Åke Lindman

Åke Leonard Lindman (born Åke Leonard Järvinen; 11 January 1928 – 3 March 2009) was a Finnish director and actor.

In his youth Lindman was a football player, playing defence for the Finland national team during the Olympics in Helsinki 1952. He represented the football club HIFK in the Finnish league where he played 81 games and scored 9 goals, he also played in second division for 8 seasons. In the 1960s, the British English Football League club Swindon Town F.C. wanted to sign him, but he turned them down to focus on his acting career.

Åke Lindman's breakthrough as an actor came with his role as the stubborn soldier Lehto in the Edvin Laine filmThe Unknown Soldier in 1955. Later, he would also achieve fame as captain Torsten Jansson in the Swedish soap opera Rederiet. Lindman also found success as the director of, amongst others, the television series Stormskärs Maja and the film Framom främsta linjen, a movie about the Finland-Swedish infantry regiment 61 during the defence of the Karelian Isthmus in 1944. His final film was the war film Tali-Ihantala 1944. Lindman won two Jussi Awards, one for Best Director in 1988 and a Lifetime Achievement award in 2008.

Personal life
Lindman was born in Helsinki and grew up in a working class Vallila neighbourhood. His father was a truck driver. His brother Tor, who also became a footballer, was born in 1930. In 1932, his father Väinö Järvinen died from pneumonia, and some years later his mother Edit remarried to Gösta Lindman. Lindman was already an adult when he was legally adopted and changed his surname to his step-fathers.

Actor

 * 1949: Hornankoski – Artturi Yli-Koskela
 * 1950: Tanssi yli hautojen – Suomalainen upseeri
 * 1950: Hallin Janne – Vallankumoukseen yllyttävä vanki Siperiassa
 * 1952: Suomalaistyttöjä Tukholmassa – Erik
 * 1952: The White Reindeer – forest ranger
 * 1952: Yö on pitkä – Åke Strandberg
 * 1953: Varsovan laulu – Captain
 * 1953: Pekka Puupää – Petteri, the criminal (uncredited)
 * 1953: We Come During Spring – Kymppi, lumberjack boss
 * 1954: Kovanaama – Prisoner #2
 * 1954: Niskavuoren Aarne – Steward
 * 1954: Pekka ja Pätkä lumimiehen jäljillä – Riku Sundman
 * 1955: Kiinni on ja pysyy – Arpi
 * 1955: Kukonlaulusta kukonlauluun – Eino Kustaala
 * 1955: Rakkaus kahleissa – Pertti Kuusi
 * 1955: Viettelysten tie – Martti
 * 1955: The Unknown Soldier – Lehto
 * 1956: Silja – nuorena nukkunut – Valkoisten komppanianpäällikkö
 * 1956: Olet mennyt minun vereeni – Erkki, captain
 * 1957: Risti ja liekki – Inkvisiittori
 * 1957: 1918 – Samuel Bro
 * 1957: Herra Sotaministeri – German ambassador (uncredited)
 * 1957: Vihdoinkin hääyö... – Teemu Järvinen
 * 1957: No Tomorrow – Förrymd fånge
 * 1958: The Lady in Black – David Frohm
 * 1959: Ei ruumiita makuuhuoneeseen – Mike
 * 1959: Moonwolf – Lumberjack
 * 1959: Kohtalo tekee siirron – Mauri Petäjämaa
 * 1960: Lumisten metsien tyttö – Jukka
 * 1960: Isaskar Keturin ihmeelliset seikkailut – Anselmi Körmy
 * 1961: Pojken i trädet – Sten Sundberg
 * 1961: Kuu on vaarallinen – Nimismies
 * 1961: Kertokaa se hänelle... – Ambulanceman
 * 1961: Me – Urpo
 * 1962: Älä nuolase... – Muuttomies (uncredited)
 * 1962: Hän varasti elämän – Detective Oke Järvinen
 * 1962: Naiset, jotka minulle annoit
 * 1963: Villin Pohjolan kulta – Joel Vorna
 * 1963: Teerenpeliä – Technical Manager (uncredited)
 * 1963: Villin Pohjolan salattu laakso – Joel Vorna
 * 1964: Make Like a Thief – Arvo Mäki
 * 1965: Laukaus Kyproksessa – Vääpeli Onni Lintula
 * 1967: Billion Dollar Brain – Minor Role (uncredited)
 * 1968: The Shoes of the Fisherman – Soldier Releasing Lakota (uncredited)
 * 1972: The Day the Clown Cried – Stout Prisoner
 * 1977: Telefon – Lieutenant Alexandrov
 * 1978: Tuntematon ystävä – Olavi Susikoski
 * 1978: Bomsalva – Rurik Lindgren
 * 1981: Reds – Scandinavian Escort
 * 1982: Jousiampuja – Eino
 * 1982: Klippet – Lagerförmannen
 * 1983: Kalabaliken i Bender
 * 1984: Dirty Story – Erik Järnstedt
 * 1987: Lysande landning (TV Movie) – David Dreyer
 * 1987: Lain ulkopuolella – Principal
 * 1988: Kråsnålen (TV Mini-Series) – Ågren the Smith
 * 1990: Ameriikan raitti – Otto
 * 1991: Riktiga män bär alltid slips – Stålhane
 * 1993: Harjunpää ja kiusantekijät – Emergency response center (voice, uncredited)
 * 1995: Mannen utan ansikte – President (voice)
 * 1996: The Hunters – The Boss
 * 1996: Yöjuna – Kalevi Wallin
 * 1999: En liten julsaga – Pekka
 * 2003: Kohtalon kirja – Galagf (final film role)

Director

 * 1964: Make Like a Thief (co-director with Richard Long and Palmer Thompson)
 * 1999: Lapin kullan kimallus
 * 2004: Framom främsta linjen
 * 2007: Tali-Ihantala 1944