audience to Mani Svavarsson, the composer of the song, who explained how he created it. He also answered questions about the show from the audience.

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The original livestream had over 50,000 people watching. The upload on YouTube has over 4,900,000 views at the time of writing.

4. He Didn’t Just Perform as Robbie Rotten

GettyActor Stefan Karl arrives as the ‘Grinch’ to the Los Angeles premiere of Dr. Seuss’ ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’ at the Pantages Theatre on November 14, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.

According to IMDB, Stefansson has performed in multiple different movies, TV, and theatre. At the National Theatre, he performed as Cosmo Brown in Singin’ in the Rain, Lloyd Douglas in Noises Off, and Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream. He also portrayed the Dentist in Little Shop of Horrors with The Reykjavik City Theatre. He portrayed the Grinch in Running Subway Productions’ production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas the Musical, which first premiered at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, California on November 14, 2009, and has gone on to tour in nine cities throughout the country.

He played the singing sheep farmer in the popular Icelandic feature comedy Stella Runs for Office as well as contributed voice work for Night at the Museum and Thor.

He won the Thorbjorn Egner Honorary Award for his work at the National Theatre of Iceland in 2000.

Þorsteinsdóttir is also an accomplished actress with her winning the Fipa d’or for Best Actress in a TV series at Biarritz’ FIPA International Festival of Audiovisual works for portraying Gabriela in the 2015 Icelandic TV show Case. She’s also the Editor-in-Chief at women’s magazine Kvennablaðið.

5. He Founded an Anti-Bullying Organization

Stefansson is the founder and president of Regnbogaborn (Rainbow-Children), which, according to his LinkedIn page, “has become the leading Icelandic anti-bullying organization for children, teens, educators and parents. Rainbow-Children focuses on prevention, education and personal outreach to stem the growing tide of bullying against children.”

On Stefansson’s LinkedIn page, Svavarsson wrote that he “is one of the most talented person I’ve ever met.”

If you’re reading this, you probably know that he’s a brilliant actor – but it is unlikely you know how much fun he is to be around and what an asset he is to any team. Whether it’s singing, acting or even dancing – he is always willing to give that little extra that makes things shine.

Remo Balcells, CG Supervisor at ICON Creative Studio, said that Stefansson and him worked together for LazyTown.

As the Visual Effects Director for the show, I had to often supervise shootings on stage for later digital production. During those times I had the opportunity to work with Stephan and see him perform his character with extraordinary wit. I admire his ability to perform with such energy throughout the day even after hours of wearing cumbersome costumes and hot spotlights. He is fresh, energetic and fun to work with. An extremely talented professional.

According to his Facebook page, Stefansson is also the CEO of Spretta, a company that grows micro greens for restaurants.

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