Thomas Fredrik Georg Funck (26 October 1919 – 30 December 2010) was a Swedish baron (

freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...

), author of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

, a

radio personality A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

and a voice artist, most famous for his stories about Charlie Strap and

Froggy Ball Froggy Ball ( sv, Grodan Boll) is a character from '' Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll'' which is a series of Swedish books, radio shows and movies created by Thomas Funck. He first appeared in a radio show in 1954. The character disappeared around ...

(Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll).Thomas Funck kändis över en natt
" (in Swedish) ''Västerviks-Tidningen'' He is the brother of

Hasse Funck Baron Hans Fredrik "Hasse" Funck (born 14 June 1917 in Linköping, died 22 December 2004 (aged 87)) was a Swedish freiherr, baron, director, and operetta singer, dancer, and actor. He came to Malmö in 1939 and during a few years he was engaged a ...

. He was married to

Eva Funck Eva Rose-Marie Funck Beskow (born ''Årlin''; 28 May 1956, in Stockholm) is a Swedish voice acting, voice actress, children's television series Television presenter, host and puppeteer (created ''Höna-Pöna''). In 1975 she was married to Thomas F ...

and they have a son Gustav.

Early career

Funck, who started out writing literature aimed for adults, has claimed to never have had any permanent employment. During the 1940s he primarily worked as a

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

teacher. He performed his original songs in Norwegian radio on guitar. During this time he began to have stories sold, in order to have them read and performed on Swedish radio as well.Svenskfilmdatabas' entry on the animated film with partial biography
" (in Swedish) ''

Swedish Film Institute The Swedish Film Institute ( sv, Svenska Filminstitutet) was founded in 1963 to support and develop the Swedish film industry. The institute is housed in the ''Filmhuset'' building located in Gärdet, Östermalm in Stockholm. The building, comp ...

Charlie Strapp and Froggy Ball

Charlie Strapp and

had appeared as parts of Swedish radio shows since the mid 40s, but portrayed by regular actors. In the early 50s Funck started to do the voice of Charlie Strapp. The big breakthrough came in 1954, when all voices for the first time were provided by Funck himself, only with help of a guitar for sound effects. The radio performances were followed by several records with the same concept, a

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

drawn by

Nils Egerbrandt Nils Egerbrandt (born 11 May 1926 in Stockholm, died 4 February 2005) was a Swedish comic creator who created a few children's comics in the 1950s, such as ''Olli'', about an adventurous eskimo boy. Later, he took over the popular Swedish comic ...

and from 1955 a series of books with illustrations by Einar Norelius. In 1956 a

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

also came out of it, ''

Charlie Strap, Froggy Ball and Their Friends Charlie may refer to: Characters * "Charlie," the head of the Townsend Agency', from the ''Charlie's Angels'' franchise * Charlie, a character on signs for the CharlieCard, a smart card issued by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority * ...

'' (''Kalle Stropp, Grodan Boll och deras vänner''), with actors in costumes

miming A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

while Funck provided the voices. Some parts were also animated with dolls.Svenskfilmdatabas' entry on the first film
" (in Swedish) ''

'' After the 1950s, interest allegedly seemed to fade, but then the 1970s saw a revival of the characters after appearing on radio again. In the late 1980s and early 1990s two animated films were produced and directed by

Jan Gissberg Jan Gissberg (born 13 August 1948) is a Swedish cartoonist, animator and film director.''Nationalencyklopedin'' bibliographical entry about Gissberg, retrieved 16 November 2013 After studying at Konstfack in Stockholm he started working as an anim ...

Characters

* ''Charlie Strap'' – A grasshopper dressed in a green

tailcoat A tailcoat is a knee-length coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, known as the ''tails'', with the front of the skirt cut away. The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse riding in the Early Mode ...

(pink

in the animated films) who speaks of himself in third person. He is very controlled on the border to neurotic and owns an umbrella with a silver ferrule. * ''

'' – A rough but very kind frog who speaks in a sloppily with much slang and wears a waistcoat (shirt in the animated films). * ''Sheet-Niklas'' (Sheet Metal Niklas; roughly "Tin Man") – A robot with extraordinary abilities. * ''The Hen'' – A good friend of Charlie Strap who lives in a chicken coop. * ''The Fox'' – A fox who might not always be completely trustworthy. Speaks in a slow way with random pauses for laughs. * ''The Parrot'' – A parrot who grows tired of sitting in her cage all day and prefers to join Charlie Strap and the others.

Filmography

* '' Kalle Stropp, Grodan Boll och deras vänner'' (''Kalle Stropp, Grodan Boll och deras vänner'') (1956) (voice) * ''

Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll räddar Hönan ''Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll räddar Hönan'' is a 1987 Swedish animated short film directed by Jan Gissberg about the two eponymous characters created by Thomas Funck. Funck also provides all voices. The film was released theatrically in Sweden ...

'' (''Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll räddar Hönan'') (1987) (voice) * ''

Charlie Strapp and Froggy Ball Flying High ''Charlie Strapp and Froggy Ball Flying High'' ( sv, Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll på svindlande äventyr) is a 1991 Swedish animated feature film directed by Jan Gissberg after an original script by Thomas Funck, using Funck's already well-esta ...

'' (''Kalle Stropp och Grodan Boll på svindlande äventyr'') (1991) (voice)

References

External links

Official website via the Wayback Machine
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Funck, Thomas 1919 births 2010 deaths People from Linköping Writers from Östergötland Swedish children's writers