Vesa-Matti "Vesku" Loiri (4 January 1945 – 10 August 2022)[1] 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″.[2]
Loiri was born in Helsinki on 4 January 1945 to Taito Loiri (1911–1995) and Lily Nylund (1916–2013), and the family moved to North Haaga when Loiri was a child.[3] Loiri became an actor in 1962, when he had a role in the movie Pojat, directed by Mikko Niskanen, and graduated from the Finnish Theatre Academy, now the Uniarts Helsinki theatre academy, in 1966. Loiri did his most recognised work with comedian-director-producer Spede Pasanen, starting from Noin seitsemän veljestä. Spede and Loiri also developed his highly popular Uuno Turhapuro persona which would star in one of Finland's longest and most commercially successful film-series. In 2005, he starred in the film Shadow of the Eagle, which was directed by Timo Koivusalo. Six films starring Loiri are in the top 20 list of the highest-grossing domestic films in Finland.[citation needed] Total number of tickets sold to the screenings of these six films is 3,715,948.[citation needed]
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As a musician, Loiri performed compositions of Perttu Hietanen and Taisto Wesslin, Eino Leino's poems, Carl Michael Bellman's drinking songs and Juha "Watt" Vainio's songs. Loiri also played the flute, a talent he put to use representing Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 in The Hague/Netherlands with the song "Huilumies", dedicated to his flute. He finished last in a field of 19 participating countries. During his career, Loiri sold over 730,000 certified records in Finland and is currently the fifth-best-selling soloist and ninth-best-selling artist of all time in the country.[4][5][6][7][8][9] He was the voice of the Genie in the Finnish dub of Disney's Aladdin,[10] even performing the musical numbers Friend Like Me and Prince Ali. When dubbing the Genie, Loiri did not see the original Robin Williams version and was only given a slight idea of what the original gags and jokes were. Disney gave the team an award for the best foreign Aladdin dub.[10][11]
Loiri appeared in the premiere of Aulis Sallinen's opera Kullervo in Los Angeles in 1992, creating the role of the blind singer.[12]
Loiri also had a lifelong interest and exceptional talent in a number of sports, especially association football. It has been said that, had he not chosen to concentrate on acting, he could have become a national professional-level goalkeeper. He was signed by juggernauts HJK for one season in 1972.[13] He held the office of Chairman of the Finnish billiards association for multiple years, being an especially gifted billiards player.[14]
On 10 August 2022 Loiri died from cancer, at the age of 77.[15]
