Robert Gustafsson

Carl Robert Olof Gustafsson was born on 20 December 1964 in Katrineholm, to upholsterer and furniture salesman Olof Gustafsson (1930–2020) and housewife Inger Gustafsson (née Vilhelmsson) (1932–2022).^[4][5][6] Robert had an older brother, Kristian (1961–2004), and the family lived in Katrineholm until Robert was six years old.^[7][6][8] When Robert's maternal grandfather, Wilhelm, passed away in 1970, the family relocated to his house in Skövde, where Robert would grow up.^[4][8] The town is situated between Sweden's two largest lakes, Vänern and Vättern, in central southern Sweden, 134 km northeast of Gothenburg.

Gustafsson first attended Käpplundaskolan (grades 1–6) in Havstena, where he befriended Niclas Jensen in the third grade.^[8][9] The duo later attended Helenaskolan (grades 7–9) in central Skövde.^[6] The students had much influence over one particular school period on Thursdays, when they were allowed to entertain each other or participate in various group activities. This 40-minute period was soon named 'Robert & Niclas', as Gustafsson and Jensen were dedicated in their preparations of funny sketches for these occasions.^[8][10] In a 2001 interview with Aftonbladet, Gustafsson recalled, "I was a fanatic television viewer. Free periods were spent reenacting episodes of Kojak, Alias Smith and Jones, and Monty Python.^[10]

The duo also used Jensen's Super 8 camera to record amateur films, including the short Tur i oturen med tur och retur.^[10] Among other films were a Benny Hill-inspired production about a bicycle-mounted police officer, who rams into pedestrians on his way through town, and another about a mummy that ravages a public restroom.^[10] In sixth grade, Gustafsson and Jensen decided to create a show for the class trip and quickly became known throughout the school for their celebrated revues in the assembly.^[10][11] They were subsequently invited to perform at other schools in the area.^[5][11]

Eventually the show grew so popular that the municipal Culture and Leisure Committee provided a tour bus so that Gustafsson and Jensen could perform all over Skövde.^[5] They were even allowed to put on shows at the City Theatre, located in Skövde Kulturhus (civic cultural centre).^[5][6][10] In a 2004 interview with Aftonbladet, Gustafsson recalled, "We were local celebrities and 13 years old. Then, when the local radio station started up, we waited outside until they gave us our own show. Lotta Bromé was just like us. We used to sit together in the archive and search for records, but for different shows. We were obsessed."^[5]

In 1978, shortly after the local radio station, P4 Skaraborg, started up, Gustafsson and Jensen got their own humour show, called 'Mick', and became Sweden's youngest radio producers. They did other shows as well, mostly parodies.^[8][10][11] Gustafsson received a set of keys that allowed him and Jensen access to most of the Kulturhuset premises, including the City Theatre, the radio station, two television studios, an art hall, a photo lab and the City Library. They could come and go as they pleased.^[5][12]

During the time he spent at the City Theatre, Gustafsson had gotten to know actor and comedian Runo Sundberg, who offered him a job as a prompter.^[11] The following year, at age 14, he made his first stage performance in front of a paying audience in Skaraborgsrevyn, which was led by Sundberg and revue actor Rolf 'Rulle' Lövgren.^{[6][11][5][13]}  In a 2004 interview with Aftonbladet, Gustafsson recalled, "I've grown up in a small town where there were maybe four doors that read 'opportunity'. But those doors stood open, and there were people inside who were interested."^[5]

Gustafsson was also an avid cyclist and competed in road racing from 1975 to 1981, with training sessions of 140 kilometres, 4–5 times per week.^[10][14][15] His father, Olof, won the Swedish championships in the masters category 'Old Boys' two years in a row, 1973–74.^{[6][10][14][15]} Robert was rarely at school, though, and completed the compulsory education (grades 1–9) with a moderate 3.2 average (out of a maximum 5.0).^[5][10] Gustafsson proceeded to attend a two-year upper secondary education in Skövde, studying electrical engineering, with the ambition to become an audio engineer.^[6][15]

After graduation he completed eleven months of mandatory military service as a squad leader at the Skaraborg regiment and then worked with business presentations.^[6][10] In a 2011 interview with Svenska Dagbladet, Gustafsson recalled, "Yes, I worked as an audio engineer at a film company in Skövde that did business presentations. Alfa Laval were to have a 35 mm slide presentation of their new septic tank for cow dung. Slide one was a close-up of a cow's arse with dung coming out of it, and I was to add the music of Peterson-Berger's 'Intåg i sommarhagen'. I pressed stop, told them I quit, packed my bags, went to Stockholm and started taking acting classes."^[16]

At 19 years old, Gustafsson moved to Stockholm, where he worked as a caretaker during the day and took acting classes at the private school Teaterverkstaden, located at Folkuniversitetet, in the evening.^[6][10][15] He met his future wife, Charlotte, in 1985, during the theatrical production Kungen är naken (The Emperor's New Clothes). He played the main role, and she was tasked with drawing the seams of an imaginary suit on his naked body, using an eyeliner pencil.^[15][17] In 1986 Gustafsson aspired to attend the Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts, but his application was rejected. He subsequently applied to and earned admission at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg.^[6]

Having moved to Gothenburg, Gustafsson applied for a job at Sveriges Television, as he didn't want to take a student loan.^[6] He managed to get cast as 'Robert' on the popular children's television series Björnes magasin.^[6] While attending the academy, he wrote his own scripts for the show and recorded episodes on Fridays and Saturdays.^[18] He rented apartments in Gothenburg second-hand and kept his clothes in bags as he jumped between short-term contracts.^[18] He never felt rooted in the city, and when he finally graduated in 1990, he couldn't wait to get on with his life.^[18][19]

While Killinggänget is mostly known for its use of irony and pop-culture references, Gustafsson usually employs a more traditional and physical style of comedy, such as slapstick and playing characters with highly exaggerated personalities. He is well known for his range of voices and accents, and his tendency to play people who end up hurting themselves. This style is a lot more pronounced when he is working solo or with other people outside Killinggänget.

Some of the roles that Robert has portrayed include:

• Greger Hawkwind is a blatantly homosexual chief fire officer who dresses in a plaid kilt. First seen in NileCity 105,6, he has a one-track mind and makes inappropriate sexual allusions to the point of harassment to most of the men he meets, but his primary target of attention is Percy Nilegård.^[20]
• Weiron is portrayed as a working-class man and a native of Gothenburg. He hosts the NileCity 105,6 morning radio show Weiron i Ottan, which starts at 3:30 am. Waking people up by making random phone calls, he freely interprets their occupations and expresses contempt for capitalism and inhabitants of Stockholm. He drives a forklift to work and operates loud and heavy machinery in the studio.^[21]
• Fred Asp is an alcoholic who first appeared on the television show I manegen med Glenn Killing. Fred brings his stuffed ferret, Göran, when he is out partying and proceeds to tell stories about his drinking buddy. Fred claims that Göran embarrasses him in public and accuses Göran of having a refined taste. Some of Fred's own drink recipes include Haschi-baschi (Finlandia with Desivon), White Christmas (Explorer with Tipp-Ex) and Rembrandt (eggnog with white spirit).^[22]
• Sudden is an assumed mental patient, first seen in NileCity 105,6, who visits the studio from time to time when on leave from the psychiatric hospital. He brings miscellaneous things and assumes the role of sports commentator. This practice has given birth to such obscure sports as botanic Muay Thai, crayfish ski jumping and parallel yoghurt.^[23]
• Tobias is a restless and bad-tempered man in his mid-thirties who likes to play with gadgets that he buys online. He has manic episodes when he is completely unmanageable and acts recklessly. Tobias and his single mother, Monica or Morran, live together in poverty on the outskirts of society. They are two dysfunctional individuals who somehow manage to get by as a family.^[24]
• Roland Järverup is the frontman and lead vocalist of the dansband Rolandz, who have released five albums and competed in the 2018 Melodifestivalen. Roland first appeared in the film Screwed in Tallinn, in which he travelled to Estonia in search of a woman to share his life with. He has a slightly cleft lip and is both gentle and soft-spoken. He also nurtures an interest in cooking and is usually able to stay positive after a setback.^[25]
• Bertil Svensson is an accident-prone gardener who hosts a television show called Lost in My Own Garden. This role was inspired by a 1980s Swedish gardening show where the host accidentally cut his thumb with a knife but kept going as if nothing had happened. (The Julia Child spoof by Dan Aykroyd might have been an inspiration as well.) This role led to some of Gustafsson's more gory comedy.^[26]
• Classe Ekman is a Swedish journalist who first appeared in the Norwegian television show Åpen Post. He works as a correspondent for Sveriges Television in Norway. As a result of his minimal understanding of the Norwegian language, he often resorts to fabricating news stories, presenting false facts and making up translations during interviews.^[27]

Gustafsson is also known for portraying various old and often rather senile individuals.

In addition, Gustafsson is a skilled imitator^[1] and his many famous imitations include Ingmar Bergman, Sven Wollter, Ernst-Hugo Järegård, Tony Rickardsson, Robert Aschberg and Magnus Härenstam as well as former Prime Ministers Göran Persson and Carl Bildt.

Gustafsson is one of Sweden's most famous and beloved comedians, having appeared in many TV shows and films. He has also appeared on Norwegian television, in the show Åpen Post. Besides his iconic work with Killinggänget he has been a cornerstone of Swedish entertainment for many years. He has played in sitcoms such as Rena rama Rolf, and been a regular guest on comedy shows such as Gäster med gester and Parlamentet, a popular panel show similar to BBC's If I Ruled the World.

In February 2014, the satirical programme SNN News showed a sketch where Gustavsson played a "Representative of the Sámi", an indigenous people of Sweden. The sketch was widely accused of racism against Sámi people, both in Swedish media and abroad in Norway, where most of the Sámi people live.^[28] More than fifty individual viewers have filed complaints about the sketch to the Swedish Broadcasting Commission.^[29]