Stefán Karl Stefánsson

In September 2016, doctors diagnosed him with pancreatic cancer. It relapsed in May 2017 and Stefánsson subsequently underwent surgeries to remove two masses from his liver.

On June 21, 2017, his doctors told him that he had cholangiocarcinoma (bile-duct cancer). The cancer eventually reached stage four. However, his family refused to give up.

Stefán Karl Stefánsson was born on July 10, 1975, in Hafnarfjörður, a port town and municipality situated on the south-west coast of Iceland. He was raised by working-class parents.

He studied at the Icelandic Academy of Arts in Reykjavík. However, he found himself disagreeing with the perspectives of Icelandic drama standards and the approach to acting. In fact, he was once told by the principal at his high school that "Acting is not about making faces and changing your face”, a notion he did not believe in.

After graduating from Icelandic Academy of Arts, Stefán Karl Stefánsson joined the National Theatre of Iceland. He also debuted on the small screen with the television film ‘Áramótaskaupið’ in 1994.

Áramótaskaupið is an annual television comedy special that airs on the New Year’s Eve and has since become a quintessential part of Iceland’s New Year’s celebration. The program provides a humorous and satirical view of the previous year.

Stefánsson played a news reporter and several other characters during his first appearance on ‘Áramótaskaupið’. He would appear in the program in two more years, 2001 and 2002. In his last appearance, he was part of the main cast.

In 1995, he made his cinematic debut with the ensemble comedy ‘Privacy’, portraying a character credited as “Student.” In 1998, he was cast in his first television show ‘Baking Trouble’.

He portrayed several characters, including one named Robbie Williams, in the television film ‘Skaupið: 1999’. In 2000, he appeared in three television programs: ‘Angel No. 5503288’, ‘Car Mechanic Sketches for Eurovision’, and ‘Cars Can Fly’.

In 1997, Stefánsson was cast in his first theatrical role, in a production of ‘The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling’. The show ran for two years. He then was part of a production of Einar Örn Gunnarsson’s ‘Palace of Crows’ (1998-99). The four-act drama ‘Ivanov’ (1998-99) was the first Anton Chekhov play he starred in. He would also work in the 1999-2000 production of Hallgrímur Helgason’s play ‘1000 Island Dressing’.

From 1999 to 2000, he was a member of the cast of a production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. He also played various roles in the productions of ’A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (1999-2000), Betty Comden and Adolph Green’s musical ‘Singin' in the Rain’ (2000-01), Edmond Rostand’s ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ (2001-02), Michael Frayn’s ‘Noises Off’ (2002-03), and Yasmina Reza’s ‘Life x 3’ (2002-03). From 2000 to 2002, he appeared in a production of ‘The Cherry Orchard’, another play by Chekhov.

Stefánsson’s most prominent theatrical role was as the Grinch in a production of ‘Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical’. During its long run (2008-15), it was staged in Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, Worcester, Massachusetts and Appleton, Wisconsin,

For his contribution to the National Theatre of Iceland, he received the Thorbjorn Egner Award in 2000.