The Tragic Loss of Robbie Rotten's Great Actor

So I tend to take time away from social media here and there due to my health and was saddened to learn that upon returning today that Stefan Karl Stefansson (most famous for his role as Robbie Rotten on the children's show Lazy Town) had passed away. I had known about his battle with cancer and had contributed to the campaign to help raise money for his medical costs, but the last I had heard was that things had been going better and I had really hoped he would fully recover. Sadly, as it seems to be this year, with the loss of John 'Totalbiscuit' Bain shows that cancer is a deadly killer and one that I am still shocked we haven't found the means to stop altogether (though perhaps it's just my wishful thinking for a better future).

When my younger sisters were still little, I would often find myself sitting with them watching all sorts of children's television programs. Lazy Town wasn't one of their more popular choices and I admit that the show itself didn't fully click with me, with a few exceptions. The first was that it did have a number of catchy songs (which is what you want in getting children's attention) and the other was the shows Villain, Robbie Rotten. As a character, Stefan played him up like a real over the top Villain, which made him simply amazing. When it comes to my top favourite Villains, Robbie Rotten is very much in that top 5 and it's down to how Stefan made that character (I always found it funny how Robbie just wanted to have everyone lazy so he could be lazy in peace and yet went to so much work to pull off his plans to make the town lazy).

What truly placed Stefan above most others (to me anyway) was how he literately embraced the 'We are number one' meme and even got in on the joke himself. This brought more people to him as he showed just how wonderful a person he was. Even on the fundraising page (sadly now closed) there would be a story or two from him about his experiences and the reactions children had to his performances.

A magnificent man and one that we shall surely miss. As the meme said, he will always be number one.