Name Risto Orko Role Film producer | Spouse Liisa Orko (m. 1930) | |
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Full Name Risto Eliel William Orko Awards Jussi Award for Best Producer, Lifetime Achievement Jussi Movies Borrowing Matchsticks, The Day the Earth Froze, Little Presents, People in the Summer, The Green Chamber of Linnais Similar People Valentin Vaala, Rita Polster, Ritva Valkama, Lea Joutseno, Usko Kemppi | ||
Risto Eliel William Orko (né Nylund; 15 September 1899, Rauma – 29 September 2001, Helsinki) was a Finnish film producer and director.
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With a career of over 60 years at the film studio Suomi-Filmi, Orko rose to be head of production and chief director in the 1930s. He became its CEO in 1945. In the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Suomi-Filmi produced hundreds of films and numerous shorts.
In the years 1933-43, Orko directed many films, including two (Aktivistit and Jääkärin Morsian), which were banned for being "overly patriotic". He had a joint cooperation with the German film industry during World War II. Orko also directed a Finnish-Soviet co-production, released into the American market with subtitles, entitled The Day the Earth Froze in 1959.
Death
His death at age 102 was received with great sadness in his native Finland; thereafter known as the "last Finnish Film Tycoon".