This is Tapio Rautavaara, a Finnish athlete, singer and actor. He was born in 1915 and was brought up by his mother. His sports were javelin and archery; in javelin he won, among others, five Finnish championships and a gold in the 1948 London Olympics. In archery he won a team world championship in 1958, a Finnish team championship in 1956 and a personal Finnish championship in 1955. Oh, and by the way, he took archery up in 1951.

He is one of the most popular Finnish popular music performers ever, and his music is still dearly loved. He started his recording career in the 1940s, after meeting songwriter Reino Helismaa, who was to write some of the most iconic songs Rautavaara performed (such as “Päivänsäde ja menninkäinen” (1949)).

Rautavaara’s acting career started after the WWII in 1945. Between the years 1945 and 1970 he performed all together in 22 films. His films were very popular at the time, but they have been shadowed by his musical works.

He was a very traditional Finnish man, quiet and a bit melancholy. He was also a bit of an alcoholic later on in his life. He was really quite brilliant, as well as absolutely gorgeous, and I have spent my whole life wondering whether I should just fancy him or be incredibly jealous.