Jón Gnarr (; born Jón Gunnar Kristinsson on 2 January 1967) is an Icelandic actor,

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

, and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

from 2010 to 2014. He is currently a member of the

Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...

for Viðreisn, elected in the 2024 Icelandic parliamentary election. Jón was a well-known comedian and actor starting in the 1990s, including teaming with Sigurjón Kjartansson as the duo Tvíhöfði on radio and television. In 2009, he formed the

Best Party The Best Party () was an Icelandic political party founded by Jón Gnarr on 16 November 2009. The party contested the 2010 city council election in Reykjavík and won a plurality on the Reykjavík City Council, receiving 34.7% of the vote, de ...

, a political party that began as

political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...

but quickly turned into a real political player due to its electoral successes, which were perceived to be a reaction to the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis.

Early years

Jón was misdiagnosed with severe

intellectual disability Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability (in the United Kingdom), and formerly mental retardation (in the United States), Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010).Archive is a generalized neurodevelopmental ...

as a child and was treated between the ages of five and seven at the children's psychiatry ward at the State Hospital at Dalbraut, Reykjavík. He has

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

and had learning difficulties. Jón Gnarr recounts these experiences in his book ''The Indian'', an autobiographical account of his childhood. Jón was known as Jónsi Punk as a teenager and played bass in a punk band called Nefrennsli ("Runny Nose"). While attending a number of

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

s, he didn't complete the university entrance exam, Stúdentspróf. As a young man, he held jobs with car maker

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

and drove a taxi in Reykjavík. During the 1980s, he and his future wife, Jóhanna "Jóga" Jóhannsdóttir, became acquainted with the members of the Reykjavík-based alternative rock band

the Sugarcubes The Sugarcubes () were an Icelandic alternative rock band from Reykjavík formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. For most of their career, the band consisted of Björk Guðmundsdóttir (vocals, keyboards), Einar Örn Benediktsson (vocals, trumpe ...

, including Björk Guðmundsdóttir and

Einar Örn Benediktsson Einar Örn Benediktsson (born 29 October 1962), often billed as Einar Örn, is an Icelandic popular music singer and trumpet player. He was a member of the Sugarcubes. He served as a member of the Reykjavík City Council between 2010 and 2014 ...

. Björk remained a close friend to Jóhanna, writing the song "

Jóga "Jóga" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer, songwriter and actress Björk for her third studio album, ''Homogenic'' (1997). An electronica song, "Jóga" fuses these elements with Baroque music, baroque and Classical music, classical styles. ...

" from her 1997 album ''

Homogenic ''Homogenic'' is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 22 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell (British musician), Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dra ...

'' about her.

Education

Jón has an MFA degree in performing arts from the Iceland University of the Arts. His graduation work was his own performance of the ancient Icelandic poem Völuspá from the

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...

Performance career

In 1994, Jón teamed up with Sigurjón Kjartansson to form the

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

duo Tvíhöfði. In 1997, he joined TV station Stöð 2 where he wrote and starred in several seasons of the Icelandic comedy show '' Fóstbræður''. His best known movies are '' The Icelandic Dream'' and ''A Man like Me''. His stand-up comedy show ''Ég var einu sinni nörd'' (''I Used To Be a Nerd'') is autobiographical. In 2004 he wrote, starred and produced a short film, ''The Man on the Back''. He worked as a creative writer and actor at the Icelandic advertising agency EnnEmm, producing several popular TV ads. He played Georg Bjarnfreðarson on the television series ' (''Night Shift''), ' (''Day Shift'') and ' (''Prison Shift''). He was also a co-writer in the series, which introduced a number of new actors. In 2009, he starred in the feature film ', which endeared him even further to the Icelandic public. Jón is a member of Félag íslenskra leikara (Icelandic Actors Guild) and Félag leikskálda og handritshöfunda (Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild).

Entry into politics

In late 2009, Jón founded the

with a number of other people who had no background in politics, including Einar. The Best Party, which is a satirical political party that parodies Icelandic politics and aims to make the life of the citizens more fun, managed a plurality in the 2010 municipal elections in Reykjavík, with the party gaining six out of 15 seats on the Reykjavík City Council (34.7 percent of the vote). Einar, who was second on the party's

list A list is a Set (mathematics), set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of t ...

behind Jón, won one of the seats on the city council. Jón ended up defeating the centre-right Independence Party-led municipal government of Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir, which came as "a shock" to Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. Jón's victory is widely seen as a backlash against establishment politicians in the wake of the Icelandic financial crisis, i.e. 2008 banking collapse. His political platform included promises of "free towels in all swimming pools, a polar bear for the Reykjavík zoo, all kinds of things for weaklings, Disneyland in the Vatnsmýri area, a 'drug-free'

by 2020, sustainable transparency, tollbooths on the border with Seltjarnarnes, to do away with all debt, free access to Hljómskálagarðurinn (orchestral rotunda park)." Both before and after being elected, Jón announced that he would not go in for a coalition government with anyone that had not watched the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

''. He is an avid watcher of the series, and stated his favourite character is Omar. Ultimately, his Best Party entered into a coalition with the social-democratic Social Democratic Alliance (''Samfylkingin'') as its junior partner to govern Reykjavík.

As Reykjavík mayor

After Jón became mayor of Reykjavík, it was jokingly proposed that the city be nicknamed Gnarrenburg, the title of an earlier television talk show featuring Jón. As mayor, he appeared at the 2010

Gay Pride In the context of LGBTQ culture, pride (also known as LGBTQ pride, LGBTQIA pride, LGBT pride, queer pride, gay pride, or gay and lesbian pride) is the promotion of the rights, self-affirmation, dignity, Social equality, equality, and increas ...

parade as a drag queen, posted a video holiday greeting wearing a Darth Vader mask and a

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

cap, and suggested a merger with neighboring municipality Kópavogur. Jón protested about the Chinese government's treatment of human rights activist

Liu Xiaobo Liu Xiaobo (; 28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese literary criticism, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end Ch ...

, before the announcement of Liu's award for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. He has also stated that he believes the importance of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

is highly over-rated. His government also included the granting of long-awaited permission for the construction of Iceland's first purpose-built mosque. On 30 October 2013, Jón announced that he would not seek a second term in office when his first term expired in June 2014.

After leaving office

Since leaving office, Jón has campaigned for Iceland to abandon its laws regarding traditional Icelandic names, viewing it as discriminatory, e.g. that only some family names are allowed and Gnarr not an approved one. Jón also authored a book entitled ''Gnarr!: How I Became the Mayor of a Large City in Iceland and Changed the World''. In January 2015 Jón joined the Center for Energy and Environmental Research in the Human Sciences (CENHS) at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

as their first writer in residence. After the incumbent

President of Iceland The president of Iceland () is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Halla Tómasdóttir, who won the 2024 Icelandic presidential election, 2024 presidential election. The president is not involved in the running of the country, bu ...

, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, announced on 1 January 2016 that he would not run in the upcoming presidential election, it was speculated that Jón would put forward his candidacy. On 15 January 2016, Jón announced he would not be running for office "for the time being", but that he could "think of doing it later", and that he was more interested in working more in Icelandic television.

Return to politics and election to the Althing

Prior to the 2017 parliamentary election, Jón joined the Social Democratic Alliance as the SDA's campaign manager. On 2 April 2024 he announced that he would run in the 2024 Icelandic presidential election. He was later confirmed as a candidate. He finished fourth with 10.1% of the votes. In September 2024, Jón announced that he would join Viðreisn for the upcoming parliamentary elections. He would be elected in the Reykjavík South Althing constituency. Ahead of the election, Jón described himself as "a great anarchist and libertarian and I put a lot of emphasis on the freedom of individuals over their personal lives and this fundamental ideology that people should enjoy freedom as long as it does not undermine the freedom of others. And that our freedom does not concern the government unless certain conditions are met. That distinguishes me from the social democrats," when describing leaving the Social Democratic Alliance for Viðreisn.

Personal life and family

Jón Gnarr is married to Jóhanna Jóhannsdóttir, a close friend of the singer

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

. He has five children, one of whom is Margret Gnarr, a fitness competitor.

Awards and recognitions

* Edda Award ** 2010

Bjarnfreðarson ''Bjarnfreðarson'' is a 2009 Icelandic comedy film directed by Ragnar Bragason, director of the TV series trilogy consisting of ''Næturvaktin'', ''Dagvaktin'' and ''Fangavaktin'', to which it is a sequel. At its movie premiere, première in Ice ...

(Mr Bjarnfredarson) Best Actor of the Year (Winner) ** 2010 Fangavaktin (The Prisoners Shift) Best Actor of the Year (Winner) ** 2010 Bjarnfreðarson (Mr Bjarnfredarson) Best Film of the Year (Winner) ** 2010 Bjarnfreðarson (Mr Bjarnfredarson) Screenplay of the Year (Winner) ** 2010 Fangavaktin (The Prisoners Shift) TV Drama/Comedy of the Year (Winner) ** 2008 Dagvaktin (The Day Shift) Screenplay of the Year (Nomination) ** 2008 Dagvaktin (The Day Shift) TV Drama/Comedy of the Year (Winner) ** 2007 Næturvaktin (The Night Shift) TV Drama/Comedy of the Year (Winner) ** 2004 Með mann á bakinu (The Man on the Back) Screenplay of the Year (Winner) ** 2001 Fóstbræður (Foster Brothers) Best Actor of the Year (Winner) ** 2000 Íslenski draumurinn (The Icelandic Dream) Supporting Actor of the Year (Nomination) * 2010 Visir.is, Person of the Year Award * 2013 Honorary member of Samtökin '78, The National Queer Organization of Iceland * 2013 Siðmennt, Humanist of the Year Award * 2014 LennonOno Grant for Peace Award

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gnarr, Jon Living people 1967 births

Jón Gnarr Jón Gnarr (; born Jón Gunnar Kristinsson on 2 January 1967) is an Icelanders, Icelandic actor, comedian, and politician who served as the Mayor of Reykjavík, Mayor of Reykjavík from 2010 to 2014. He is currently a member of the Althing for ...

Actors with dyslexia

Icelandic anarchists

Political party founders Politicians with dyslexia

21st-century anarchists