This is just so sad. After battling cancer for several years, Icelandic actor Stefan Karl Steffanson has passed at the young age of 43. He played Robbie Rotten for ten years on the country’s popular children’s TV show LazyTown, and was beloved in the Scandanavian island nation. His cancer was diagnosed as inoperable in March and he decided to go off chemotherapy. In a heartbreaking statement at the time he wrote: “It’s not until they tell you you’re going to die soon that you realize how short life is. Time is the most valuable thing in life because it never comes back. And whether you spend it in the arms of a loved one or alone in a prison-cell, life is what you make of it. Dream big.” Here’s five things to know about Stefan.
1. Stefan battled bile duct cancer for two years.
He was diagnosed with the disease in Oct. of 2016. His prognosis was a positive one as in Aug. of 2017 when he revealed that the cancer was in remission. Sadly things took a turn for the worse in March of 2018 when it returned and was deemed inoperable and terminal.
2. Stefan was known to fans outside of Iceland for a silly but catchy ska song from LazyTown.
The song and video for “We Are Number One” became a worldwide sensation as the ska tune was insanely catchy. In the video he taught a bunch of his clones how to be a “a villain number one” as they tried to chase down a fitness-themed superhero on the show called Sportacus. Shots from it became popular internet memes.
3. Parodies of “We Are Number One” helped lead to a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to help with his medical costs.
When Stefan became too ill to work in 2016, LazyTown head writer Mark Valenti started a GoFundMe campaign and it went viral when fans posted their own parodies of the “We Are Number One” video. It raised over $170K before the account was made inactive when he stopped receiving chemo in March when his diagnosis was terminal.
4. Stefan was a family man.
He leaves behind a wife and four children, three daughters and one son.
5. Stefan final social media post was one about hope.
The message “At the end of every storm there is a rainbow of hope” was written across clouds and a rainbow on his Instagram on June 25. Stefan captioned it, “From the bottom of my heart I thank you for the support you provide me. You give me hope and you all move me.”