Matti Pellonpää

Matti Pellonpää (28 March 1951 in Helsinki – 13 July 1995 in Vaasa) was an award-winning Finnish actor and a musician. They rose to international fame with his roles in both Aki Kaurismäki's and Mika Kaurismäki's films; particularly being a regular in Aki's films, appearing in 18 of them. They started his career in 1962 as a radio actor at the Finnish state-owned broadcasting company YLE. They performed as an actor during the 70s in many amateur theatres, at the same time that they studied at the Finnish Theatre Academy, where he completed his studies in the year 1977. He was nominated Best Actor by European Film Academy for his role as Rodolfo in La Vie de Boheme and won the Felix at the European Film Awards in 1992. They also starred in Jim Jarmusch's 1991 film Night on Earth.