Aare Laanemets (6 February 1954 – 28 October 2000)
was an
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
n actor and theatre director, who is possibly best recalled for his role as
Joosep Toots
Oskar Luts ( – 23 March 1953) was an Estonian writer and playwright.
Biography
Oskar Luts was born into a middle-class family in Järvepera, central Estonia, at that time in the governorate of Livonia (Russian Empire). His younger brother was ...
in three
film adaptation
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
s of novels penned by author
Oskar Luts
Oskar Luts ( – 23 March 1953) was an Estonian writer and playwright.
Biography
Oskar Luts was born into a middle-class family in Järvepera, central Estonia, at that time in the governorate of Livonia (Russian Empire). His younger brother was ...
: ''
Kevade
''Spring'' ( et, Kevade) is a 1969 Estonian film directed by Arvo Kruusement and is a film adaptation of Oskar Luts' popular novel of the same name. The movie placed first place in the Estonian feature films top ten poll held in 2002 by Estonian ...
'' (1969), ''
Suvi'' (1976), and ''
Sügis'' (1990). Laanemets' career began as a teenager and he worked steadily as an adult as a stage, film, and television actor until his death in 2000, aged 46. In 1984, he co-founded the Pärnu School Theatre, where he worked as an instructor and stage director.
Early life and education
Aare Laanemets was born in
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
to Johannes and Ilse Dagmar Laanemets (''née'' Heinluht). He had one sibling.
He attended primary and secondary schools in Tallinn, graduating from the Tallinn Sports Boarding School (now, the
Audentes Sports Gymnasium) in the
Kristiine administrative district of the city in 1972.
Afterwards, he enrolled in the Performing Arts Department of Tallinn State Conservatory (now, the
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
The Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (''Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia'') began as a mixed choir of the Estonia Society Musical Department (EMD) on the eve of World War I. The assembly of the Estonia Society created the Tallinn Higher Musi ...
) under instruction of actor and theatre pedagogue
Voldemar Panso
Voldemar Panso (30 November 1920 Tomsk, Russia – 27 December 1977 Tallinn) was Estonian stage director, actor and theatrical teacher.
1941 he graduated from Tallinn Conservatory State Stage Art School and 1955 Moscow State Theatre Art Instit ...
, graduating in 1976. Among his graduating classmates were
Merle Karusoo,
Ago-Endrik Kerge,
Urmas Kibuspuu
Urmas Kibuspuu (5 December 1953 in Tallinn – 13 June 1985) was an Estonian actor.
In 1976 he graduated from Tallinn State Conservatory Stage Art Department. Since 1976 he worked at Estonian Drama Theatre, intermittently also in Estonia Theatre. ...
,
Kalju Orro
Kalju Orro (born 27 March 1952)[Tallinna Linnateater](_blank)
''Kalju Orro'' 2018. Retrieved ...
,
Anne Paluver
Anne Paluver (born 4 November 1952 in Tallinn) is an Estonian actress.
Paulver was born in Tallinn, the daughter of mathematician Nikolai Paluver. She attended schools in Tallinn, graduating from Tallinn No. 22 Secondary School in 1970 (now the ...
,
Külliki Tool,
Lembit Peterson
Lembit Peterson (born on 18 August 1953 in Tallinn) is an Estonian actor, theatre director and theatre pedagogue.
In 1971 he graduated from Tallinn State Conservatory's Stage Art Department. From 1976 to 1979 and 1985 to 1988 he worked at Estonia ...
,
Priit Pedajas
Priit Pedajas (born 21 January 1954 in Tallinn) is an Estonian actor and theatre director.
In 1976, he graduated from the Tallinn State Conservatory' Performing Arts Department. From 1979 until 1985, he was an actor and director at Ugala Theatre. ...
,
Eero Spriit, and
Peeter Volkonski
Prince Peeter Volkonski (born 12 September 1954 in Tallinn) is an Estonian rock-musician, composer, actor, and theatre director.
Biography
He became famous with the punk band Propeller, founded in 1978.
In 2015 Volkonski was Free Party's can ...
.
Career
Film
At age fifteen, while still a secondary student at the Tallinn Sports Boarding School, Laanemets was cast as the character Joosep Toots in the 1969
Arvo Kruusement
Arvo Kruusement (born 20 April 1928) is an Estonian actor, theatre and film director who has made some of Estonia's classic novels into films; ''Spring'' (1969), ''Summer'' (1976), and ''Fall'' (1990) The movie ''Spring'' has been noted as the be ...
directed
Estonian language
Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language, written in the Latin script. It is the official language of Estonia and one of the official languages of the European Union, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people; 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,0 ...
film ''
Kevade
''Spring'' ( et, Kevade) is a 1969 Estonian film directed by Arvo Kruusement and is a film adaptation of Oskar Luts' popular novel of the same name. The movie placed first place in the Estonian feature films top ten poll held in 2002 by Estonian ...
'' (English: ''Spring'') for
Tallinnfilm; a
film adaptation
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
of author
Oskar Luts
Oskar Luts ( – 23 March 1953) was an Estonian writer and playwright.
Biography
Oskar Luts was born into a middle-class family in Järvepera, central Estonia, at that time in the governorate of Livonia (Russian Empire). His younger brother was ...
' popular 1912 short novel of the same name which followed the lives of residents of the rural, fictitious village of Paunvere in the early 20th-century.
After production of the film ended, he returned to finish his studies at secondary school. The film proved to be both commercially and critically successful,
and Laanemets revisited the role twice more; in the 1976 film ''
Suvi'' (English: ''Summer'') and in the 1990 film ''
Sügis'' (English: ''Fall''); both again directed by Arvo Kruusement and based on the trilogy of novels penned by Oscar Luts of the same names.
Laanemets' role of Joosep Toots would prove to be one of his most popular and enduring film roles in Estonia.
In 1972, at age eighteen, Laanemets was cast in a starring role as
Jim Hawkins in ''
Ostrov sokrovishch'', a
Russian language
Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
film adaptation of
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
's ''
Treasure Island'', directed by Yevgeni Fridman.
In 1974, he had a small role in the
Naum Birman
Naum Borisovich Birman (russian: Нау́м Бори́сович Би́рман; 1924—1989) was a Soviet director of theater and cinema, screenwriter.
Cavalier of the Order of Friendship of Peoples (1986).
He worked as an actor and director in ...
-directed Russian language World War II action film '. During his career, Laanemets appeared in approximately twenty films. In addition to Estonian and Russian language films, Laanemets also appeared in the 1981
Gunārs Piesis
Gunārs Piesis (19 July 1931 – 9 February 1996) was a Latvian film director.
1931 births
1996 deaths
Latvian film directors
Soviet film directors
Film people from Riga
{{Latvia-film-director-stub ...
-directed
Latvian language
Latvian ( ), also known as Lettish, is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, spoken in the Baltic region. It is the language of Latvians and the official language of Latvia as well as ...
historical drama feature film ' for
Riga Film Studio
Riga Film Studio ( lv, Rīgas kinostudija, russian: Рижская киностудия, Rizhskaya kinostudiya) is a Latvian film production company based in Riga and founded in 1940 on the basis of the earlier private film companies. In 1948, th ...
. His last film appearance was a small role in the 1993
Pekka Karjalainen
Pekka Karjalainen is a Finnish film director and sound producer. He won the Jussi Award
The Jussi Awards are Finland's premier film industry prizes, awarded annually to recognize the achievements of directors, actors, and writers.
History
Th ...
-directed joint Estonian-
Finnish co-production comedy feature ''Hysteria''.
Stage
In 1976, shortly following his graduation from the Tallinn State Conservatory, Laanemets began an engagement as an actor at the
Estonian Drama Theatre in Tallinn that lasted until his departure in 1983 when he joined the
Endla Theatre in
Pärnu.
This would be Laanemets' longest engagement, lasting until he chose to leave the theatre in 1999, to move back to Tallinn.
Prominent roles in his stage career included those in works by
Selma Lagerlöf,
Frances Hodgson Burnett,
Brian Friel
Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription req ...
,
A. H. Tammsaare
Anton Hansen (18 (O.S.)/30 January 1878 – 1 March 1940), better known by his pseudonym A. H. Tammsaare and its variants, was an Estonian writer whose pentalogy '' Truth and Justice'' (''Tõde ja õigus''; 1926–1933) is considered one of ...
,
Gerhart Hauptmann,
Raivo Trass,
August Kitzberg,
Nikos Kazantzakis
Nikos Kazantzakis ( el, ; 2 March ( OS 18 February) 188326 October 1957) was a Greek writer. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years.
Kazantzakis's no ...
,
Marc Camoletti, and
Maurice Maeterlinck, among others.
Laanemets performed in over forty roles at the Endla Theatre and directed eleven plays, including five for children. In 1984, he co-founded the Pärnu School Theatre with actors Elmar Trink and Ahti Puudersell, where he worked as an instructor. Some of his students included
Liisa Aibel
Liisa Aibel (born 21 September 1972) is an Estonian stage, film and television actress.
Early life and education
Liisa Aibel was born in Viljandi and attended school in Pärnu, graduating from Pärnu Secondary School No. 6 in 1990. As a teenager, ...
,
Kersti Heinloo
Kersti Heinloo (born 26 September 1976) is an Estonian stage, film and television actress who began her career in radio.
Early life and education
Born in Tartu, Kersti Heinloo received her secondary education at the Pärnu Koidula Gymnasium, grad ...
,
Külli Teetamm
Külli Teetamm (born 22 May 1976), is an Estonian stage, television and film actress.
Early life and education
Külli Teetamm was born and attended school in Pärnu. She studied acting at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre Drama School (no ...
,
Piret Laurimaa
Piret Laurimaa (married name Piret Palu; born 3 November 1971), is an Estonian stage, television, radio, and film actress.
Early life and education
Piret Laurimaa was born in Pärnu to Tiit Laurimaa and Aave Uus (''née'' Meriluht). She has thre ...
,
Marko Matvere
Marko Matvere (born 4 February 1968) is an Estonian actor and singer. He was the lead actor of the Tallinn City Theatre, but left to become a freelance actor in 2004.
Biography
Matvere was born in Pärnu and graduated from the Tallinn Conservat ...
, and
Ago Anderson
Ago Anderson (born 8 April 1972 in Pärnu) is an Estonian actor.
Since 1994 he is working at Endla Theatre. He has also played in several films and television series.
Selected roles in films and television series
* 1995 '' Wikmani poisid'' (telev ...
.
Television
Along with a career in theatre and film, Laanemets also appeared in a number of television films, television plays, and made several appearances in television series. His first prominent television role was that of Tisler in the Elvi Koppel-directed
Eesti Televisioon (ETV) children's play ' in 1976. This was followed by the role of Jesper in the 1980 children's television play ', also directed by Elvi Koppel.
In 1981, he appeared in the role of Laimonis Kalniņš in the Aloizs Brenčs-directed, Latvian language, seven part television period melodrama '. The following year, he appeared as Valentine in the Boris Nebieridze-directed, Russian language, two-part musical drama ''Faust''.
In 1985, he appeared as Martin the Ago-Endrik Kerge-directed two-part Estonian television drama film '. His last television appearance was in the Mart Kivastik-directed Estonian television film short ''Armuke'', which aired in 2000, prior to his death.
Personal life and death
Aare Laanemets was married and divorced. He had two children. Prior to his death he was in a relationship with actress and singer .
On 28 October 2000, he died after suffering a
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
in Tallinn, aged 46.
He was interred at the cemetery in the village of
Kullamaa in
Lääne County.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laanemets, Aare
1954 births
2000 deaths
Estonian male stage actors
Estonian male film actors
Estonian male television actors
Estonian male child actors
Estonian theatre directors
Male actors from Tallinn
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni
20th-century Estonian male actors